Tomato, tomahto

Craving a quintessential summer-on-a-plate kind of dish? Try starting with a tomato. We asked around for great recipes that salute the season’s bounty. These call for the freshest, tastiest tomatoes you can get your hands on —the kind picked from your garden or hauled home from a farmers’ market.

BY ERICA SAGON PHOTOS BY KELLEY JORDAN HENEVELD

Hearty market tomatoes like Purple Cherokee, Green Zebra and Mortgage Lifter are ideal for this tomato pie, says Joseph Hewett, chef-owner of Indigo Duck, his bistro with a Southern streak in downtown Franklin. Hewett serves the pie hot, cold or at room temperature, alongside a simple salad of arugula, toasted pine nuts and balsamic dressing.

Using a store-bought pie shell can save time (Hewett recommends Pillsbury)—just remember to prebake the pie shell whether it’s store-bought or made from scratch. TheIndigoDuck.com

Recipe by Joseph Hewett Yields 1 pie

1 prepared pie shell (recipe follows below) 3 heirloom tomatoes (medium to large) or vine-ripe Beefsteak tomatoes 2 tablespoons diced shallots ½ teaspoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar, like Tillamook ½ cup shredded mozzarella ¼ cup shredded Parmesan ¼ cup basil, cut into chiffonade 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped 4 tablespoons of chopped scallion 1 cup mayonnaise (or enough to smoothly cover top of the pie using a spatula) Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prebake pie shell until just cooked and pale golden, about 10–12 minutes (or follow package directions). 2. Slice tomatoes ¼ inch thick; place in colander and sprinkle with kosher salt. Allow to drain for 20–30 minutes. Pat tomatoes to remove excess salt and moisture.

3. Sautée shallots and garlic in olive oil. Deglaze with vinegar and reserve.

4. Mix together cheddar, mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, parsley and scallion in a medium bowl. Sprinkle a small amount of the mixture in the pie shell, loosely covering the bottom. 5. Place half of the tomatoes in an overlapping ring inside the pie shell.

Season lightly with kosher salt and black pepper. 6. Sprinkle half of the remaining cheese and herb mixture on the tomatoes.

7. Place the remaining tomatoes in another overlapping ring atop the cheese and herb layer and season lightly with kosher salt and pepper. 8. Sprinkle remaining cheese and herb mixture atop the tomato layer. 9. Mix sautéed shallot mixture with the mayonnaise and spread an even layer across the top of the pie shell. 10. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Chef Hewett, who died in May. We are grateful for how he strengthened the central Indiana food community and for the chance to include him in these pages.

FLAKY PIECRUST

Recipe by Joseph Hewett Yields 1 (9-inch) piecrust

2 cups bread flour ¾ teaspoon iodized salt 1¾ teaspoons baking powder 1 cup lard (or vegetable shortening) ½ cup sour cream

1. Sift together dry ingredients. 2. Cut lard into flour until incorporated. 3. Fold in sour cream until dough is moist. 4. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before use.

Roll dough to fit a 9-inch pie plate; press dough into bottom and sides of pie plate.

GAZPACHO

At Feast, a farm-to-table neighborhood spot in Bloomington, tomatoes appear all over the menu: simmered down for house-made tomato jam, tucked into goat cheese tarts and roasted for a poached tuna salad. When summer tomatoes are at their most flavorful, Erika Yochum, executive chef and owner, loves to use them in a simple gazpacho, seasoned lightly with garlic, sherry vinegar and olive oil. FeastCateringOnline.com

Recipe by Erika Yochum Serves 6

2 pounds ripe heirloom tomatoes, cut across the equator 1–2 cloves garlic 2 teaspoons kosher salt ¼ cup sherry vinegar 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to garnish Slices of cucumber or basil leaves, for garnish (optional)

1. With cut side against the small holes of a box grater, grate tomatoes over a bowl until you are left with the skin. Discard skin. 2. Mince garlic and salt together; use the flat side of a chef’s knife to work mixture into a fine paste. Mix the garlic and sherry vinegar into the tomatoes. 3. Stir in the olive oil and taste for more salt and vinegar. Garnish with a swirl of oil, fresh basil leaves or thin slices of cucumber or cherry tomatoes.

Rosa Hanslits, owner of Nicole-Taylor’s Pasta and Market, turns to the deliciously simple combination of cherry tomatoes with fresh pasta when she doesn’t really feel like cooking. Technically, there’s a bit of boiling involved—but the spaghettini, which is thinner than spaghetti, is al dente in a mere 2 or 3 minutes. (Prefer a different ribbon or shape? Nicole-Taylor’s offers more than 20 kinds of fresh, homemade pasta that’ll make you swear off the boxed stuff.)

Dry-cured olives, also sold at Nicole-Taylor’s, add flavor. For ease, Hanslits leaves the olives unpitted, but they could also be pitted and chopped before they’re tossed with the spaghettini. NicoleTaylorsPasta.com

Recipe by Rosa Hanslits Serves 4

1 container of cherry tomatoes, quartered 3 fresh basil leaves, torn Salt and pepper, to taste 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ cup dry-cured olives 4 (4-ounce) portions of Nicole-Taylor’s fresh spaghettini Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

1. Mix together tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, olive oil and olives; set aside. 2. Cook pasta for approximately 2–3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain. 3. Add tomato mixture and toss. Finish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

HEIRLOOMTOMATO SALAD

Serves 2–4 This twist on caprese salad comes from Chef Brad Gates of Brad Gates Catering and Events within Indianapolis City Market. Aside from the pantry staples, “everything comes from the (farmers’) market, and that’s pretty cool,” he says. Gates likes to get tomatoes from Van Antwerp’s, a produce vendor at the Original Farmers’ Market at City Market.

BradGatesCatering.com

Recipe by Brad Gates

4 heirloom tomatoes ½ red onion, shaved Capriole goat cheese Olive oil Red wine vinegar Salt and pepper Chopped basil

1. Slice tomatoes and arrange on a plate. Slices can overlap a bit. 2. Sprinkle tomatoes with shaved red onion. 3. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar, then dust with salt and pepper. 4. Pinch off pieces of the goat cheese, and top tomatoes with 2–3 pinches each. Sprinkle with chopped basil.