Tomato

Whole wheat and spelt pastas have a pleasant, nutty flavor that stands up to the flavors in this sauce, but any kind of pasta is fine for this recipe.

Rich and delicious Walnut Pesto can be made in minutes in a food processor or blender—it will be ready before the pasta has cooked. Make extra; it keeps well for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator and is good on boiled potatoes and steamed fish.

While we provide a meatloaf recipe here, we know how particular people are about their meatloaf recipes, so feel free to use your own. You’ll often want to make this sandwich with cold, leftover meatloaf, which is perfect because it’s easier to slice. But how to heat it up without drying it out? This is where the liquid from the tomato relish comes in: Put the meatloaf slices into the sauce and pop them into the microwave or oven. The meatloaf is gently heated, absorbing all the flavor and moisture of the sauce. Now just layer on some aged Cheddar, bacon, if you like, and the tomato relish, and you have a hearty sandwich—the ultimate comfort food.

This dish was inspired by one from Sisha’s native Chile: a fried fish with a traditional tomato and onion salad. In Chile, the onion is not a condiment in the salad but, rather, an ingredient in its own right. So as not to be overpowered by so much raw onion, we “shock” the onion first; this blunts the thrust of the onion without sacrificing its texture. The sparkling water in the batter lends a tempura-like quality. And since the traditional Chilean green chile is unavailable here, we use serrano chiles—smaller and about five times hotter than jalapeños, but thin-walled and easy to use.

This is a straightforward version of the classic sandwich—with a few improvements. We opt for good-quality tuna, we use celery root instead of celery, and we roast the tomatoes to extract the most flavor. Since this is a warm sandwich, the roasted tomato actually holds up better than would its raw counterpart. We think you’ll agree that the addition of the fresh oregano brings out the flavor of the cheese.

This sandwich was a real crowd-pleaser when it was on the ’wichcraft menu, popular with adults and kids alike. Why? Probably because it tastes like pizza! We prepare it as a pressed sandwich, but it also works beautifully grilled in a pan with a little olive oil, or if you don’t want to add any fat, heat it open-faced in the oven until the cheeses melt. The mozzarella is milky and gooey, with a great mouth feel, and the provolone adds personality. Roasting tomatoes concentrates their flavor and caramelizes their sugars; it’s a great way of getting the best of a tomato when it’s not at the height of the season. When herbs are a primary ingredient, only fresh will do. But when they are used as a seasoning, as in this sandwich, dried work very well. One way to ensure you have high-quality dried herbs is to dry them yourself. Take a bunch of fresh oregano, tie it up at the stem end, and hang it upside down to dry, outside if possible, but wherever there is plenty of air circulation. When the herbs are thoroughly dry and the leaves fall off the stems at the touch, crumble the leaves, store them in a jar, and use them as long as the flavor remains strong and pleasing, about 2 months.

This American classic is available at deli counters year-round, but at ’wichcraft, it’s a seasonal sandwich served only when local tomatoes are at their peak. For us, this is a tomato sandwich, with crisp bacon (be sure it’s good quality!) and Bibb lettuce serving almost as condiments. We use a thick slice of tomato, say 1/2 inch, well seasoned with sea salt, really good pepper, and even a little olive oil. This is one of the sandwiches for which architecture matters, so please pay attention to the assembly instructions. For a special kick, rub a peeled garlic clove over the bread before assembling. A mix of heirloom tomatoes is ideal, combining colors and tones, sweetness and acidity. Imagine a slice of red plum, a slice of green zebra, and a slice of German yellow: summer in a sandwich.

With no boiled shrimp and no mayo, this shrimp salad is immediately set apart from its traditional counterpart. It’s actually closer to a scampi sandwich. Eschewing the mayo keeps the contents light and the flavor assertive. Throwing a party? As the shrimp are particularly beautiful, this recipe could also be used to make canapés.

