Home Cookin' With Resident Geri Davidson

Not everyone can be a top chef. Some of us just don't have the skill set to produce tasty and beautiful food, and others just lack the knowledge. Fortunately, with a little direction, non-cookers can learn how to cook delicious food that isn't only healthy and delicious, but visually appealing, too.

That's why Patch sought insight from a Santa Cruz resident known to cook out-of-this-world grub. Enjoy this step-by-step recipe and hopefully you'll learn, enjoy and surprise yourself and others when you prepare it yourself to bring to that next summer gathering.

Patch is featuring Santa Cruz resident, Geri Davidson, who allowed Patch to tag along at her home as she prepared an elegant, figure-friendly and delicious appetizer.

Dish:  Baked Heirloom tomatoes with pesto, parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

Total preparation time: About 3o minutes

Ingredients:

• I package Heirloom tomatoes (four to six ripe tomatoes). Tip: a two-pound bag of these can currently be purchased at Trader Joes for $4.99.

• Parmesan cheese

• Mozzarella cheese, low-fat mozzarella works, too!

• Pesto (either store bought or homemade)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Flip tomato on its side and cut into medium-thick slices. You want the slices thick enough to hold the cheese and pesto while withstanding cooking (step 1).
• After slicing the tomatoes, lay them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Drizzle a couple tablespoons worth of olive oil over the tomatoes (step 2).
• Sprinkle a couple teaspoons worth of salt and pepper over the tomatoes (step 3).
• Stick the baking sheet with the tomatoes into the preheated over for 10 minutes.
• Grab the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and grate equal amounts of them, totaling about one to one-and-a-half cups each (step 4).
• After 10 minutes, remove the tomatoes from the oven (step 5). Tip: After removing the tomatoes from the oven, increase the temperature up to 500 degrees. Geri says this will get the cheese to quickly melt and brown  without overly cooking the center of the tomatoes. Otherwise, the tomatoes could turn out to have a mushy texture. Geri says this could also be done in  a broiler, but that you just have to pay extra attention because the broiler could cause them to cook too quickly and burn.
• Grab your pesto out of the fridge and apply a dollop on the top of each tomato slice (step 6). No more than a dollop is needed, as the pesto will spread out over the tomato as it cooks. Tip: if you have homemade pesto, sprinkle a little olive oil over it before sticking it back in the fridge. Geri says this will help preserve the pesto and keep it from darkening.
• After applying the pesto, pinch a couple fingers worth of the cheese mixture over the tomatoes (step 7).
• Put the  tomato covered in pesto and cheese into the oven for six minutes, rotating half way through.
• After six minutes, retrieve the tomatoes from the oven and let them cool for five minutes before handling (step 8).
• And lastly, grab your favorite platter and serve!