Summer Tomatoes with Warm Fresh Mozzarella

[autowasherfreak]

I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds really good.

 

 

 

<span class="articletitle"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Summer Tomatoes with Warm Fresh Mozzarella</span></span><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span>

 

3 large tomatoes, thickly sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup halved pitted Kalamata olives
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 oz. sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Place tomatoes in wide shallow baking dish. Drizzle with vinegar; sprinkle with olives, basil, marjoram and salt. Nestle cheese in between tomato slices; drizzle with oil. Broil 3 to 4 minutes or until cheese is hot and just slightly melted.

6 servings

 

[whirlcool]

Even though I usually like my tomatoes cold, this recipe looks too good to pass up. We'll give it a try! How thick is the Mozzarella supposed to be sliced?

 

[mattl]

Sounds great!

 

[maytagbear]

Allen--

This is my interpretation, and only my interpretation......the mozzarella should be about the same thickness as the tomatoes.

Variations of this salad all but shout "summer!" to me.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[autowasherfreak]

My neighbor across the alley gave me a bunch of tomatoes last year, and told me I could help myself anytime I wanted, so as soon as I can get some homegrown tomatoes, I will give this a try.  I don't want to sound dumb but what are Kalamata Olives, LOL?

 

 

 

[maytagbear]

They are small, imported

Greek olives, and more delicious than any American olive. Better groceries have them in the deli department. They make canned black olives taste like erasers. The ones I get here still have their pits. When I use them to serve other people, I remove the pits. For me, I don't bother.

When I pit them, I put the olives on a cutting board, and gently press with the wide side of my chef's knife. That frees the pit from the flesh, and it takes no time to remove the pit.

An adequate substitute are the Picholine olives of France.

Admittedly, they are not cheap, but once in a while they are wonderful.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[autowasherfreak]

Hy-Vee has a olive bar with about 10 or more varieties of olives, and they are a little on the expensive side. When I make this I think I will have to use either black or green olives, LOL.

 

[maytagbear]

Better to use

fewer high quality olives than a lot of lesser quality olives, or leave out the olives entirely. The salad would still be very, very good without olives.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[mattl]

Have to agree, use the Kalamata olives or nothing, they taste quite a bit different than black or green olives - no comparison.

 

[iheartmaytag]

No fresh tomatoes for me.

With the heat this summer the Tomatoes doesn't look like they are going to do anything this year.   Hopefully if I can keep the plants alive they will produce something in the fall.

 

[autowasherfreak]

"No fresh tomatoes for me."

Sorry to hear that :-( I love fresh homegrown maters. As I kid I would eat the right off the vine just like an apple. One year I ate so many that I got sores on the inside of my mouth, but that didn't stop me from eating them, LOL.

 

[kevin313]

Great recipe!!

I agree with summer tomatoes - there is nothing like them. Most of the tomatoes in stores have very little flavor, to me at least. Someone told me that they are picked when they are green and ripen in transit...no wonder they don't have much flavor. I eat as many "home grown" summer tomatoes as I can!!

 

[autowasherfreak]

Homegrown tomatoes, green peppers, green onions, and cucumbers are my favorites. My mother would plant two very large gardens that ran almost the whole back yard, and most of my afternoon snacks would be sliced tomatoes with salt, pepper, and about half a teaspoon of Miracle Whip on them, unpeeled or peeled cucumber slices, and green pepper wedges which I would dip in whatever salad dressing we had on hand at the time. I ate things that most kids turned the noses up at, LOL.