Monday, September 10 2007
The Fruits of Summer
One of the best things about making your own wine is how it makes you appreciate the passing of the seasons, especially if you tend your own vines, with the work of pruning and weeding and maintaining a vineyard. But even if you leave the grape growing to others, winter's chill brings the desire for heartier foods and wines to match, spring brings the racy zip of new life and growth (and the first taste of last fall's bottles, and new lamb, drooool) and summer and autumn bring the bounty of the garden, and all those fresh wonderful vegetables.
We haven't had a great spring/summer here, but fall is finally shaping up and my tomato plants are starting to deliver. From about the last week of August on to the first week of October, we pretty much live on tomatoes (well, broccoli too, but that's another column) and this year is no exception. Our seven heirloom plants are bringing us more ripe, juicy tomatoes in glorious living colour ever day. The picture above is from the handful we picked on the weekend, and subsequently ate in tomato sandwiches (with homemade bread) tomato salad, and tomato sauce for pasta.
Tomatoes are both interesting as a foodstuff, and steeped in myth--folks used to think they were poisonous (the leaves are pretty nasty, as it is a member of the nightshade family, but the fruit is perfectly good). The vine originally came from South America (and perhaps Mexico), and migrated first to Europe. They're used as a vegetable, but they're technically a fruit (I used to think this only mattered to pedants, but it turns out to have tariff implications for import/export) and the first recorded consumption of a tomato in North America was in Louisiana in 1812. The tomato was the culinary symbol of the French revolution. And it goes on!
My interest mainly focuses on their culinary use. While I think a good tomato pretty much hits the apotheosis of flavour in between two slices toasty, crisp bread slathered in mayo, I wait every year to make a special pasta sauce, from tomatoes still hot from the afternoon sun. It's fast, easy and sooooo good:
- 3 lb. fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for garnish
Wash and chop tomatoes (not too big--half-inch dice is fine, but don't moosh them) and combine them in a bowl with the olive oil and minced garlic, balsamic vinegar and salt a pepper to taste (teaspoon of each, perhaps, but taste it!). Mix well and let it marinate at room temp for an hour, and then boil some water for pasta. I like angel hair, but pretty much any noodle will do, about 500 grams of dry pasta (a pound or so).
When the pasta is cooked and drained, immediately toss it with the tomato mixture and add the parsley and tear the basil into it, tossing to mix. (You have to tear the basil, because this is an Italian dish, and Basil is symbolic of the Virgin Mary, so mincing it with a knife is really frowned on--tearing is good fun too). Serve with a sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano and a crisp, snappy Italian white wine--I love Grillo (especially our last Limited Edition Sicilian Grillo) but Pinot Grigio is also excellent.
Ah summer.
| Posted by Tim AT 5:19PM | 0 Comments |  |
Post A Comment |  |
 |