You Say Tomato….

You Say Tomato…….
I Say Delicious!
Who Doesn’t Love Tomatoes?
Did you know that tomatoes originated from Peru?
Everyone always associated them with Italy. But if it weren’t for immigration, Italy would not know of tomatoes and would have never created such delicious food. Think about it! Immigration gave us different foods and spices.
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Be Sure to Check Out Our:
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Enjoy our Delicious ‘You Say Tomato’ Recipes:
Tomatoes with Gorgonzola Cheese Dressing and Herbs
Tomatoes with Gorgonzola Cheese Dressing and Herbs Sandwiches
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Pictured Here is Our Ebolta Salad
(Egg, Bacon, Onion, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado)
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Our Delicious Homemade Pizzas
(Recipe Below)
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Our Grilled Tomatoes
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Grilled Tomatoes With Peppers, Spring Onions, and Micro Greens
(Recipe Down Below)
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Basil Pesto and Sundried Tomato Bruschetta Tapenade,
Fresh Herbs From our Garden,
and Marinated Mozzarella Pearls
Garnished w/ Fresh Heirlooms, Marinated Mozzarella Pearls,
With Sides of Grilled Sausages, and a Veggie Root Casserole w/ Fresh Herbs,
Also, Sauteed Onions and Peppers
I, Julie, wanted to create a Grilled Tomato Sandwich based on my southern upbringing, however, it quickly turned Italian right before my eyes so I just ran with the ideas. Gordon, as always, is the best partner to be creative with. He is also an excellent chef and I rely on him to bring my ideas to fruition. He never disappoints! 🙂
Building Our Sandwiches
Everything on the Grill is Good
(Recipe Down Below)
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Our Grilled Tomato and Burrata Cheese Crostini
(Recipe Below)
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BLT’s OUR WAY!
(Recipe Down Below)
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Tomatoes with Gorgonzola Cheese Dressing and Herbs
This is a tasty salad that is a beautiful presentation at any event you may be invited to.
It just says, ‘WOW!’
It’s also very simple to make.
Ingredients:
6-8 Tomatoes
1/2 Pound Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese
6 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 T. Nice Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 t. Paprika
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Fresh Herbs
(I used Purple Basil and Parsley)
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Slice Tomatoes into Slices
You can make this salad with smaller grape tomatoes but in order to have that great presentation the larger tomatoes work better.
Fan the Tomatoes out in a Circle Pattern
In a mixing bowl just add all of the ingredients.
I used Paprika but you could substitute it with another spice if you like.
Cayenne Pepper would be nice too.
Whisk Together and Add Your Gorgonzola Cheese
Insert Herbs Here and There Around the Tomatoes
Then Pour the Dressing Over Tomatoes
Serve With Some Buttery Toasted Baguette
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How To Eat The Leftover Tomatoes From Above
Tomato Sandwiches
I grew up spending my summer’s in Georgia watching my Grandmother devour Tomato Sandwiches. She ate them quite plain with just regular loaf bread and sliced tomatoes. Her friends would take them a step further by adding some mayonnaise and perhaps some salt and pepper. But that was it. So, when it came time to thinking about a different way to eat my leftover tomato salad from above, I created this in honor of my Grandmother.
Loaf Bread, Mayonnaise, Tomato with the works and….
fresh herbs of Purple Basil and Parsley.
Healthy, and Tasty
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Our Ebolta Salad
Egg, Bacon, Onion, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado
Actually we used a Slimcado, instead of a Avocado.
Gordon is laughing because I’m making him laugh!
Here Gordon is slicing our heirloom tomatoes and he fried up our bacon.
Heirloom tomatoes are so much tastier than regular tomatoes. It’s such a difference! They are more expensive but the taste is so worth the extra expense.
Gordon Chopping our Grape Tomatoes
This is a Slimcado. Look at the Pit!
I will say that the Slimcado is not as tasty as an Avocado, but it is lighter in calories.
Gordon is slicing it lengthwise here for our salads.
Slicing Some Red Onion and Slicing A Boiled Egg
Now it’s just a matter of putting your EBOLTA salad together. Then add some salad dressing of your choice.
Perfect!
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Homemade Pizza’s
How To Make Homemade Pizza’s
This pizza dough we bought at the grocery store already made. It’s a shortcut, and it’s worth it. A nice dinner that doesn’t require a lot of work on our part.
Just throw some flour on the counter, slice the dough in half, and knead the dough on the counter.
We cut the dough in half and that will make two pizza’s.
But first let’s prepare the pizza pans.
Here Gordon is putting olive oil and turmeric in the bottom of these pans.
Turmeric is a cancer killer so we incorporate it in our meals every chance that we get.
Once the dough is placed into the baking dish, poke holes in it with a fork.
By poking holes into the dough it will stop it from rising and stop it from rising.
