Alone In The Kitchen With A Tomato

I found myself at home for lunch the other day with a few very ripe tomatoes and a small piece of fresh mozzarella.

I decided to cut one of the tomatoes in half, sprinkled the halves with some thinly sliced garlic, salt and olive oil. I then roasted the tomato in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes until softened.

Meanwhile, I cut a slice from the mozzarella. When the tomato was soft I removed it from the oven and sandwiched the cheese between the two slices as the heat from the tomato began to melt the cheese. Served with a slice of crusty bread, it made the perfect summer lunch.

Actually, I roasted the tomato a little longer, about 20 minutes, so it would be oozing its juices. I figured it was just me for lunch, and soaking up the juices with bread was an enticing though messy event.

If you roast the tomato until just done, then add a thin slice of mozzarella until it just turns soft, this would make a great first course for an end-of-summer dinner.

Since the rest of the tomatoes needed to be eaten that I day, I ran with it and continud the tomato theme for dinner with panzella salad. Bread salad. What could be better than that?

Cubes of crusty bread, chunks of tomatoes, cucumbers and thinly sliced red onions. All tossed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and basil. 

With a shrimp vinaigrette on the side, it was the perfect light dinner for a hot evening.

Pomodoro Crudo

"Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." Sophia Loren

Spaghetti does not look the same on me as it does on Sophia Loren.  Nevertheless, I wait all year to make Spaghetti Pomodoro Crudo. August in New Jersey is the perfect time to make this quick and delicious  summer pasta. It is pure and simple. The quality of the tomatoes is paramount, and now is the time to use those farm stand or garden-grown perfectly ripe tomatoes.

For dinner tonight I cut three tomatoes horizontally, seeded them, and then cut them into smallish chunks. To them I added one clove of garlic, pressed, and a handful of basil cut up (or torn, if you like), some fresh mozzarella, and a couple of grinds of pepper. I then poured about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil over everything. Covered, this sat on the counter until dinner time. The mixture needs salt, but I waited until about thirty minutes before using it to add the salt so that it didn't become too watery.  The sauce can sit out at room temperature for up to four hours. It's best to let it marinate for at least thirty minutes to an hour.

This sauce takes well to improvisation. So feel free to add whatever you might like--capers, hot pepper flakes, anchovies, olives--you get the idea.

Some use spaghetti in this recipe, but I prefer a pasta that can hold the sauce, such as orecchiette or shells.When the orecchiette ( I used 6 ounces for two servings) was cooked and drained, it was immediately added to the sauce. The heat from the just-cooked pasta began to soften the mozzarella and barely heated the tomatoes. Heaven. Be sure to have some crusty bread on hand to sop up the extra juices.

Green salads have seemed lackluster to me lately, so I made a cucumber and red onion salad. And it proved to be a cool counterpoint to the pasta.