Timely and tasty tomato dishes for spring

Funky Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich
White bread (8 slices for 4 sandwiches)
Jalapeño jack cheese
Sliced tomatoes
Chorizo, sautéed crispy
Butter
Chorizo oil
Black olive puree

Place sliced jack cheese and sliced tomatoes in between two slices of bread like a traditional grilled cheese. Butter each side, cook until melted inside and cut into two halves. Put black olive puree on the edge of plate and a little chorizo oil for dipping; add chopped parsley to garnish.

Asparagus Stuffed Tomato With Goat Cheese Gratin
4 tomatoes, peeled by dipping in hot boiling water and chilling
16 asparagus spears, peeled and blanched
4 good size disks of goat cheese

With a long sharp boning knife, make incisions in tomato and skewer four pieces of asparagus through each tomato. Make four incisions that go through each end of the asparagus to another. Marinate with basil oil, salt, pepper, and fresh chopped basil leaves. Top with the goat cheese and place in baking dish. Put in oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and tomato is warm inside. Place on a round crouton of toast with simple salad greens and serve with black olive tapenade or puree and basil oil.

Tomato Mozzarella Stack With Tuna Salad Fritters and Balsamic Syrup
4 large tomatoes, sliced
12 to 16 ounces fresh mozzarella
1 to 2 large zucchini, cut lengthwise, as thinly as possible (or in thin disks)
1 can tuna salad, with mayonnaise
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Make tuna and zucchini fritters: At the end of each zucchini strip, put a spoonful of tuna salad; roll up, seal with egg wash, and bread each fritter with flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, and reserve. Makes 12 to 16. Pan fry, season with salt and pepper, and reserve.

Slice the tomato and mozzarella around the same size, making 3 to 4 slices per person of each. Make a stack starting with tomato, then mozzarella, chives, etc, until the shoulders of the tomato rest on top. Secure these with three long bamboo skewers per stack. On top place more herbs and 3 tuna fritters each. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Recipes courtesy of David Burke

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