Now Gordon is pouring some of the olive oil onto the top of the dough.
Now Comes the Goodies!
Fresh Herbs From our Garden
Basil and Rosemary
Slicing Some Red Onions, Mushrooms, Tomatoes……
Now start placing the veggies onto your pizzas.
It’s so much fun to create your very own personalized pizza.
Love The Red Onions!
Turn the Oven on 400F.
Cook for about 20 minutes. Check often to insure that they aren’t burning.
Look How Beautiful!
Slice, then Eat!
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PIZZA’S AGAIN!!!
We decided to make them again using different ingredients.
I had dreamed of a pizza with green and black, I told that to Gordon the following day.
I wanted a pizza with green and black.
Our Pizza Ingredients:
Gordon Slicing Our Black Olives and Delicious Heirloom Tomatoes
Look How Beautiful!
Heirloom Tomatoes
Sliced Yellow and Green Bell Peppers, Black Olives, Mushrooms…..
This is the pizza dough we bought at the grocery store.
Here Gordon is adding the olive oil, turmeric, some Mrs. Dash, (a poultry seasoning), and a Chinese Spice Mix, and some Roasted Garlic.
There is no way that I can relate to you this ingredient. No idea what it says?
The Roasted Garlic
This is what was so perfect about this pizza, the sun dried tomatoes on the bottom.
You can see all of our goodies on the bottom of these pizza’s.
Now Gordon is poking them with a knife so the bread doesn’t rise.
Now Gordon is placing the dough in the pan.
You can see the spices, the oil, and the sundried tomatoes.
And here is my BLACK and GREEN.
Green Bell Peppers, Black Olives……
Along with Some Heirloom Tomatoes and Feta Cheese
Ready to go into the Oven
Look How Pretty and Colorful!
Not to Mention, Delicious!
And Look at the Crusty Bottom…..
Perfect!
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Pasta and Spaghetti Pizzas
Pizza Dough, Rick and Creamy Artichoke Parmesan Sauce, Al Dente Pasta, Marinated Artichoke Hearts, and grated Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese. And a sprinkling of Garlic Salt as well.
According to Gordon, this is the best pizza he has ever eaten and it was born out of our desire to cooperate on what we both wanted for dinner. He wanted pizza, I wanted spaghetti, so I suggested we try Spaghetti Pizzas!
We started out with ready made pizza dough that Gordon bought at the commissary bakery. He bought us whole wheat.
Here Gordon is kneading the dough in some flour on our kitchen counter.
We searched through our pasta shelf and we did find some spaghetti noodles, but we also found some other pasta’s that we wanted to try for this recipe.
While Gordon was overseas I had bought these cute little pizza pans and I was dying to try them out. Gordon did spray some Pam Olive Oil spray onto them before he placed the pizza dough into them, spreading the dough to the edge.
I thought that it would be a good idea to cook the dough in the oven for about 5 minutes before we added all the toppings to it. I didn’t want a soggy pizza. This ended up being a good idea.
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In the meantime we did boil the pasta according to package instructions until Al Dente.
Drain, then set aside.
Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano
We were digging through the refrigerator and found this block of cheese that is perfect for this!
We are a big fan of this creamy Artichoke Parmesan Sauce.
It is great eaten on pasta kind of like a spaghetti sauce. Here we used it as a pizza sauce.
Gordon spread the Artichoke Parmesan sauce onto the pizza dough and then started to place the al dente vegetable dyed pasta all around it.
It is a beautiful colorful pizza.
Once you have added the pasta now grate some of the cheese over top. Use what you like. Nothing here needs to be exact. But I recommend if this is an Italian themed pasta pizza then use Italian cheeses.
Here Gordon also added some marinated artichoke hearts and a dash of Garlic Salt.
Make sure that all the pasta is covered in the cheese. That will prevent the pasta from drying out and getting crisp in the oven. We don’t want crunchy pasta here. We still want it to be al dente.
Now just place into a 350F oven for anywhere between 10-15 minutes. Depending on your oven.
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NEXT UP!
For this pizza Gordon added some jarred spaghetti sauce onto the pizza dough that has been cooked in the oven for about 5 minutes prior. Then he added the al dente pasta…….
Now grate lots of cheese over the pasta….
Now bake in a 350F oven for anywhere between 10 – 15 minutes.
I guess I don’t have a finished photo of this pizza. (I guess I scarfed it down the second it came out of the oven.) 🙂
BUT, I do have these photos of the Artichoke Parmesan sauce ones.
This was sooooooo DELICIOUS!
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These marinated artichoke hearts are so great on pizzas whether you use them on our pizzas or not.
We eat them quite often.
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Spaghetti Pizzas
This was so delicious!
I would also say that this is very definitely a Spaghetti Pizza!
Boil your spaghetti noodles until al dente.
