garden tomatoes

I really didn't think I was going to have any tomatoes this year, but this is a volunteer. I had about 20 volunteer tomato plants due to bad composting on my part and several of them have a lot of tomatoes on them. Maybe enough cherry tomatoes for one of my favorite recipes adapted from Alice Water's cookbook Fanny at Chez Panisse.

Cherry Tomato Pasta

2 baskets cherry tomatoes (about five cups)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 small handful basil
1 small handful Italian parsley
salt and pepper
1 pound dry linguine
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (recipe below)

Boil a large pot of water.
Slice the tomatoes in half and put them in a big bowl.
Add the olive oil and vinegar.
Chop the basil and Italian parsley and add to the tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Stir it all together and let sit for awhile.

Cook the noodles about 1-2 minutes less than the cooking time.
Drain them and add to the bowl of tomatoes.
Pour in breadcrumbs.
Mix well and serve, sprinkling the bread crumbs over top.

Bread Crumbs
This works best with day old bread. (In Louisville, I think the best bread is Blue Dog)
Cut the crusts of several slices of bread and cut the bread into chunks.
Place in a blender or food processor until crumbs are crumb-like but coarse.
Place fresh bread crumbs on a cookie sheet and toast at 350* until browned. This doesn't take very long, maybe about 5 to 7 minutes in a preheated good oven (unlike mine).
Toss with olive oil until breadcrumbs are lightly coated but still crunchy.