Pesto and Tomatoes
Torta

So I find myself turning away from the oven and sticking my head as far into the big refrigerator as I can, staring at the cheeses and the olives, and thinking I must have been Mediterranean in another life.

I decide that for dinner tonight, we will not have hot food. We will eat as if the leaves of the olive trees silvered beyond us in the moonlight, as if we spoke Italian and laid our evening table out with loaves of chewy bread; dark olives shiny with oil and brine; soft strips of red and yellow peppers roasted earlier in the day when it was cooler. We will have hard salamis and veils of prosciutto, sliced so thin they are translucent on the plate. Our bowls will hold cold marinated shrimp and scallops, maybe some squid, if my friends are adventurous or my father is stopping by. He loves the tentacles best, but I have seen others draw back in polite horror at the small squiggly shapes.

And we will have cheeses that melt onto the plate like thick satin cream that can be eaten with spoons or fingers. Cheeses that hold their own on the plate and demand knives to cut their salty bulk. Cheeses with rinds washed in wine. Tangy goat cheeses. Mellow cow’s milk cheeses. Taleggio, Affinois, aged Gouda. Cheeses. Oh yes, cheeses.

Next to the cheeses will be baskets of peaches, a cascade of red grapes and a tangled mound of yellow cherries.

We will eat by candlelight and lanternlight and moonlight, if it is cooperative, and there will be no mosquitoes because a mild breeze will bend off the creek. On the table will be bottles of interesting red wine, a cooler white, sparkling waters and glasses that won’t break if you look at them wrong.

Sweet basil and hot-blooded zinnias will cluster in vases, summer’s ode to sunlight and survival in the garden. In the background, the cicadas and the crickets and the tree frogs will play their summer music. And just in case the breeze lets up, I will offer Japanese fans to ward off the August heat.

Maybe it’s a summer pipedream. But I suggest you try it. What makes a meal? Something to fill the belly and satisfy the soul. This will do it. Add your own ideas. But keep them cool. Try not to touch the knobs of the oven if you can avoid it. Stay away from the stove.

And try this savory torta, given to me years ago, by my friend, Jack Richards, a man who knew how to enjoy every season and the food that went with it. It combines the best of summer’s ingredients. If mascarpone cheese is hard to get or too pricey for your late summer budget, use the substitute. It’s delicious. Some people even like it better than the mascarpone.

Enjoy!

½ cup Grated Parmesan

Set out cheeses and butter to warm to room temperature. Blend in mixing bowl. Set aside.

Sun Dried Tomato Mix

2 – 8 ½ oz bottles or

2 cups Sun Dried tomatoes packed in oil. Drain and save oil to use in pesto.

Place drained tomatoes in food processor and pulse until finely chopped, adding oil, if necessary. Save a bit of mixture (1-2 tsp.) to decorate torte. Set aside.

Pesto Mixture

3 cups fresh basil

1/3 cup pine nuts

½ cup olive oil or use oil from tomatoes

1-1/3 cup grated parmesan

Place in processor, pulse until a paste forms.

Preparing Torta

Line an 8” or 9” spring form pan, or any 8 cup mold, with plastic wrap, letting excess hang over.

Layer mixtures as follows:

1. 1/3 of cheese mixture spread evenly to sides.

2. Cover cheese layer with pesto mix and spread to sides.

3. Put in another 1/3 cheese mix.

4. Cover cheese with tomato mix.

5. Pour in last 1/3 of cheese mix.

Cover last layer of cheese with plastic wrap and press down to compact torta and to keep air out.

Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours, but preferably 2 to 5 days.

Remove wrap, invert on plate and carefully remove rest of wrap. Decorate top with fresh basil and tomato mix in center of torta. Serve with crackers.