This year we planted two Early Girl tomato seedlings in the garden and were they ever a great surprise. They produced more than 100 pounds of gorgeous, sweet fruit. Though the plants are looking rather scraggly after several months, they are still bearing fruit. These tomatoes are deep red in color, meaty, have very few seeds and a tiny stem that’s not woody when you cut into the fruit. They are the perfect tomato. Unlike the Big Beef tomatoes that we usually grow, the Early Girls are small in size. My friend Hano and her sister Charlotte eat them as if they were apples!
With all of these tomatoes ripening faster than we knew what to do with them, I wanted to whip up something delicious that would show off their exceptional flavor. This was the perfect recipe. It is a raw sauce so there’s no cooking involved and everything goes into one bowl. This really is the way to showcase your homegrown tomatoes. The original recipe that I wrote down nearly 10 years ago comes from Deborah Mele. It’s one of my favorite summer meals.
This dish requires the best tomatoes you can find. If you don’t grow your own, check out your local farmer’s markets. The tomatoes that are sold at supermarket chains in our area just won’t do. Heirloom tomatoes would work if you can find them.
You may use kalamata olives or a mix of olives. I added a few castelvetrano olives along with the kalamatas.
I love that this recipe can be thrown together in 20 minutes. All you need is a good, sharp knife to chop up all the ingredients.
My favorite way to serve the tomato sauce is on thin capellini noodles or on toasted sourdough bread.
Toast the bread until it’s nice and crisp. Then spoon the tomatoes over the top and let it sit for a minute so that it soaks up all of that delicious sauce.
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons finely diced sweet onion
- 12 seedless kalamata olives, or a mix of olives, diced
- 1½ tablespoons drained capers
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped oregano
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
- capellini or sourdough bread
- grated parmesan (optional)
- Combine tomatoes, onion, olives, capers, garlic, parsley, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes if using. Stir in red wine vinegar and olive oil. I normally don't add any salt since the olives and capers are salty. Add a few grinds of black pepper and salt to taste.
- Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for a few hours. Serve over capellini pasta or thinly sliced and toasted sourdough bread. Scatter grated parmesan cheese over the top. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for another day.
