Check out these beauties. These are assorted heirlooms except for the tiny sweet 100's. I don't think they are an heirloom variety. In Maryland, the best time for tomatoes is August and September. Sometimes, depending on the weather, the tomatoes start tasting overripe even if they are not. It happens in September. Nature's way of saying, "you've had enough"
Aside from sliced with salt this may be my favorite tomato recipe. I started making it when I worked at Bella Monte. It was very popular there.
Panzanella
2 cups peeled diced assorted heirloom tomatoes (leave the seeds in)
3 pitted olives chopped (your choice)
a scant teaspoon of capers, rinsed and chopped
4 or 5 leaves of Thai basil chiffonade (you can use what ever fresh basil you have)
1 Tbsp chopped Parsley optional
Generous amounts of salt
Cracked black pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 slices of Italian bread, diced (day old bread is perfect)
1. Salt and pepper the peeled diced tomatoes and allow to stand for 5 minutes or so.
2. add the remaining ingredients except the bread. Toss together
3. Add the bread cubes
4. Allow the mixture to sit for another 5 minutes
5. Serve
I put this one in a ring mold with a little extra olive oil and some balsamic. A lot of folks actually look at this recipe and think, " eewwww! soggy bread" But actually, the bread ends up being the best part. Last night I took this Italian master piece and bastardized the hell out of it by adding a grilled hamburger and a slab of goat cheese. I loved it.
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