Kitch: Ripe and Ready

If it’s late summer in the Texas Panhandle, then it’s time for tomatoes. They thrive in our climate, and this time of year, these next few weeks of sunshine and heat will accelerate the ripening process.

That means most backyard gardeners are just a few weeks away from an abundant harvest. Tomato plants are known to overproduce, which means getting creative. You can only eat so many summer salads, after all. You need ideas. 

That led us to Brian Kelleher, owner of 575 Pizzeria, who shared with us a few of the ways his restaurants put tomatoes to work all year long.

Apart from the pizza sauce, Kelleher’s kitchens exclusively use fresh baby heirloom tomatoes—similar to what may grow in a backyard garden—in a variety of dishes, including its caprese salads, bruschetta, and as salad toppings served with the 575 signature sundried tomato balsamic vinaigrette. (That secret vinaigrette recipe goes back to Kelleher’s old Basil Doc days, pre-575, and he says customers still regularly buy 11-ounce containers to take home. “People want to have that dressing in their refrigerators,” he says.) 

To start, Kelleher says you can’t beat the miniature burst of summer flavor that comes from a baby tomato. But there are other reasons, too: “The presentation, the flavor profile, the cut, they’re easier to prep, all that kind of stuff.”

They also tend to work better as a pizza topping. “Before we [switched to] the heirloom tomatoes, we had whole circles of tomatoes on there, and you’d take a bite and the whole tomato would come off,” he says, laughing.

Larger tomatoes aren’t just harder to bite into. They require more preparation, and the larger slices mean they start to dry out faster. The smaller, heirloom options are simply quartered—then ready to be used as toppings or included in another preparation.

“A caprese is super-simple to use for a tomato,” Kelleher adds. “You get some fresh mozzarella at the grocery store, slice it into thin rounds, and then throw some fresh tomatoes and basil over it. A drizzle of a balsamic vinaigrette brings out great flavor. Add a little coarse sea salt to it and that makes a really flavorful and healthy salad. It’s very summery.”

The bruschetta serves as another easy way to use up a bounty of tomatoes. Served with a crusty bread, the combined ingredients really shine when using peak-season tomatoes.

“With a bruschetta, your base is tomatoes. We add artichoke hearts and some chopped-up basil, tossed together with our house dressing. It’s kind of like an Italian salsa—for lack of a better term. Just chunkier,” he adds. “It’s very versatile.”

Both 575 locations serve the bruschetta and caprese salad as menu items, including at the newly remodeled Civic Circle space. That original 575 location reopened in March with a new addition designed to host events, live music, comedy and other entertainment. “It’s been a lot of fun,” Kelleher says. “We’ve got full tables and pinball and old arcade games in there. It’s very versatile—we can use it for private parties, holiday parties, graduation parties, rehearsal dinners. It’s been a neat space.”

The expanded restaurant offered Kelleher the freedom to diversify his menu by experimenting with dishes like fried cheese curds and chicken wings, not just to please patrons but also to take pressure off the busy pizza ovens. 

Just don’t expect his use of tomatoes to change. “These little heirloom tomatoes just taste amazing,” he says.

Tomato Tips from Brian Kelleher

Storage: “We refrigerate all our tomatoes,” Kelleher says. “Some people don’t. Some just leave them on their counters. Everyone has their preferences. When I’m buying at the store, I like to buy them on the vine. They stay fresh longer.”

Sauce: “Fresh tomato sauce is amazing, especially compared to Prego or a jarred tomato sauce. I really like just stewing tomatoes in a skillet with some olive oil and seasonings and stuff like that. It doesn’t take that long, and it’s a way better tomato sauce.”

Selection: “I want a firm tomato, but not so firm it doesn’t have any give to it. You want a little bit of softness to it, just so you can feel all the juices moving around in it. But you don’t want it too soft, so there’s no bite to it at all. And then, you know, cutting into a tomato that’s overripe is not fun.”

Slicing: “Always use a sharpened knife for cutting tomatoes. It has to be sharp to get a good, clean cut. You have a dull knife, [and] it’s going to mush it up.”