Cookout Season

The season officially may be Spring but we all know that it really is Cookout Season. So dust of that grill and fire up those coals. This week's cookbook is Taming the Flame: Secrets for Hot-and-Quick Grilling and Low-and-Slow BBQ by Elizabeth Karmel

Grilled Tomatoes with Parmesan Bread Crumbs

(Makes 4 servings)

Grilling Method: Indirect/Medium Heat

4 large red tomatoes, ripe but slightly firm
Olive oil
1/2 cup best-quality pesto
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs or panko
Freshly ground pepper

1. Build a charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill.

2. Wash the tomatoes and slice about 1/4 inch off the top of each stem end--just enough to make the tomatoes flat on top. Using a melon baller or a grapefruit spoon, scoop out about 1/2 inch of the flesh from the top. (Leave the seeds.) Coat the tomatoes with olive oil. Cover the bottoms of the tomatoes with a piece of aluminum foil,leaving the tops exposed. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of pesto into each tomato. Mix the cheese and bread crumbs, and spoon them onto the top of each tomato. Sprinkle evenly with pepper.

3. Place the tomatoes, cut-side up, on the cooking grate over indirect medium heat. Cover and grill without turning for 15 or 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes are warmed through and the bread crumbs are toasty.

4. Remove the tomatoes from the grill, discard the foil, and serve them as an accompaniment for grilled chicken, fish, or steak.