Fresh Pasta Sauce
Add cooked sausage or ground beef if desired, serve over fresh pasta and top with finely shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
A few teaspoons olive oil
A medium sweet onion, sliced
About 1/3 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, roasted and sliced
7-8 ripe tomatoes, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
Fresh basil leaves, shredded, to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
In olive oil, cook sliced onion until translucent over medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms and roasted red pepper. Add diced tomatoes and cook on a simmer until it starts to break down. Add chopped garlic and cook through. Mix in fresh shredded basil and cook a little longer to blend the flavors. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Smoked Trout with
Red Onion, Cucumber and Tomato Salad
This dish combines basic salad ingredients with the unexpected addition of smoked trout.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
For the dressing:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
For the salad:
1 large red onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
8 ounces smoked trout, available at specialty markets and some large grocery stores
4 seedless cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1/3-inch thick
3 large tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice
6 large meaty radishes, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon roughly chopped parsley
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste
To make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the oil. Slowly pour in the oil, whisking constantly until well blended. Set aside.
To make the salad and trout: Soak the red onion in a small bowl of salted ice water for 20 minutes, and then drain well. (This will make the onion milder and more digestible.)
Prep the trout by skinning it and removing the gray area. Roughly crumble the fish. Keep separate.
Toss the vegetables and parsley in the dressing (just enough to coat). Season with salt and pepper to taste. On each of four chilled plates, place the vegetable-parsley toss in the center. Top with the crumbled trout.
Heirloom Tomato Soup
This soup starts with a basic tomato roasting recipe that can be prepared ahead for this or other dishes.
MAKES 4 to 6 SERVINGS
3 pounds assorted heirloom tomatoes
2 yellow or sweet onions, sliced
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
4 tablespoons butter
A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn, plus extra for garnish
Brown sugar or agave nectar to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream, optional
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash, core and cut tomatoes in half. Spread tomatoes, onions and garlic out on a rimmed baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until they begin to caramelize.
Transfer tomatoes, onions and garlic to a large stock pot. Add 1 cup chicken broth, the bay leaves and butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by about a third. Remove bay leaves and add basil leaves.
Puree soup with an immersion blender until smooth or leave some tomato bits if you prefer more texture. (If you don't have an immersion blender, allow soup to cool slightly then puree in food processor or blender.)
Add additional chicken broth, if needed, to obtain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup tastes a bit acidic, add sugar or agave nectar. Ladle into bowls. Drizzle with heavy cream if desired and garnish with fresh basil leaves.
Tantalizing Tomatoes
As garnish or main event, there are many varieties from which to choose.
June Hutson, supervisor of the Kemper Center Home Demonstration Gardens at Missouri Botanical Garden, says there are "a million things" you can do with a tomato.
Besides simply biting into a fresh-off-the-vine variety, you can slice tomato and fresh mozzarella and top with basil for a delicious twist on the sandwich.
"That's about as good as it gets," says Hutson, a judge at last year's Homegrown Tomato Challenge at MOBOT.
Other ideas include homemade salsa, grilled tomatoes, tomatoes stuffed with a cream cheese or goat cheese filling and homemade marinara sauce, says Casie Butler, personal chef and owner of Casie's Cuisine.
What you choose to make with your tomatoes should dictate what type of fruit you use, Hutson and Butler say.
"When it comes to cooking, I prefer the beefy or plum tomatoes," Butler says. "They have less seeds, and they're firmer. They don't turn to mush when you apply heat."
If you want to eat a tomato raw, choose an heirloom variety. "Their skins aren't as tough," says Butler, who buys hers at Whole Foods. "They taste better, and the moisture doesn't leak out of them."
To make tomatoes hold up better when cooking, Butler recommends deseeding them.
"You don't have the mush, and it doesn't release as much liquid into the sauce or whatever the application is," she says.
If you want to test your tomato green thumb, Hutson likes Big Beef, Pink Girl and Celebrity varieties, as well as the heirloom Cherokee Purple, all of which grow well in the area.
"They don't succumb to disease early and as much," she says. "The flavor is very concentrated and extremely, extremely good."
Use organic soil for best results, and keep the bottom leaves cut off so they don't make contact with the soil, which can cause blight if too much soil washes over the leaves, Hutson says.
Tomatoes are best stored out of the refrigerator to ensure freshness and optimal taste. Hutson recommends placing them in a colander so air can move all around them.
Patience also plays a part.
"When lower temperatures resume, then production will pick up," Hutson says.
