Seed catalogs read like good novels—I could spend hours poring over the pages, envisioning the splendor to spring forth from each. The names read like luscious dishes on a restaurant menu, or characters in a Gone With the Wind-era romance: Lemon Drop zucchini and Green Knight eggplant and Kandy Korn pumpkin and Cherry Belle radishes.
The tomato pages are my favorite. How can one possibly choose between the golden Sweet Tangerine, the tiny pale yellow Italian Ice, or the dark reddish-black Cherokee Chocolate? Or how could you resist a description like this one of the Shimmer tomato: “enchanting, small, cocktail-type tomatoes bursting with succulent flavor.”
Tomato plants are behemoths—growing quickly up their round wire trellises and sprawling across the garden beds. Broad green leaves and delicate stalks cast a shadow over the herbs and lettuces planted beneath. Snap off a piece of a tomato vine and smell it: sweet and earthy and slightly sharp, like pine or rosemary. It’s an impossible scent to describe but at best, I’d reach for words like “grassy” and “green”.
In the early summer, the plants are a tangled mess of green, from vine to fruit, with just the white blossoms offering a pop of color. And then, suddenly, they change. The small orbs begin to yellow slightly, then blush as they slowly turn bright red, then a deep juicy crimson. Once fully ripe, their dangling weight pulls seductively at the vine as they grow heavier.
Gathered in a colander and rinsed quickly, they glisten invitingly on the counter. The obvious move is to slice them and sprinkle them with Jane’s salt and eat them ripe and raw. (If you don’t have or have never heard of Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Salt, remedy that immediately. It’s really the only way to eat fresh cucumbers and tomatoes.)
Or, of course, there are other traditional routes to take: sliced into thick wedges alongside fresh mozzarella and basil and drizzled with balsamic vinegar—the really good kind that’s almost syrupy sweet. Or roasted then puréed with a drizzle of olive oil into a crimson-colored sauce. Piled between two slices of soft white bread with a swipe of mayonnaise.
Let’s say this first of all: you don’t have to choose. Late summer brings armloads full of tomatoes; if you’re near a garden or a good farmers’ market, you’ll have a constant source of product to work with. You can go wild with your BLT consumption, making a daily habit of lightly toasted bread + crispy bacon + leaf lettuce + juicy tomatoes, and still have plenty more at the ready for experimenting with new recipes.
So make tomato sandwiches. Eat tomatoes raw, letting the juice drip down your fingers, seeds and all. Cut up a few tomatoes into irregular-sized chunks and put them in a large Mason jar. Add a glug of olive oil, some salt, and a couple smashed cloves of garlic.. Cap the jar and shake it vigorously, then let it sit outside in the summer sun for a few hours. Make pasta, then toss the warm pasta with some fresh basil, a little of the pasta cooking water, and the sun-warmed tomatoes.
The point is that these are all excellent ideas and you can make all of them, because you have time and appetite and tomatoes.
But if there’s one thing you should bring to the top of your “tomato-making list”, it should be this galette. You may have had tomato quiche or tomato pie at some point, in which case the concept of tomato galette will be somewhat familiar.
Either way, here’s the pitch: buttery, flaky crust. Thinly sliced tomatoes that soften and intensify in flavor as they bake, turning sweeter and sticky and almost jammy. A layer of savory melted cheese, amped up by a touch of grainy mustard and fresh thyme, to offset the sweetness of the tomatoes.
Perfection, just in time for dinner. You can make It ahead and reheat the entire thing, or slices, in a hot oven for a few minutes, which will allow the crust to crisp up nicely.
*Note: The cheese powder is optional but is a really awesome addition; use the extra in biscuit dough or over popcorn! I buy mine from King Arthur Flour; you can also buy it from some creameries like Cabot and Rogue Creamery. Make sure you get it from a good place so you know the cheese is high-quality and flavorful.
Fresh Tomato Cheddar Galette
One 10” galette
For the crust
1 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (28g) cheddar cheese powder (optional)
1/2 cup (113g) cold unsalted butter
5 tablespoons (73g)ice cold water
For the filling
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
1 cup (113g) grated cheddar cheese (or other flavorful melting cheese, like Gruyere)
4 medium tomatoes, sliced thinly
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch flaky sea salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or dried thyme
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Whisk together the flour, salt, and cheese powder (if using).
Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until it is in coarse, uneven pea-sized lumps. Drizzle the ice water over top and stir with a fork until the dough just begins to come together.
Turn the dough out onto a surface and begin to gently knead and press it together, turning it over onto itself and handling it carefully to avoid warming up the butter. If there are too many dry spots, drizzle a tablespoon or two more ice water over top (a spray bottle actually works really well here to evenly disperse the water).
Once the dough comes together, press it gently into a disc. If your kitchen is warm, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes until warm. Otherwise, go ahead and roll it out right away.
Roll the dough out into roughly a 13" circle. It should be very thin, but if there are any tears, make sure to patch them so the filling doesn't seep out.
Spread the mustard on top of the dough circle, leaving about 1 1/2" inches bare on on the edges. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the mustard. Transfer the dough circle to a baking sheet.
Arrange the sliced tomatoes neatly in circles on top of the grated cheese. Fold the edges of the pastry up, pleating as you go to seal the edges. Check to make sure there are no spaces or tears where the filling can seep out.
Drizzle the olive oil over top of the tomatoes, then sprinkle on the flaky salt and herbs.
Bake the galette for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
Let cool slightly, and serve warm.