Place your pizza dough into a greased pan and bake for about 5 minutes.
Then remove from the oven.
Now spread some spaghetti sauce all around the dough. Then add your spaghetti noodles.
Next, grate whatever cheeses that you prefer over the top.
Be sure to add a lot and spread the pasta and the cheese to the ends of the pan.
Sprinkle some Garlic Salt…..
Add More Cheese……
Then into the oven it goes for about 15 minutes.
Let sit a few minutes before you cut into it.
Delicious!!!! 🙂
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Tomato, Ginger, and Honey Salad
The Salad is Picnic Ready
(I had an idea for a tomato salad that I wanted Gordon to make as an addition to our picnic foods. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted but I told Gordon to add some ginger and honey and just go from there. He did! And it was so good!)
This is a salad that you just need to eyeball and taste as you go when you create this.
Ingredients:
Cherry Tomatoes (We used an heirloom variety of red, yellow and even purple.)
2 T. Fresh Ginger, sliced
2 T. Rice Vinegar
2 T. Mirin (Sweet Cooking Rice Wine)
2 T. Honey
Some Shakes of a Salt (We used our Florida Blend)
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These are Beautiful Tomatoes
Be sure to wash them.
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You want to peel the ginger. You can do this with a spoon, it comes off very easily.
Here Gordon is slicing the ginger into thin strips and placing them into the bowl.
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You then want to start to slice your tomatoes in half.
The Kitchen is Looking Particularly Florida 🙂
Add Your Tomatoes to the Bowl
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This is a Florida Sunshine Blend Seasoned Salt
(You can use whatever you like.)
You then want to add your Mirin, Rice Vinegar, and Honey.
Mix Together Well
Now Your Tomato Salad is Complete
We wanted to put the salad into these jars that are great for travel.
Not only beautiful, healthy, but also Delicious!!!
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Our Grilled Tomato Sandwiches
w/ Basil Pesto and Sundried Tomato Bruschetta Tapenade,
Fresh Herbs From our Garden,
and Marinated Mozzarella Pearls
Garnished w/ Fresh Heirlooms, Marinated Mozzarella Pearls,
With Sides of Grilled Sausages, and a Veggie Root Casserole w/ Fresh Herbs,
Also, Sauteed Onions and Peppers
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Our Grilled Sweet and Smokey Sausages, and our Grilled Plum Tomatoes
Here you see our sauteed onions and bell peppers with just a little salt and pepper for seasoning.
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Wash your Plum Tomatoes before slicing.
Slice them in half then slice off the stem using a triangular cut.
Use a small spoon or melon baller to remove the seeds.
These are the Sweet Sausages we used that have great flavor.
Prior to grilling the tomatoes. season them with a little Garlic infused Olive Oil, Italian seasonings, and dried Oregano.
Then add some fresh cracked pepper and Sea Salt.
Mix them well using a spatula.
As they marinate, I turned my grill on high to burn off any left over ingredients attached to the grates. After about 5 min. I brush them off with a grill brush then spray them with a high temp vegetable or peanut oil.
Now, turn your grill down to medium and place your tomatoes cut side down on the grates. Don’t move them for about 8 min. to allow them to char as seen below. I also placed the small sausages above the tomatoes to start their cooking allowing any juices from them to fall on the tomatoes.
Here you can see the great grill marks on the Plum tomatoes.
Turn them over and let them cook for about 5 more min.
Place them back in the bowl you marinated them in.
Now, bring the sausages closer to the flames to get some char on them.
They will split which is fine letting you know they are cooked.
Place the sausages on a plate to rest the juices.
Now, place your bread on the grill to get them toasted.
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Here are the peppers we used which we grew from our garden.
Wash them and let them dry.
Slice your onion in half then remove the stem piece using a triangular cut.
Now, slice the onions in half circles as shown and place them in a large saute pan with a little olive oil.
Slice your peppers removing the top stem, then slice them in half and remove the seeds.
Saute the onions and when they are half-way cooked, add your bell peppers which were thinly sliced.
Saute the mixture until all the vegetables are softened and set aside.
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Here we had some left over grilled Plum tomatoes, so Julie thought to use them as a nice caprese side dish.
Here we added some Mozzarella balls.
Then we added some fresh Basil from our garden. Mix all the ingredients well with a spatula.
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Place some Sundried Bruschetta Topenade on one side of the grilled bread and some Basil Pesto on the other as shown.
(You can buy them at your local grocery stores, or make them yourself.)
Now, place some grilled tomatoes and fresh basil on top of each bread slice.
This makes a great summer sandwich!
Here are the rest of the items we grilled on this rainy day making a nice complete meal.
Garnish the grilled Plum Tomato Sandwich with some cherry tomatoes using a wooden skewer as shown.
What a great way to eat these fresh vegetables and sweet sausages.