The Italian version of an omelet, in which the whisked eggs and the other ingredients go into a large pan at the same time, a frittata can be eaten warm or cold. Almost any kind of vegetable works well in a frittata. We love the sweetness and flavor of leeks and roasted onions. The original sandwich at ’wichcraft contained only the frittata and good, aged Cheddar cheese. Ben Bohen, a long-time collaborator, would have this sandwich as his regular breakfast—except that Ben would always add roasted tomato. He encouraged the staff to try it, and he encouraged the customers to try it, until eventually he converted us all and we put it on the menu forevermore with Ben’s roasted tomatoes.

Tomatoes are technically a fruit, and that’s how I treat them. This sorbet, which should be made at the height of tomato season with the ripest fruits, showcases that characteristic sweet-acid tomato flavor in its coldest form. A scoop of this sorbet can be the start of a not-so-traditional Bloody Mary, and it could also find its way into a bowl of gazpacho. Try pairing it with the Raspberry-Rose Water Soup (page 62), too.

This dessert was inspired by “Tomato Tim” Stark of Eckerton Hill Farm at the Union Square farmers’ market in New York City. We were talking one morning and he gave me some tomatoes that were so sweet they tasted like berries. So I roasted them and paired them with super-ripe blackberries for an after-dinner fruit salad. Use a mix of tiny tomatoes for the best-looking and -tasting dessert.

This is the basic tomato sauce that I use the most. It takes a bit of time to make, but it’s worthwhile because the sauce is so versatile—and during the hour of simmering I can be doing other things out of the kitchen. So I double this recipe, freeze it, and use it all week. Store extra sauce by allowing it to cool completely, then pour two-cup portions into freezer bags and freeze for up to three months. The classic marinara sauce is great with any pasta shape. But when you’re keeping it simple, why not keep it truly simple? Go with the classic spaghetti.

Panzanella comes from the Latin word panis, meaning “bread.” This is another dish that illustrates Italians’ resourcefulness when it comes to leftovers: The key to this dish is the actually stale—not fresh—bread, which absorbs the flavors in the salad without falling apart and becoming mushy. In the sixteenth century, panzanella was made with just bread, oil, and vinegar. Tomatoes were introduced to Italy in the sixteenth century, but even then they only began to be eaten in the south, where they grew, two hundred years later. Now, of course, Italians all over the Boot love the tomato, and this salad is a staple everywhere.

Farro is a type of wheat that was an important component of the Roman Empire’s diet, but it fell somewhat out of favor when more refined wheat products became plentiful in Italy. You’ll still find it on a lot of Italian tables, though, and especially in soups and salads such as this one. Farro is available in Italian markets and gourmet grocery stores, but brown rice or barley could also be used in this recipe.

Caponata is one of the great Sicilian vegetable dishes, often eaten as a relish alongside pork roast or fish. The eggplant-based recipe features a wonderful sweet-and-sour taste, one of the hallmarks of Sicilian cooking—a combination of sugar and vinegar that provides a tingling push-and-pull sensation in the mouth. In my family, we often ate caponata as an antipasto, spooned over toasted bread, and used any leftovers for wonderful sandwiches. It can be eaten hot, cold, or at room temperature, making it the ultimate vegetable dish for a casual party.

Note that the ingredients here are something of a hodgepodge: potato and sweet potato, zucchini and carrot, onion and bell pepper. That’s because this is a pretty loose recipe, and you should feel free to substitute whatever you prefer. Just be sure to cut any vegetables to roughly the same size, to ensure that they’re all fully cooked—but not overcooked—at the same time.

I often serve these tomatoes at room temperature, and believe me, it’s a real relief to be able to serve a dish to which you have to do absolutely nothing while your guests are in your home, other than put it on a plate. That’s truly Everyday Italian cooking.

The beauty of a dish like this is that you get just enough meat to feel satisfied that you’ve had a substantial meal, but you’ve actually consumed a much greater proportion of healthy greens than of red meat. Plus, it can serve four people on the budget of one steak.