The Tomatoes of August – Put Them Up or Put Them in the Oven!

August is tomato time.  Each year in early Spring I always plant more than we’ll ever eat.  But I can’t resist names like Cuore di Bue, Costoluto Fiorentino, Principe Borghese and more.  I fill my orto with tiny seedlings that eventually mature into tall plants that yield a profusion of summer fruit.  

 

Whether eaten out of hand, cooked into a sauce, added to a salad, served as side dish or soup, tomatoes in every shape, size and color are the stars of my summer table.  I love to save the season by preserving these multi-colored beauties, but if you are not going to “put them up”, then put them in the oven.  

 

Tossed with olive oil, dappled with salt, pepper and herbs or even sweetened with sugar, and roasted in a fast oven, the tomatoes are transformed. The oven’s dry heat brings out the best in tomatoes, drawing out the water, caramelizing them and amping up their sweetness, distilling more flavor than you ever thought possible into every single glorious orb of summer.

 

Serve roasted tomatoes any way you want.  Add a few to a salad, or atop ricotta crostini.  Another delightful antipasto is Roasted Tomatoes with Burrata.  The milky cheese, with its voluptuous creamy filling is the perfect foil for the concentrated flavor of the roasted tomatoes, still warm from the oven.  

 

Add some crostini and basil leaves to the plate and your guests will all want to know how you worked the magic.  Perhaps the sweetest tomatoes of all, and most certainly one of my favorites, are Sun Golds.  These small cherry-type tomatoes pack more sugary goodness into every bite than any other variety.  Plus Sun Golds are one of the most prolific plants I have ever grown with each plant producing literally thousands of pieces of fruit.  Food writer Julia Della Croce (juliadellacroce.com) roasts Sun Golds with extra virgin olive oil and oregano and then tosses them with pasta, extra virgin olive oil, and ricotta salata.

 

 Try it once, and this simple preparation will become your family’s go to pasta for summer.  

Don’t forget dessert.  Nix the savory flavorings, and roast the tomatoes with a delicate olive oil and granulated sugar.  The tomatoes come out of the oven almost candied, their delightfully sweet and piquant flavor a glorious match napped over a rich vanilla gelato.  Regular readers may recall my Basil Olive Oil Gelato.  Roasted tomatoes are a luscious accompaniment to that one too.  So this August when you walk out to your garden and exclaim “Too many tomatoes!” try roasting a handful for a change of pace.

serves 2

•about 1 pound  tomatoes

•8 ounces Burrata

•salt and pepper

•basil leaves

•Italian bread, cut in ½-inch thick slices

•extra virgin olive oil

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Rinse and dry the tomatoes, leaving them on the vine, if possible. Place the tomatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet and coat with oil, salt, and pepper.  Roast on the middle rack until the skin wrinkles and the tomatoes begin to soften, about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven. 

While the tomatoes roast, make the crostini.  Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium heat.  Toast the sliced bread until golden and well marked.  Remove the bread and drizzle one side with extra virgin olive oil.  Set aside, oil side up.

Arrange the roasted tomatoes, burrata, crostini, and basil leaves on a plate.  Serve.

 

serves 4

•vanilla gelato

•1cup mixed small tomatoes, rinsed and dried

•¼ cup granulated sugar

•3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

•mint or basil leaves

Vanilla Gelato

•makes 1 scant quart

•2 cups whole milk

•1 cup heavy cream

•½ cup granulated sugar

•1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

•4 large egg yolks

•Pinch sea salt

 

Make the gelato: heat milk, cream, and sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt in a medium saucepan until small bubbles form around the edges, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat, cover and set aside to steep 20 minutes.  In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks until lightened.  Reheat milk mixture until small bubbles form again.  Slowly pour half the hot milk mixture into the yolks, beating constantly.  

 

Return the egg and milk mixture to the saucepan and heat over a medium flame, stirring constantly, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan until the mixture reaches 178 degrees F. or until it coats the back of a spoon.  Remove from the heat and strain, discarding the vanilla bean.  Cool over an ice bath, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.  Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s directions.  Freeze 2 hours or overnight before serving.

 

Roast the tomatoes: preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Toss the tomatoes with sugar and oil on a foil lined baking sheet.  Roast on middle rack for about 15 minutes, until softened.  

 

Arrange the tomatoes in the bottom of each of 4 serving bowls.  Place a scoop of gelato atop tomatoes and sprinkle with mint or basil leaves.  Serve.