Heirloom Tomato Platter Recipes

Steps:

• Make pastry:
• Blend together flour, butter, shortening, parmesan, pepper, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size lumps. Drizzle 2 tablespoons ice water over and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in food processor) until incorporated.
• Gently squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together without falling apart, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) after each addition until incorporated, continuing to test. (Do not overwork dough, or it will become tough.)
• Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 2 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather both portions of dough into 1 ball, then pat into a disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round and fit into a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable rim. Roll rolling pin over top of pan to trim dough flush with rim. Lightly prick tart shell all over with a fork.
• Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or rice. Bake in middle of oven 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake until golden, about 15 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack.
• Fill tart shell:
• Remove side of pan and slide shell onto a platter. Arrange one third of mozzarella in bottom of shell and drizzle with one third of pesto. Arrange one third of tomato slices, overlapping, on top of cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering twice.

Steps:

• Arrange tomatoes, cut side up, on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then 1 1/2 tablespoons each oregano and thyme leaves. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons oil. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush grill rack with oil. Place tomatoes, cut side up, on rack. Cook until bottoms are charred, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn tomatoes over and grill just to sear, about 1 minute. Turn cut side up onto platter. Sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon each oregano and thyme, then drizzle with more oil, if desired. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Place salad greens in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, sugar and oregano until blended. Pour over salad greens; toss to coat. Transfer to a large platter. Arrange tomato slices over greens. Top with basil, pine nuts, onion and cheese. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Start with the vinaigrette to give the flavors time to blend. In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots, garlic, both mustards, honey, and vinegar.
• Once the ingredients are fully combined, slowly pour in the olive oil while continuously mixing the vinaigrette to emulsify.
• Set aside the vinaigrette. Tip: You can store the vinaigrette in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; you won't need to use all of it for the recipe.
• Slice the larger heirloom tomatoes and quarter or chop the remaining tomatoes to create various sizes and textures on the plate. Arrange the tomatoes on a platter. Tip: Never keep tomatoes in the refrigerator. Doing so will take away flavor and aroma from the tomato, and leave you with an inferior product. Instead, store tomatoes at room temperature.
• Hand crumble the goat cheese and dot the tomatoes.
• Strip the thyme leaves from the stems and sprinkle liberally over the platter.
• Spoon a small amount of the vinaigrette over the platter and serve.

Steps:

• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Rub bread with cut garlic halves; brush bread with 3 tablespoons oil. Combine remaining 1/3 cup oil, currant tomatoes, and green onions in medium bowl; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
• Overlap tomato slices in concentric circles on platter, alternating colors. Scatter onion and celery slices over tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon tomato and green onion mixture over. Sprinkle with crumbled cheese.
• Grill bread until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Cut each slice diagonally in half; serve with salad.

Steps:

• Combine tomatoes, with 1 Tbsp olive oil, red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper, allow to pickle for 20 minutes.
• Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to a frypan on medium heat and caramelize the corn kernels for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Remove corn and in the same pan cook the slices of zucchini for a minute on each side or until golden.
• In a blender, blitz the ricotta with half the mint for 30 seconds or until light and airy.
• To serve spread some ricotta down on a board, layer with corn, tomatoes, and zucchini and finish with fresh mint, radish and toasted pecans. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper before serving.

Steps:

• Heat a stove-top grill. Brush the bread with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and grill for 10 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. If you don't have a stove-top grill, heat the oil in a large sauté pan, add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.
• For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, mustard, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Toss with enough vinaigrette to moisten. Season liberally with salt and pepper and arrange the vegetables artfully on a platter. Drizzle the bread with extra vinaigrette or olive oil and add to the platter.
• Serve immediately, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Steps:

• Arrange the tomato slices in an overlapping single layer on an attractive platter.
• Drizzle evenly with vinegar, then with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and garnish with freshly snipped tarragon or parsley.
• Let dish stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Steps:

• Make vegetable broth:
• Core tomatoes and cut a shallow X in bottom of each, then blanch tomatoes in boiling water 10 seconds. Transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to stop cooking.
• Peel tomatoes using tip of a small paring knife, reserving skins. With tomatoes standing on stem ends, cut off outer layer of flesh (follow curve of tomato) from each side, leaving seedy interior and reserving flesh and interior (with juices) separately.
• Make gelatin mixture:
• Very lightly oil terrine, then line long sides and bottom with a sheet of plastic wrap, smoothing any wrinkles and allowing at least 2 inches of overhang on each side.
• Whisk gelatin into cooled 1/2 cup broth and let stand 5 minutes for gelatin to soften. Add to hot broth, stirring until gelatin has dissolved. Put gelatin mixture in a metal bowl and quick-chill by setting bowl in an ice bath and stirring occasionally until cool.
• Stir herbs into cooled gelatin mixture and continue to stir (in ice bath) until it has a syrupy consistency.
• Assemble terrine:
• Pour enough gelatin mixture into terrine to come 1/4 inch up sides. Put terrine in freezer 10 minutes to set gelatin.
• Completely cover set gelatin with a layer of tomato, rounded sides down. Pour a little of cooled (but not set) gelatin mixture over tomatoes to just cover them. Continue layering tomatoes and gelatin mixture. (Work quickly to keep gelatin mixture from setting; if it begins to set, remelt over barely simmering water, then quick-chill in ice bath, stirring gently, until syrupy.) Pour a final layer of gelatin mixture over top, letting it seep into spaces between tomatoes (make sure gelatin mixture covers tomatoes).
• Pour any remaining gelatin mixture into a shallow bowl and chill separately. Gently push down on surface of terrine to make sure there aren't any air pockets, then chill in refrigerator, covered, at least 8 hours.
• Run a thin knife along short sides (ends) of terrine, then invert onto a cutting board or a platter, gently pulling on plastic overhang to help unmold (discard plastic wrap). Carefully slice terrine with an electric knife or a very sharp thin knife, using a metal spatula to hold outside of each slice steady and transferring each slice to a plate. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Chop extra gelatin (from bowl) and serve on the side.