The tomato issue

What to make while they're at their best

I took a beat before deciding on this week’s theme. Tomatoes are an obvious choice for an ingredient-led newsletter at the height of summer. They certainly loom large in my home kitchen throughout the season - in both star turns and supporting roles. But my hesitancy in dedicating recipe space to them isn’t because the subject matter is too on-the-nose, but rather that the subject itself is altogether too delicious.

A good ripe tomato has that wonderful balance of sweetness, acidity and herbal minerality. I have one sliced on toast most summer days with just flaky salt and olive oil to dress. I’ll be eating caprese and panzanella until the wheels fall off (leaves turn brown). But I have nothing new to add to those perfectly simple plates - a good in-season tomato does all the heavy-lifting here.

Of course I cook with tomatoes all year round in tinned or sun-dried form. And there are some great winter-hardy varieties from Southern Europe these days. But now’s the time when fresh tomatoes really sing. It would be a challenge to find a truly tasteless tomato - even on supermarket shelves. So this absolutely must be made the most of and variety facilitates this. I’ve included three recipes that celebrate them as they are, at their glorious best.

The recipes

Keep fresh whole tomatoes at room temperature - a stint in the fridge will dull the flavour and make the texture slightly mushy. Cut them with a very sharp or serrated knife. Choose tomatoes that are firm, heavy for their size, with a good tomatoey smell at the stem.

Double tomato salad

Here the tomatoes are salted and dressed to intensify their flavour. But the delicious tomato juices that inevitably spill out won’t be wasted. That liquid gold is emulsified back into the thick dressing, so a super tomatoey flavour is amplified throughout. A play on the balanced simplicity of a tomato tonnato.

Makes 4 portions

3 large tomatoes, washed and cut into roughly 3x3 cm pieces
1 small shallot, finely diced
1 heaped tbsp drained capers
1 tbsp sherry vinegar or good red wine vinegar
Half tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp washed and chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

1. Place the tomatoes in a large mixing bowl with the vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, half the shallot, half the capers, parsley, salt and pepper. Leave to sit for 10 mins or so, then strain out all of the pooled liquid and dressing through a sieve and place it in a blender

2. Add the mustard, the remaining shallots and capers to the blender. Blitz until smooth, then slowly stream in the remaining olive oil, with the motor running. If you don’t have a blender that allows streaming as you blend, transfer to a bowl and whisk in the oil little by little. Season to taste if needed

3. Spoon the dressing onto a serving plate and top with the tomatoes

Freekeh & herb stuffed tomatoes

These make a really fun, retro-inspired centrepiece to a summery spread. The roast intensifies the sweetness of the tomatoes while keeping the filling lovely and moist. You could add a little crumbled feta to the freekeh mixture, if you like.