Tomato Recipes: Tasty Summer Goodness

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One of the great things about tomatoes is that there are so many great things about them. You can eat them cooked, steamed, sun-dried or raw. They are so versitile and because there are so many varieties, some type of tomato is always in season. Below are a couple of great recipes to try out this summer.

Grilled Caprese Skewers

Beautiful, yummy, and a fun twist on a classic salad; serve these up the next time you fire up the grill.

Ingredients

• 24 slices of a good bread, each slice about 1/2 inch thick (I like organic sourdough)
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 9 ounces of mozzarella cheese (I go all out on buffalo here, but part skim works too)
• 1 1/2 cups of basil leaves (set some aside for garnish)
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes (or for a variation, slice up your favorite kind)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Wooden skewers

Preheat oven to 200, trim bread and cut each slice into equal squares. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toast bread on both sides until golden. Skewer ingredients: one slice of bread, then mozzarella topped with a tomato or two and a basil leaf, keep repeating until you fill the skewer, ending with bread. Skewer all ingredients. Oven should still be on and heated. Place skewers on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil and vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 10 minutes. Garnish with remaining basil. Serve.

Chunky Tomato Conserve

This recipe comes from one of our favorite cookbooks for the summer: Cooking from the Farmer's Market by Williams Sonoma

Ingredients

• 3 T olive oil, plus extra for brushing and storage
• 5 pounds tomatoes, cored and cut into small chunks
• salt

In a large frying pan, over high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the tomatoes and 1 tsp salt, bring to a boil and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Pass the tomatoes through a food mill. Rinse the frying pan, dry, and return to high heat. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook stirring often, until reduced by two-thirds, about 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Lightly brush a baking sheet with olive oil and spread out the tomatoes in an even layer. Bake, turning the tomatoes as their surface darkens, until the liquid evaporates and the tomatoes have reduced to a thick, shiny, brick-colored paste, about 1 hour.

Transfer the conserve to a glass jar, top with about 1/2 inch of olive oil, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Top with olive oil after each use.

Serve on top of crackers or toasted bread.

Author: Lillie Lancaster

Ingredients of Success

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