tomato – Page 3 – TasteFood

Appetizers, Main Course, Vegetables and Salads, Vegetarian

Heirloom Cherry Tomato Tart

September 1, 2010August 7, 2014by Lynda Balslev9 Comments

Heirloom Cherry Tomato Tart
updated from the TasteFood archives, because it’s on the menu tonight:

Early September brings beautiful tomatoes, their sunny colors cheerily keeping autumn at bay, reminding us that summer is not yet finished. Sweet, juicy, sunkissed heirlooms, early girls, and cherries promise to bring a little sunshine to our dinner plates while the days grow shorter, cooler and crisper.

This Tomato Tart is an easy, light dinner for a busy weekday night that takes advantage of the kaleidescope of cherry tomatoes falling in our gardens and showcased in the market. The tart’s ease of preparation is, in part, due to the usage of store-bought frozen puff pastry dough. I confess that as much as I try to homemake everything, homemade pastry (unless made well ahead of time and frozen) doesn’t conveniently figure into a spontaneous week night meal. Fortunately, high quality frozen pastry dough is available in many stores. I buy mine at Whole Foods, and while the price is not cheap, I see it as a break-even when considering the cost of the ingredients and time I would need to make it myself. However, if you do have time on your side (lucky you!) and would like to make your own pastry, one of my go-to recipes for quick puff pastry is from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Pie and Pastry Bible.

Heirloom Cherry Tomato Tart
Serves 4 as a light meal or 6-8 as a side dish

1 sheet (11 oz./300 g.) frozen puff-pastry dough, thawed
1 1/2 pounds (750 g.) cherry tomatoes, multi-colored if possible, halved lengthwise
1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspons fresh marjoram

Prepare tart:
Preheat oven to 400 F. (200 C.)
Roll out dough to 1/4″ thickness on a lightly floured surface. Pierce dough all over with a fork, leaving a 1 inch border intact. Transfer dough to a parchment-lined baking tray and refrigerate 15 minutes.
Bake in oven until lightly golden, 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven, but do not turn off heat.
Arrange tomato halves, cut-side up, on crust, leaving the 1″ border clear. Drizzle tart with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Return to oven and bake 15-20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove tart from oven, and transfer to serving platter. Garnish with fresh marjoram (or basil) and serve immediately.

For a complete rustic meal serve with a wedge of soft, runny Camembert or Taleggio cheese, thick slices of pain paysan and a salad of mixed seasonal greens.

Breads, Pasta, Rice, Grains, Main Course, Pasta, Vegetables and Salads, Vegetarian

Pasta Provençal with Basil, Sweet Pepper, Tomatoes and Olives

August 3, 2010June 27, 2019by Lynda Balslev5 Comments

When the weather is hot and sticky, no one wants to cook. At this time it’s nice to have a few recipes on hand for easy, light, flavorful meals that reflect the season and little heat. Pasta Provençal does just that. It takes advantage of late summer’s bounty of vegetables without being too complicated. While this recipe calls for sweet peppers, tomatoes and basil, feel free to experiment with grilled eggplant, zucchini or yellow squash. The beauty of this recipe is that it is fresh and unfussy, perfect for a warm and sultry summer evening.

Pasta Provençal with Basil, Sweet Pepper, Tomatoes and Olives

Serve with a green salad and cold rosé wine.
Serves 4-6.

1 pound farfalle
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 red pepper, stemmed, seeded, ribs removed, cut in matchsticks
2 cups small cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted, halved
1 fresh mozzarella, shredded
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 bunch, about 1/2 cup, fresh basil leaves, shredded

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente; drain. Pour pasta into a large serving bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Add red pepper, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella and garlic. Toss to combine. Stir in 1 tablespoon olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Add cheese and basil, and gently toss. Serve warm or at room temperature with extra grated cheese.

Appetizers, gluten-free, Summer, Vegetables and Salads, Vegetarian

Heirloom Tomato Tartare with Balsamic Syrup

July 9, 2010August 7, 2014by Lynda Balslev

Presentation does make a difference – not only in terms of visual appeal, but also in taste. Heirloom Tomato Tartare takes the ingredients of a simple tomato and basil salad, and, with some dicing and stacking, results in a colorful and refined appetizer. Heirloom tomatoes of various colors are diced and combined with finely chopped kalamata olives and shallots. The confetti of tiny morsels allows for satisfying mouthfuls bursting with sweet tomato, briny olive and sharp shallot. Try it – you’ll like it.

