Cookbook Club: Simply Tomato or Pesto

Make the most of end-of summer bounty with your choice of two practical, inspiring books. Or treat yourself to both!

You'll be guided by the experienced enthusiasm of a renowned teacher, historian, and traveler, Annette Tomei.

Click here for a full Cookbook Club FAQ.

Meets on Zoom, Tuesdays, September 16 and 30, 7:00-8:30 pm Eastern Time

Chef Annette Tomei will guide you through your choice two enticing books, each one perfect for September's garden bounty. Or you can choose both and receive cooking tips, shopping help, advance prep techniques for each.

What other garden ingredient stirs such devotion as the tomato? For Martha Holmberg nothing else comes close. In the inventive, approachable Simply Tomato, she celebrates tomatoes in all forms, from grocery-store staples to homegrown treasures, and takes them in unexpected directions, from ravioli to salads.  Whether you’re savoring peak-season bounty or making the most of canned standbys, this book offers fresh ways to love the tomato.

In Pesto: The Modern Mother Sauce, Leslie Lennox offers a fresh, flexible take on the classic, encouraging readers to treat pesto as a starting point for creativity. With an informal, adaptable style, Lennox shares ideas for tailoring pesto to what’s in your garden or fridge, whether it’s roasted jalapeño with cilantro, spinach with candied pecans, or mint with green peas. These flavor-packed blends can elevate everything from deviled eggs and roast pork to chicken noodle soup, making this book as practical as it is inspiring.

Hardcovers. Color photographs throughout.