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 Local tomatoes are in season. Use them elegantly--and easily--with these recipes.
Recipe: Local Tomato Pie
From Denny Trantham, Chef de Cuisine
The Blue Ridge Dining Room
About the Blue Ridge Dining Room: Located within The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, our culinary concept is best described as both classic and creative, locally sourced, southern comfort cuisine.
4 tomatoes, Seasonal Produce Farms – Canton, NC
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 thick bacon slices, Hickory Nut Gap Farms – Fairview, NC
1 bag fresh spinach, Mountain Produce – Asheville, NC
1 cup goat cheese – Three Graces Farms – Marshall, NC
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil – Blue Herron Farm – Leicester, NC
2 green onions, thinly sliced – Seasonal Produce Farm, Canton, NC
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 (9-inch) frozen unbaked deep-dish piecrust shell, thawed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Cut tomatoes into 1/2-inch slices. Place on a paper towel-lined wire rack. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt. Let stand 20 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels.
Preheat oven to 375°. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon, and drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon.
Sauté spinach in olive oil and season. Drain spinach well, pressing between paper towels. Combine crumbled bacon, spinach, and next six ingredients in a large bowl until well blended.
Spread 1/4 cup spinach mixture on bottom of piecrust.
Layer with half of tomato slices; top with half of remaining spinach mixture. Repeat layers once. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Add cheddar cheese to top of pie.
Bake pie, covered, at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe: Tomato Basil Bruchetta
This recipe doesn’t require much more effort than making toast, but thanks to fresh tomatoes and basil and a garlic rub, the result is sophisticated.
From
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Queens Produce and Berry Farm , Pisgah Forest, NC
About Queen’s: Queens is a twelve-acre farm offering U-pick black raspberries, red raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries and many vegetables, fruits, flowers, eggs and honey in season. The season starts in April with asparagus and rhubarb. It ends in the fall with potatoes.
Bruschetta Topping
7 to 8 plum or heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped.
10 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped.
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a serving bowl and stir well.
Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bake the basic
bruschetta, below.
Basic Bruschetta
8-inch round loaf of rustic Italian bread, cut into 12 ½ inch slices
½ cup extra-virgin olive
1 to 2 garlic cloves, skin on, halved
Preheat the oven to 375º F.
On a rimmed sheet pan, arrange the bread in a single layer.
Drizzle the bread with olive oil. Flip the bread and drizzle the other side.
Put in the heated oven and bake until the bread starts to turn golden on the
bottom, about 10 minutes.
Turn and cook another 5 minutes, or until golden.
Remove bread from the oven.
Rub each slice with garlic.
Add topping.
Tip: Tomato Sandwich
Tomato sandwiches are a no frills (also no cook) southern summer classic.
Toast bread. Spread with mayo. Slice a big tomato. Nothing else is needed in
the sandwich. (Though you can try adding finely chopped basil to your mayo.)
Recipe: Heirloom Tomato & Goat Cheese Stack
Share this dish with a dinner guest, and pair it with Sauvignon Blanc, or dry Spanish or Italian white wine.
From
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Bouchon French Comfort Food restaurant, Asheville, NC
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
4 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 heirloom tomatoes
Salad greens of your choice
Virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Edible flowers (optional)
This recipe serves two.
To make the filling, mix the goat cheese, sour cream, and chives in a bowl.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Wash the tomatoes in cold water.
Slice tomatoes approximately 1/8 thick, making an equal number of slices for each serving.
Place the largest slices in the center of each plate. Spread the goat cheese mixture on the slice.
Repeat the layering process using the next largest tomato slice. Continue until all the tomato is used.
Arrange salad greens around the stacks.
Drizzle generously with olive oil and lightly with vinegar.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with edible flowers.
Recipe: Tomato Slices Baked with Chard
Tomoatoes are the basis of this original entrée; bread is just a garnish.
From Ron and Cathy Arps
Vegenui Garden , Sylva, NC
1-1 1/2 pound chard
½ cup onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tablespoons butter
Salt
3 big, ripe tomatoes
2 slices fresh bread
2 eggs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Finely chop the stems of the chard. Slice the leaves in thin ribbons.
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.
Saute the sliced onions and garlic until brown.
Add chopped chard stems and cook 2 minutes.
Gradually add chard leaves and stir just until all leaves are bright green and wilted.
Add salt to taste. Let the greens cool.
Slice the tomatoes into 1/2 inch thick pieces.
Grate 2 slices of fresh bread.
Beat 2 eggs.
Mix the eggs into the greens.
Spread in a greased 8 x 8" baking dish.
Top with tomato slices. Sprinkle with bread crumbs grated parmesan cheese.
Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Tip: Tomato Bowl
Want another—no cook--way to make tomatoes the main feature? Create tomato bowls.
Cut the stem and a thin slice off the top of tomatoes.
Use a grapefruit spoon to carefully scoop out the seeds and the rest of the center.
Turn the tomatoes upside down to drain.
Fill them with hummus or tuna salad.
For smaller tomatoes, spoon in goat or pimento cheese. Try corn salad, bread salad, or babaganoush (roasted eggplant puree).
Sauces
Make the best of the bounty. Make sauce.
Find tomatoes from family farmers at markets and grocers throughout the region. Then try these two surprisingly easy recipes. Choose a cooked sauce for classic flavor. Or choose the one that keeps you cool—it requires no cooking at all.
Check back here for new recipes for seasonal food every week through September.
Recipe: Simple Tomato Sauce
An adaptable recipe for pasta or pizza.
From
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Sundance Farm , Newland, NC
About Sundance Farm: We use strictly organic practices and our love of the land to produce vegetables, fruits, and berries for farmer’s markets, restaurants, and ‘fresher is better’ folks like you.
1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
2-4 cloves fresh garlic
2-4 cups coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes
Large handful of freshly chopped basil
4 oz. Roquefort or gorgonzola cheese or favorite goat cheese
Freshly ground pepper
Heat the olive oil in large frying pan.
Sprinkle sea salt on a cutting board. Place the garlic cloves on it.
Smash the garlic with the flat side of a chef’s knife, then coarsely chop it.
Add salt and chopped garlic to the frying pan. Sauté until lightly browned.
Add chopped tomatoes and cook until juices are released and slightly reduced. (If you are preparing this sauce for pizza, cook the tomatoes until thick.)
Add basil and sauté until it softens.
Add cheese and stir until melted and creamy.
Sprinkle with ground pepper and salt to taste.
Recipe: Raw Tomato Sauce
Take a break to sit on the porch while this sauce marinates.
From Emily Jackson
Director of Growing Minds
(See Growing Minds' recipes for kids here.)
4 ripe tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons fresh basil
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 pound angel hair pasta
1 avocado
1 lemon
Cut tomatoes in ½ inch cubes.
Dice garlic, capers, and basil.
Mix diced ingredients, oil, salt, and pepper flakes in a large bowl. Set the bowl aside to marinate for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package instructions.
Cube the avocado. Slice the lemon and squeeze it over the avacado.
Toss pasta, avocado, and sauce.
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