In this recipe I have topped the tartare with a spoonful of creamy burrata and basil. If you don’t want to splurge on burrata, try a small wedge of buffalo mozzarella. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and serve with Balsamic Syrup. While the ingredients are the same as you will find in a Caprese Salad, the presentation is refreshingly different.

Heirloom Tomato Tartare with Balsamic Syrup
Serves 6

6 medium-large heirloom tomatoes, ripe but firm (choose different tomatoes for color variation)
10 Kalamata olives, pitted, diced
1 medium shallot, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 buffalo mozzarella or burrata
Fresh basil leaves
Balsamic Syrup (see below)

Prepare tartare:
Cut tomatoes in half. Remove and discard seeds, juice and ribs if mealy. Cut in 1/4″ dice. Combine diced tomatoes, olives and shallot in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper.
Arrange 1/2 cup of tomatoes in a stacked circle in center of a serving plate. Cut mozzarella in half and divide each half into 3 wedges. Gently place wedge on top of tomatoes. If using burrata, carefully pull apart a small portion of the cheese, without too much liquid, and arrange on top of tomatoes.
Drizzle tomatoes and cheese with olive oil. Garnish with a basil leaf. Serve with balsamic syrup either drizzled on the plate around the tomatoes, or in a small cup to the side.

Balsamic Syrup:
Bring one cup every-day quality balsamic syrup to a boil (don’t use the fancy one). Simmer, uncovered, until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Appetizers, Crostini, Italy, Rome, Travel, Vegetarian

Tomato Bruschetta, Italy and the World Cup

June 12, 2010August 7, 2014by Lynda Balslev7 Comments

It’s World Cup Football Championship time again. For those of you not in touch with this sporting rite, it is THE international football championship that takes place worldwide every four years. Don’t get me wrong. I hardly watch football (that’s soccer for you Americans). But, I am, after all, married to a Dane and lived many years in Europe where if you are not following at least a teensy bit of football in the news or on the television, you are living in a shoebox.

The World Cup also makes me think of Italy, where we often vacationed when we lived in Europe. Four years ago we were doing just that when the Italians won the last championship. What an impression that made. We were in Rome when the quarterfinals took place. As tourists, we naively ventured into the city for dinner during the quarterfinals match. While the restaurants were open, they were sparsely populated – and only with wayward tourists such as us. The staff were, to say the least, distracted, hovering over radios or watching small televisions in the kitchens or at the bar. We quickly deduced that we might as well just settle back and root for our new favorite football team without being overly critical about erratic table service. After our meal we knew there was no hope in finding a taxi driver to bring us back to our hotel until after the match. So, we wandered into another restaurant with a lounge and cheered on Italy as they won. From that moment on the streets came alive with revelers, cars honking, sirens blaring. This continued well into the night, long after we had gone to bed. It was just the quarterfinals.

The semi-finals took place after we left Rome for Tuscany, where we shared a villa with some friends near Montepulciano. The afternoon of the match, we wandered the crooked, narrow streets of the medieval village and came upon the town square, or Piazza. An enormous screen was being erected against a building façade while rows of folding chairs filled the open space, encircling the fountain to create an outdoor theater. It made me think of the film Cinema Paradiso. No worries if you didn’t own a television – all the villagers would gather that evening and watch the football match together, cheering on their team.

The finals played on one of our last nights in Italy. We had moved to the Isle of Elba and were staying in at the lovely Villa Ottone. The staff was professional and proper, the clientelle was well-heeled and dignified. So, imagine the night of the finals, in the middle of the first dinner service, when a tuxedoed maître d’ wheeled a television into the center of the dining terrace. As if on cue, all protocol was suspended. Waiters, busboys and hotel staff gathered around the television. Diners pulled up their chairs, balancing dinner plates on their laps. The French tourists cheered on France. The Italian tourists and staff cheered on the Italians. We were all caught up in a passionate TV dinner for the next 2 hours. When we finished eating we crowded into the bar, squeezing into sofas, balancing on the arms of chairs, sitting cross-legged on the floor, elbow to elbow with our fellow football fans. A Swedish photographer bought us a round of drinks. We reciprocated and bought drinks for the French couple sitting at our feet. The bartender invited our children to perch on the bar and gave them free sodas. Together we cheered and booed as Italy won the world cup. What an equalizer. Who said that English is the international language?

