Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, oh my! Markets and gardens are filled with berries right now and it is almost impossible to not think about making berry cobblers, fools, and crumbles. But these desserts probably won’t materialize on my dinner table. No, I’m not lazy. I just don’t have air conditioning. And it’s way too hot to think about cranking up the oven and baking.

At this time of year, I prefer to make tarts with graham cracker crusts. These buttery, crumbly crusts need to bake for only 10 minutes, and because my tart pan fits into our toaster over, I usually just bake the crust in there. This particular tart features a creamy mascarpone filling sweetened with honey and topped with fresh blackberries.

Blackberry Tart with Honeyed Mascarpone Filling
Blackberries are kind of sneaky. They turn a deep blackish, purple before they fully ripen. But these almost ripe berries are tart, firm, and just not as tasty as fully ripe ones. When picking blackberries (either off the canes or at the market) choose only the most luscious ones—they should be plump, soft, and have a dark (rather than whitish) core.

You can cover the entire tart with berries if you like, but I like to leave a pool of filing exposed in the middle because it looks so pretty.

What you’ll need:
1 7.5 ounce box of animal graham crackers (about 2 heaping cups)
¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup mascarpone cheese
½ cup sour cream
1/3 cup honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint of blackberries (or more if you want to cover the entire tart)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees F. Process the animal crackers and brown sugar in a food processor until the mixture looks like coarse sand (about 10 one second pulses). Then, with the processor blade running, pour in the melted butter and process until the crumbs are evenly moist. Press the crumbs into a 9 inch tart pan and bake for 10 minutes or until the crust is firm to the touch. Remove the crust from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

2. Meanwhile, beat the mascarpone cheese and sour cream in a medium bowl until smooth. Beat in the honey and the vanilla. Spread the filling onto the cooled crust and arrange the berries in concentric circles over the filling, starting at the outside and moving in. You can chill the tart, if you like, but I usually eat it right away!

I’m a total sucker for all things old fashioned, so when my mother-in-law gave me a packet of heirloom Scarlet Runner Beans from Monticello for Christmas, I was thrilled! I planted the plump, purple speckled seeds around a rusty wrought iron trellis and scattered cosmos seed at its base. My idea was for the lacy foliage of the cosmos to fill in the space at the center of the trellis and for the flowers to peek out from behind the beans’ heart shaped leaves. My plant combination ideas don’t always work out, but this one is pretty nice, don’t you think?

My tomatoes are very late this year (still not a single ripe one!). My patience finally wore out this past weekend when I found an entire booth stuffed with tomatoes at the farmer’s market. I bought a huge basket of cherry tomatoes and headed home, anxious to recreate a meal I recently enjoyed at the restaurant Clyde Common in Portland.

On the surface, this pasta dish seems a bit boring (Noodles and tomato sauce? Yawn.), but Jason Barwikowski, the chef at Clyde Common, threw in slivered garlic, fresh herbs, and most interestingly, orange and lemon zest. He then topped the dish off with a generous sprinkle of buttery breadcrumbs. So simple, so good, and so very easy to make.

Bucatini with Citrusy Cherry Tomatoes
Inspired by the Spaghettini with Cherry Tomatoes at Clyde Common
Serves 2

The addition of lemon and orange zest adds an unexpected, bright twist to this traditional summertime dish. Clyde Common served the tomatoes with spaghettini, but I like pasta with a little more substance, so I used bucatini—a fat cousin of spaghetti that retains a nice bite when cooked.

What you’ll need:
8 ounces bucatini or spaghetti
1 tablespoon salted butter
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
2 pints of cherry tomatoes, halved pole to pole
2 large garlic cloves, slivered
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Zest from ½ of an orange
Zest from ½ of a lemon
Sea salt

Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and add the pasta. Give it a good stir. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. When the foam subsides, add in the bread crumbs and one tablespoon of the basil. Stir constantly until the breadcrumbs are evenly coated with butter and golden brown. Scrape the toasted breadcrumbs into a bowl and set aside. When cool, stir in the Parmesan cheese and add salt to taste.

2. Wipe out the skillet and then heat the olive oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add in the slivered garlic and cook until it is soft and just beginning to brown on the edges. Add in the cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally until they soften and begin to wrinkle. Remove from the heat as soon as the tomatoes begin to collapse. Gently stir in the remaining basil, parsley, orange and lemon zest.

3. When the pasta is cooked (it should be tender with just a little bit of bite), drain it into a colander and then immediately transfer it to a large bowl. Pour the tomato sauce over the pasta and toss well. Dish up the pasta into warmed bowls and sprinkle the buttery breadcrumbs over the top. Pass Parmesan cheese at the table.