I adore cooking and shopping but not the cleaning up. Luckily my husband Andrea, does that part for me. We function as a team.
When the heat arrives in summer, less time spent in our tiny kitchen the better. The King of Summer in our house is the Pomodoro. We love the variety. Italians have tomato “rules” of course. There are salad tomatoes and sauce tomatoes. Sauce tomatoes are meatier and used ripe in late summer to make sauces. The other tomatoes, often green or a green tint, are picked unripe, are tarter, crisp and perfect for a salad. They are also more acidic adding a nice flavor contrast.
Italians close up the house in summer to keep it cool inside. Shades pulled down or curtains blocking the light. The “persiani” shutters closed during the hot hours. We don’t have A/C. Italians have a fear of cold air, that’s a whole ‘nother story!
The Italian Summer Pantry
By having a stocked pantry, you can go wild in summer. We always will have a bag of mixed tomatoes which we NEVER keep in the fridge. We also buy most of our tomatoes at a farmer’s market, directly from the farm. Our grocery store also has a nice selection from other regions of Italy as well for us to choose from. We tend to avoid eating tomatoes out of season, there is nothing like celebrating that first vine ripened tomato.
Some of the basics we keep year round:
Several varieties of extra virgin olive oil:I travel for work and do pick up other regional oils. Sicily, Puglia as well as my Tuscan oils. These are all best quality “finishing” oils.
Vinegars: Classic red and white wine vinegars, Apple Cider, Balsamico, I have both the traditional and some of the DOP which is a “fake”, but still flavorful. I also have a local specialty, Agresto, made from unripe grapes and herbs.
Capers: salt packed and in vinegar
Sea Salt
Anchovies
Oregano
Basil
Mint
Red Onions
Feta cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Italian or Spanish oil packed Tuna
Cooked chickpeas or Tuscan white beans
Salads and other recipes:
Insalata Caprese has only a couple of variations, with basil or oregano?
There are several ingredients you see repeated in many ways in the Mediterranean diet. Tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions. The Tuscan Panzanella salad is a favorite of mine, our bread is saltless and goes stale easily, so this is a way to reuse the bread. Sometimes I use couscous and switch out the basil for mint and cut everything smaller.
Another fun recipe is Acqua Sal a salad where water and salt create a beautiful, delicious broth.
Of course, all these recipes are as good as the tomatoes are. Wait until you can get really sun ripened tomatoes and celebrate with them.
The other summer recipe which I adore is Tomatoes Tonnati. I love the Italian tonnata sauce, usually used on veal or beef.I was inspired by my mother-in-law’s pesce finto recipe which is a tuna salad made with mashed potatoes and mayonaise. I creamed the tuna with mayo or I blend the tuna with oil and the other ingredients for making a mayonaise and use it as a spread or a sauce.
All a really ripe tomato needs is some good sea salt. Maybe a drizzle of olive oil. Build up by adding a good vinegar and you’re set for summer.
We really NEVER get tired of delicious in season produce.