This year the World Cup takes place in South Africa. But I cannot help but think of Italy whenever it takes place. If I had to create something to eat while watching a football match it would be Tomato Bruschetta.

Tomato Bruschetta
Makes 8

For the tomatoes:
1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in 1/4″ pieces or quartered if small
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the bread:
8 slices levain or peasant bread, cut 1/2″ thick
1 large garlic clove, lightly smashed but still intact
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt

1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded plus whole leaves for garnish

Prepare the tomatoes:
Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and toss to combine. Taste to adjust seasoning. Let sit at room temperature while bread is prepared.

Prepare the bread:
Preheat oven grill or griddle pan. Rub bread on both sides with garlic. Brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over bread. Grill, turning once, until both sides are golden.

Arrange bread in one layer on a platter. Stir shredded basil into the tomatoes. Top bread with tomatoes. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve immediately.

Vegetables and Salads

Bacon, Avocado, Tomato Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

October 3, 2009June 8, 2014by Lynda Balslev4 Comments

This salad is a vehicle for bacon. At least that’s how I viewed it when I made it the other day. In all fairness, it also showcases beautiful sweet Early Girl tomatoes and cool, mild avocadoes. It also presents a light, rustic-style dinner completed by a hunk of piquant Gruyère cheese, Walnut Levain bread and a glass of Côtes du Rhône. But, really, it’s about the bacon.

Bacon, Tomato, Avocado Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
Serves 4-6

1/2 lb. (250 g.) slab bacon, cut in 1/4″ cubes
6 cups mixed greens (red oak, frisée, arugula), washed
4 small red tomatoes, such as early girl, quartered
1 small red onion, thinly sliced, about 1/2 cup
1 avocado, diced
Dijon Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Prepare salad:
Sauté bacon in a skillet over medium heat until browned and fat is rendered, about 8 minutes. Transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towel.
Arrange mixed greens in a serving bowl or on individual plates. Top with tomatoes, onion slices, avocado and bacon. Drizzle with Dijon Vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Dijon Vinaigrette
(Makes about 1/2 cup)

1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup (80 ml.) extra-virgin olive oil

Prepare vinaigrette:
Mix all the ingredients except the oil in a small bowl. Pour in the oil in a steady stream, constantly whisking, to emulsify.

Appetizers, Cookbooks, Main Course, Summer, Vegetarian, Wine and food pairings

Easy Late Summer Dinner: Tomato Tart

September 12, 2009July 30, 2014by Lynda Balslev4 Comments

This tomato tart is an easy, light dinner for a busy weekday night that takes advantage of the kaleidescope of cherry tomatoes falling in our gardens and showcased in the market. The tart’s ease of preparation is, in part, due to the usage of store-bought frozen puff pastry dough. I confess that as much as I try to homemake everything, homemade pastry (unless made well ahead of time and frozen) doesn’t conveniently figure into a spontaneous week night meal. Fortunately, high quality frozen pastry dough is available in many stores. I buy mine at Whole Foods, and while the price is not cheap, I see it as a break-even when considering the cost of the ingredients and time I would need to make it myself.

Tomato Tart
Serves 4 as a light meal or 6-8 as a side dish

1 sheet (11 oz./300 g.) frozen puff-pastry dough, thawed
1 1/2 lbs. (750 g.) cherry tomatoes, multi-colored if possible, halved lengthwise
1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh marjoram

Prepare tart:
Preheat oven to 400 F. (200 C.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4″ thickness. Pierce dough all over with a fork, leaving a 1″ border in tact. Transfer dough to a parchment-lined baking tray and refrigerate 15 minutes.
Bake in oven until lightly golden, 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven, but do not turn off heat.

Arrange tomato halves, cut-side up, on crust, leaving the 1″ border clear. Drizzle tart with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Return to oven and bake 15-20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove tart from oven, and transfer to serving platter. Garnish with fresh marjoram (or basil) and serve immediately.

For a complete rustic meal serve with a wedge of soft, runny Camembert or Saint Nectaire cheese, thick slices of pain paysan and a salad of mixed seasonal greens.