Essentially a lasagna with tortillas standing in for noodles, this is one of those dishes that can miraculously be on the table in short order, made from things you most likely have in your pantry and fridge. If you don't like, or you don't have, one of the ingredients, skip it. Or, if you have something else that you think might be appealing all layered in (like slivered bell peppers to sauté with the onions, kale, chopped, cooked broccoli — whatever the people in your home will eat), then fling it on in.
Ingredients
These tomatoes are just as katapliktiko (unspeakably fabulous) warm or at room temperature, so you could bake them earlier in the day.
When my younger sister was on a no-beef kick, her husband, Ben, created these awesome burgers. Even staunch beef lovers are happy to eat these, and once you try this chutney, you'll never want ketchup on a burger again.
Tomato marmalades are the perfect partners for crackers, cornbread, or sourdough.
Ingredients
This is hardly a recipe! But this beautifully flavored elixir is well worth the trouble. If you are making the aspic variation, use the ratio of 1 packet gelatin to 3 cups tomato-cucumber water. It will be soft and delicate, cool and refreshing with the flavor of an ethereal gazpacho.
The simplicity of this Calabrian dish is stunning, and for that reason there is no point in even thinking about it until that time in late summer when utterly ripe, red, and flavorful garden tomatoes are in season—preferably from your own or a neighbor's garden. That's where the flavor lies—there and in the use of fine extra-virgin olive oil, good crunchy sea salt, a zesty dash of hot red chili, and, of course, the charcoal fire on which the tomatoes are set to roast. Toast the bread over the charcoal embers after you finish the tomatoes, so it will be crisp but not tough and hard.
A fruity Spanish olive oil, preferably from Andalusia, is important, as is a good sherry vinegar, preferably aged. Both can be found at specialty groceries or mail-ordered. If you can spare the time, garnish the gazpacho with tiny bread croutons fried in olive oil.
Straight from 19th-century American cookbooks, these big chunks of ripe beefsteak and green tomatoes get bathed in a warm, garlicky, sweet-sour dressing. They stand on their own, top greens, or make a good potato-tomato salad. Bacon fat was favored 150 years ago; olive oil works well today. Out of season, this recipe still works with supermarket tomatoes on the vine.