serves 1
Of all the seasonal produce about which I wax poetic in these pages, nothing gives me goose bumps like a ripe summer tomato.
Meaty and succulent, its velvety flesh enclosing a fragrant jelly of golden seeds and dripping with sweet pink juice, a summer tomato is everything its cold-weather counterpart isn’t, including cheap and abundant.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a good old tomato sandwich.
Tomato sandwiches and I go way back. I’ve always had a fondness for them ever since I read Harriet the Spy in third grade. Unlike Harriet, who likes hers on soft white bread for lunch every day, I like mine on toast to give it some crunch (and to stave off the soggy factor).
The recipe that follows makes a simple sandwich that doesn’t seem like much on paper, but believe me, when made with a couple of bursting-with-juice heirloom tomatoes that have never seen a fridge; good, crusty, firm bread; creamery butter that tastes like sunshine; and a generous sprinkle of crunchy sea salt, it’s about the most perfect thing a person could eat on a sultry August afternoon. Or morning. Or night. A tomato sandwich is wonderful anytime—anytime in tomato season, that is.
2 slices crusty bread with a dense crumb
1 or 2 ripe tomatoes, depending on how big the tomatoes are, how hungry you are, and how large your bread slices are
At least 1 tablespoon good butter
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1. Toast the bread until crunchy and golden. While it’s toasting, slice the tomatoes, taking out the brown core.
2. As soon as the toast is ready, spread it thickly with the butter. And I mean thickly, using at least a tablespoon and probably a lot more. I use about a tablespoon and a half, but then again, my bread slices are on the commodious side. If the butter isn’t salted, sprinkle a little salt on top, then top with the tomatoes. You can overlap them or not, depending on how thickly you’ve sliced them.
3. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and grind on some black pepper. Eat with your hands. A knife and fork diminishes the tactile pleasure here.