We had so many fresh tomatoes that they started to go bad. This made me particularly sad, as I love a fresh tomato - I just couldn't seem to use them up quickly enough. In fact, our counters are almost overwhelmed with the bounty of the season, and I have really been trying to find ways to take advantage of these wonderful fresh foods.
Then something in an old cookbook caught my eye, and I gave it a try. And friends, this is easy and simply delicious. I used 4 fresh dead-ripe tomatoes and...
1 clove garlic
1 tsp sea salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1 fresh basil leaf, chopped
baguette, sliced
And at the end, we had the most yummy crostini that we have ever had at my house!
Here is what I did....
Brought a pot of water to boiling. Added 2 tomatoes and counted, slowly, to 15. Using a slotted spoon, I move the tomatoes to a colander in my sink. Then I did the same thing with the last 2 tomatoes.
I let the tomatoes cool to where I could handle them, and peeled the skins right off. Then I cut the tomatoes in half, and with my cutting board half over the sink I smooshed each tomato half with my hand, crushing most of the seeds right out of them. I rinsed the seeds and juice into my compost bowl, and took the tomatoes and diced them.
In a medium bowl, I crushed one clove of garlic, added the salt, and mixed until it formed a sort of thick paste. I added the juice of 1/2 lemon.
Then I added the tomatoes. I drizzled them with olive oil and a shake of balsamic vinegar. I added the chopped basil and stirred.
Already, the tomato mixture smelled fabulous.
I took the baguette slices and put them on a cookie sheet and broiled them in my oven until the top was golden brown.
Once I took them out of the oven, I turned them over and put a heaping spoonful of tomato mixture on the untoasted side, letting a little of the juices sink into the bread. No picture of the finished crostini as they were all gone by the time I got back with the camera!!!
Honestly, these were YUM! If you like fresh tomatoes and garlic, you should give these wonderful easy little snacks a try!