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Using the same grilled bread as above to make another version of caprese.
Here we used some Burrata Cheese which comes submerged in its own whey.
We also used the leftover grilled tomatoes.
Spread your Burrata cheese over the bread slices.
Add some Red Pepper flakes then some Italian seasonings.
They look good enough to eat here.
Now, add some fresh Basil Leaves.
Lastly, add your Grilled Tomatoes and the marinated Mozzarella Pearls.
This is a great caprese.
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Grilled Tomatoes With Peppers, Spring Onions and Micro Greens
Ingredients:
10 Plum Tomatoes – cut in half with seeds removed
~3 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Infused Olive Oil – regular Olive Oil will also work
1 Tbsp. Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2-3 Tbsp. Pizza Palooza Seasonings – Italian Seasoning will also work
8-10 Sweet Cherry Peppers – Conchita Brand
2-3 Tbsp. Sweet Cherry Pepper juice
3 Spring Onions – sliced thinly
1/2 Cup Broccoli Micro Greens
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Slice the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds.
Do this for all the tomatoes and place them in a large bowl.
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The bread in the above picture was used in two different recipes.
It is some nice crusty artisan bread which I grilled later on in this recipe.
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Add your Olive Oil, Freshly Ground Black Pepper, and Italian Seasoning to the mixing bowl.
Mix the Tomatoes Lightly
Here I heated the grill for about 5 min. on high.
Doing this will give the tomatoes a nice char.
Turn the grill down to medium and place the tomatoes cut side down as shown.
When you place them on the grill DON’T move them.
Here I am grilling the bread to give it a nice toast.
Here you can see the bread is getting a nice toast after just a few minutes grilling time on each side.
This bread is toast!
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By not moving them, you can see they all have nice grill marks. This took about 8 min. grilling time.
Turn them over and grill them for an additional 3 min. When done, place them back in the bowl.
Remove some of the Sweet Peppers from the jar and place them in the bowl with the grilled tomatoes.
Slice your Spring Onions thinly as shown and add them to the bowl.
Add some of your Sweet Pepper Juice to the bowl as well.
This juice gave the tomatoes a great flavor.
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Add your Broccoli Micro Greens to the bowl and mix gently.
Place them in a decorative bowl and proudly serve them to your guests!
These were so good!
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BLT’s Our Way
These are going to be sooooo good!
And, we will be using our Green Mayonnaise!
(You can use any mayonnaise that you prefer.)
For a beautiful presentation, be sure to find tomatoes that have that lovely green stem at the top.
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Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. Bacon Fat
1 Large Onion – chopped
1/2 Green Bell Pepper – chopped
1/2 Orange Bell Pepper – chopped
1/2 Red Bell Pepper – chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp. Dill Weed
6 Large Tomatoes – Top sliced off and insides removed
15 Bacon strips – cooked until crispy
~2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese – grated
3 English Muffins – Sliced in half and toasted
(Mayo for the English Muffins)
6 Lettuce leaves
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Add your bacon fat to a large saute pan and heat to medium high heat.
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Slice the root and stem off a large onion, slice it in half and remove the outer skin.
Now, slice the onions into small sections as shown.
Add the onions to the saute pan.
Slice your bell peppers in half, remove the seeds and stem…
then slice half of each bell pepper lengthwise into small sections.
Slice those long sections into small pieces as shown.
Green, Orange, Red
Place all the sliced bell peppers into the saute pan with the onions.
Add your salt and pepper to the onion and bell pepper mixture.
Then add your dill weed to the pan and mix all the ingredients well.
Saute the ingredients until softened taking about 10 min.
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You will need a baking pan or dish for this.
Slice off the top of all the tomatoes.
Use a melon baller and remove the insides of each tomato leaving a small portion of the sides intact.
Place your tomatoes into a large baking pan.
Fill the tomatoes with the sauteed onions and bell pepper mixture.
Like so…..
Add your cooked bacon to the top of the tomatoes as shown.
Now add your cheese to the top of the bacon.
Bake the tomatoes in a 350’F oven for 10 – 15 min. or until the cheese has melted and the tomatoes are hot.
Look How Beautiful!
Slice your English Muffins in half.
Toast the English Muffins and top them with some lettuce leaves and our Green Mayonnaise.
Top the lettuce with the stuffed tomatoes and enjoy!
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If you would like to check out our other Italian food blog posts…….
Julie’s Italian Appetizers and Edible Gifts
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Gordon and Julie Italian Seconda Parte 2
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La Sciatta Giulia Anna’s (Italian Sloppy Julie Ann’s)
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Edible Gifts: Italian, Greek, and Irish
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Modern Day Mona (Lisa) Halloween
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Even More Italian (Just For You)
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Tavolino Da Caffe Italiana (Coffee Table Italian)
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Grazie,
Gordon and Julie