Saturday's Heirloom Tomato Festival sounds exceptionally delicious.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the West Overton Museums in Scottdale, Westmoreland County, the fest will be staked on tastings of 20-plus varieties of tomatoes with real taste and real names:

• Striped German

• Black Japanese Trifle

• Green Zebra

• Flame Hillbilly

• Mortgage Lifter

Most of these old-fashioned 'maters will be donated by a farm in Washington County, the Walnut Ridge Farm.

But if you call out there, the person on the phone will answer "Heirloom Tomato Co."

I'd never heard of it, either, but owner George Zimmerman says, "I believe we are now the largest supplier of heirloom tomatoes on the East Coast."

They sell to supermarket chains such as Giant Eagle and Whole Foods, other stores such as Wholey's and Pennsylvania Macaroni as well as numerous restaurants.

Mr. Zimmerman, retired from his Atlanta business (he developed the "How's My Driving?" campaign), and his wife, Lisa Salandra-Zimmerman (originally from Peters), bought the 479-acre Hopewell farm shortly after they married seven years ago, thinking it'd be a good hobby. While wintering in Florida, they marveled at a sublime salad of buffalo mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes, so she said to him, Why don't we grow some?

They planted 1,500 plants the first year, 10,000 the next, then 20,000. This year, they and partners/neighbors Karen Lippman and Ben Ligeri planted nearly 60,000 -- on 40 acres -- and right now those plants are bearing tons of fruit.

"We're about four weeks behind," Mr. Zimmerman said earlier this week. "Now they're really coming strong."

It wasn't easy this year, with wet and cold weather that twice had them covering plants with blankets in July. Growing heirloom tomatoes isn't easy in perfect weather. But that's the point: They're not supposed to be perfect.

Mr. Zimmerman defines an heirloom as "a seed that comes from a long time ago before they made tomatoes absolutely round, absolutely perfect, absolutely tasteless."

These tomatoes are "ugly" -- oddly shaped, with twists and fissures.

The Heirloom Tomato Co. doesn't sell the really ugly ones, but it also doesn't throw them out: It turns them into "Nana's Heirloom" tomato sauces and tomato soup, available at Giant Eagle Market District stores, as well as Red Rooster Heirloom bloody mary mixes, all eventually to be available at the Web site, heirloomtomatocompany.com (or call 1-877-448-6628).

The Zimmermans also grow lots of fruit, including grapes, which they turn into their own Walnut Ridge wines, which they serve at their Farmhouse Restaurant in Avella.

New Chef Josh Rosmus has all the tomatoes he can handle this time of year. So do diners, whoget sent home with free tomatoes and other bounty from the farm.

"It cuts the bill almost by 70 or 80 percent," Mr. Zimmerman says with a chuckle.

The Zimmermans will be at this weekend's fourth annual Heirloom Tomato Festival, which is to be much bigger than ever, according to organizer Julie Giacopetti. She's president of the West Overton Garden Club, which will be bringing additional heirloom tomato varieties for attendees to taste. There will be lots of food- and agriculture-oriented vendors, including the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, the St. Vincent Grist Mill, Greendance winery, Maggie's Mercantile, and many others, which will be giving out samples and selling everything from biscotti and cheesecake to mustards and lamb.

There'll also be many local authors (including the Post-Gazette's Backyard Gardener Doug Oster), artists and musicians, and you can tour the museums.

For a full list of participants and more information on the festival, visit westoverton.org.

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Grilled Southwestern Pasta Salad isn't your everyday salad -- it's a hearty salad made with grilled steak, fresh vegetables and multigrain pasta and just the right amount of cumin, fresh cilantro and lime juice. -- Arlene Burnett

• 8 ounces lean boneless sirloin steak
• 1/2 teaspoon each ground cumin, salt and pepper
• 3 medium poblano chile peppers, halved and seeded
• 1 ear fresh corn, husked
• 1 medium sweet onion, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• Cooking spray
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, cut in bite-size chunks
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Cook pasta in a pot of lightly salted boiling water as package directs. Drain. Rinse under cold water, drain again. Transfer to a large serving bowl.

Heat outdoor grill. Rub steak with ¹/₂ teaspoon each of the cumin, salt and pepper. Coat steak, peppers, corn and onion with cooking spray.

Grill steak 4 to 6 minutes, turning once for medium-rare. Remove to cutting board. Let stand 5 minutes. Grill peppers, corn and onion 8 to 10 minutes, turning as needed until lightly charred and tender.

Cut peppers and onion into bite-size pieces and cut corn off cob; add to bowl with pasta. Slice steak thinly against the grain and add to bowl.

Add remaining cumin, salt and pepper and remaining ingredients to bowl. Toss to mix and coat.

Serve at room temperature.

Serves 4.

--"Woman's Day: Tuesday Night is Pasta Night" (Filipacchi, to be released in September, $12.99) 8 ounces multigrain or whole wheat penne pasta