21 tomato salute

21 Tomato Salute

This is not tomato this or tomato that, it is tomato, and it feels right now like it may be the best thing I have eaten all year. It came into my mind when I saw the pile of San Marzano tomatoes in a bowl but I didn’t want to eat pasta. Summer is ending. The tomatoes are plentiful but soon will be no more. What’s to eat right now should be tomatoes.

What this really is is stewed tomatoes, but the canned version has frightened so many children over so many decades that I refuse to use the name. Freshly cooked tomatoes do not resemble those guilty tins at all. What I cooked and ate yesterday was sweet in the way only a tomato knows how to be, salty to bring out the tomatoey sweetness and had an underlying umami flavor provided by the two other vegetables. I was wowed by the first taste and not finished when the bowl was empty. I ate more, then more and finally it was all gone. My vegetable side dish had become lunch.

21 Tomato Salute

1 pound fresh, ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped bell pepper
a couple of sprigs each of herb leaves only (I used basil, thyme and parsley)
1 tablespoon or more butter
salt and pepper

Boil a pot of water for skinning the tomatoes. When it is boiling, toss the tomatoes in and leave them for a minute or so. Don’t let them stay too long, because they will cook too much and too much flesh will come off with the skin. You can test by pulling one up in a spoon and rubbing it with a finger. As soon as the skin starts to move a bit, it’s ready to peel. Remove the pot from the heat and put it in the sink under running cold water to stop the cooking. Peel the tomatoes with a paring knife. It should be very easy. If there appears to be a lot of core at the stem end, remove some of it with the knife tip.

In a medium pot, heat the butter and cook the onion and pepper in it until it is softened but not browned. Add the tomatoes and about a level teaspoon of salt (be conservative) or even better the same amount of the perfumed salt we made a couple of weeks ago. Put the herb leaves on top and then cover the pot. Reduce the heat to simmer and simmer about ten minutes and check to see if the tomatoes are cooked. Moderately sized tomatoes probably will be done. If not, continue to cook them until they are just done. Check for salt. Serve in small bowls with some freshly ground pepper.

The only way this can taste better is if eaten with buttered toast.