two final tomato recipes … Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce with Cripsy Breadcrumbs and Roasted Tomato and Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

All right. If you’ve been reading along the last few weeks, you know that my little garden plot has been rather prolific this summer on the tomato front. A steady 3-5 pounds have made their way home each week and I’ve been plugging along, making all kinds of things. This week I have a two-fer; two final tomato recipes for the season. Two recipes that are easy, delicious, perfectly do-able for a quick weeknight dinner and highlight what’s best about these late season tomatoes. So get in there while the going is still good and all these amazing tomatoes are still hanging around the markets. They’ll be gone before we know it.

The first recipe is a variation on something I make all the time, especially now and especially when it’s too hot to do much cooking. It’s a simple mix of diced fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar tossed together with pasta and topped with crunchy parmesan breadcrumbs. The mix of bright sunny tomatoes, the tang of vinegar, the punch of garlic and the crunch of toasted breadcrumbs is a good one. This recipe solves many of the problems I find myself embroiled in during the summer: too many tomatoes quicky approaching fruit fly colonization and my inability to eat a full loaf of bread before it goes stale. I particularly like this one when I have an olive studded loaf of bread lying around. Those little bits of salty kalamata olives add a really nice touch.

The other recipe caught my eye as it combined a few of my favorite techniques – roasting and utilizing a vinaigrette. Half the tomatoes are roasted to intensify the flavor, my go-to method when I don’t mind turning on the oven. The other half are pureed with some shallots, garlic and vinegar and a little preserved lemon. The original recipe had lemon zest but I swapped that out for some preserved lemon, an ingredient I really like and don’t use nearly enough. It adds something a little more interesting than plain lemon zest, which you could certainly use. Stir the roasted and pureed tomatoes together and you have a really nice, bright sauce that is fantastic on a simply cooked piece of fish, grilled beef or chicken. If you have Sun Gold tomatoes in your garden, they are ideal for this one. If you don’t … why not? You have no idea what you’re missing so stop what you’re doing right now and make a note somewhere to add these to your garden next year. Deep orange and unbelievably sweet, they are the first plants on my list every year.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: GOING EASY. I’ve started to exhale as my mountains of tomatoes seem to be a little under control. It was a bit shaky there for a week or two but I’m down to one colander and that one is only halfway full. Progress people, progress. It’ll all be over far too soon and when I wrap myself in layers of wool and Gore-Tex in a few short months, I’ll miss all this. I must keep this in mind.

the list of tomato recipes from this blog: Roasted Tomato & Asparagus Quiche, Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce, Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce, Summer Corn & Tomato Salad, Chunky Gazpacho, Easy Blender Gazpacho, Fresh Tomato Tart, Panzanella, Tomato Chile Jam, Tomato Confit, Yunnan Pineapple & Tomato Salad, Candied Yellow Tomatoes, Pickled Green Cherry Tomatoes, Quick Pickled Cherry Tomatoes
Six years ago: Chilled Cavillion Melon Soup
Five years ago: Peach Pandowdy
Four years ago: Cold Melon Soup (a bit easier than the one above)
Three years ago: Bastille Day Lunch – Figgy BBQ Sauce 
Two years ago: Yunnan Pineapple & Tomato Salad 
Last year: Deep Dish Plum Almond Tart 

FRESH TOMATO PASTA SAUCE WITH CRISPY PARMESAN BREADCRUMBS
Serves 4

3 Tablespoons good fruity extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 ½ pounds ripe fresh tomatoes
¼ cup roughly cut fresh basil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound pasta, cavatappi works particularly well

½ stale baguette (you’ll need about 1 cup of coarse breadcrumbs)
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
pinch each kosher salt and ground black pepper
¼ cup grated parmesan

1. For the tomatoes: Core and coarsely chop the tomatoes and put in a medium bowl, juices included.
2. Add the olive oil, vinegar, minced garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
3. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; this usually takes 7-10 minutes so plan accordingly.
4. For the breadcrumbs: to get coarse breadcrumbs, the best way is to use the grating disc on a food processor. Other methods include pulsing chunks of the baguette in the food processor with the standard blade or if your baguette is particularly hard, use the large holes on a box grater. You need about 1 cup of coarse crumbs total.
5. In a large sauté pan, melt the butter then add the breadcrumbs and toast until golden brown, stirring frequently.
6. Add a pinch each of salt and pepper and let cool. Once cool, stir in the grated parmesan and half the basil.
7. To assemble: add the remaining chopped basil to the tomatoes and toss the mixture with the cooked pasta.
8. Top with the toasted breadcrumbs and serve immediately.

ROASTED TOMATO VINAIGRETTE WITH PRESERVED LEMON – adapted slightly from this recipe
Makes about 2 cups

2 pints cherry tomatoes, divided – use Sun Gold tomatoes if at all possible
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 Tablespoon finely minced shallots
½ teaspoon finely grated garlic
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons preserved lemon, diced (if not using preserved lemon, use 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest)

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. In a small bowl, combine the shallots, garlic and vinegar. Season with a pinch of salt and let sit for 15 minutes.
3. On a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, toss 1 pint of the tomatoes with 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil.
4. Roast until the skins begin to blister and the tomatoes are just starting to collapse, 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
5. Transfer the remaining pint of tomatoes to a food processor along with the remaining Tablespoon of olive oil, the macerated shallot mixture and the diced preserved lemon.
6. Pulse until smooth.
7. Transfer the vinaigrette to a bowl and gently stir in the roasted tomatoes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed before serving – if using the preserved lemon, it can be quite salty. Can be refrigerated for up to 1 week. Best on roasted fish and meats.