La Festa al Fresco

I was totally excited to be invited by Lis from La Mia Cucina and Ivonne from Cream Puffs in Venice to participate in their celebration of summer - La Fiesta al Fresco.

My very favorite thing about summer is tomatos. In summer there is sometimes no better meal than a freshly picked tomato, and plate and a knife.

Sadly I did not inherit my mothers green thumb for gardening so I rely on the farmers market to keep me in the good stuff all summer long. That season is almost over, so we are taking advantage of the tomatos while we can, eating them every day, in any way we can think of.

Here are two of our favorites. Ivonne and Lis I hope these two dishes fit in well with the rest of the feast!

Double Tomato and Prosciutto Panini

Makes 4 sandwiches

8 pieces of bread of your choice (i use 4 pieces of focaccia, split)
100 grams prosciutto
150 grams cheese (i like brie)
fresh basil
4 slices of red onion
1 large tomato sliced
3 tb mayonnaise
1 tb sun dried tomato pesto

Preheat your panini/george foreman-type grill.
Mix the mayonnaise and pesto together and spread on all 8 slices of bread.
Divide the cheese between 4 bread slices and top with the basil, prosciutto, onion, tomato and remaining bread.
Grill until the bread is toasted and the cheese melts, 4 or 5 minutes.


Tomato Tart

serves 4-6

1 tube pillsbury pizza dough, or your own crust
3 large tomatos, sliced
1 tb oil
1 red onion thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
100 grams feta cheese
100 grams mozzarella cheese shredded
fresh basil

Preheat oven to 450'. Roll or press out dough to 1/2" thickness. (Dough does not need to be round.) Move to a baking sheet.
Heat pan over medium heat and add oil and onion. Cook onion until softened and light brown. Add garlic and continue to cook 3 more minutes. Spread onion mixture over dough, leaving a 2-3 inch border all around. Crumble feta over and top with mozzarella cheese. Season lightly with salt and pepper and scatter basil over. Cover all the cheese with tomato slices, then pull up the sides to close in the cheese but not to cover the top. Bake until golden brown, 25 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before cutting.