i love tomatoes

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 |
when i was growing up, we had a small beach house on the jersey shore. it was on brigantine island, which really was more of a sand bar than an island. there wasn't yards with beautiful green grass, only sand with crabgrass. greenhead mosquitoes was the island's official animal.
but i loved being there. (this photo is of me trying to play in the sand/yard.)
and so did my great grand parents. my great grandfather antonio grew the garden of his dream in the back yard, and i feel bad for anyone who got close! he felt that was sacred ground, and he was the only one allowed to touch the dirt that was trucked in from who knows where. (you knew he was angry when he yelled in italian!) he grew eggplants, peppers, onions and tomatoes. we would have to ask him to use some of the food, but he would always agree.
here is a photo of my great grandfather in 1977. i love seeing all the family in the background! (chris likes me to name the people because he likes to make fun of our last names!) i thought i had a photo of him in his garden in brigantine, but i don't.
all this to introduce a tomato dish that i love! and since tomatoes are going crazy right now, i had to share!

1 1/2 lbs chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
3 T olive oil
1/2 t lemon peel
1 18oz bag cheese ravioli
1/4 c grated parm cheese-the real stuff!

in large bowl combine tomatoes, basil, oil, lemon peel, dash of salt and pepper. let stand about 15.
make your raviolis as instructed on the package.
add hot pasta to tomato mixture and toss. sprinkle with cheese.

3 comments:

Summer Miller said...

Perfect timing since I just picked tomatoes last night. Now I know what we're having for dinner!

Nancy said...

That looks so good! And I love it even more since you gave the back ground about your Great Grandfather, such cute pictures too.

JaNae said...

We'll have to give this one a try too. Sadly our tomatoes come from the store but someday they'll come from our garden!

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