Making the most of tomato season

Peak tomato season is here for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Home gardens and farmers markets are flush with heirloom varieties in a rainbow of colors. You can find delicate yellow orbs, huge meaty beefsteaks, dark crimson deeply-lobed beauties, and the list goes on. The only drawback about about tomato season (besides the potential for stains on your white clothing) is deciding what dish to make next. Food52 has fifteen ideas, Vice ups their game with 22 recipes featuring tomatoes, and Love & Lemons outdoes them both, offering 50 things to make using the ‘love apple’.

Some of the best recipes are the simplest, such as caprese salad, pico de gallo, and tomato bruschetta. When an ingredient is perfectly ripe and flavorful, it needs little adornment. For dinner this evening we munched on cucumber and tomato sandwiches on freshly made bread and it was one of the most satisfying meals I’ve had in a while. If you are feeling more adventurous, you can make a long-simmering sauce that begs to coat pasta, try a tomato jam, or construct a decadent tomato tart.

Here are a few recipes from the EYB Library to spark your imagination, just in case the 87 recipes from the links above aren’t enough.

• Pistou tomato tart in a basil crust (La tarte aux tomatoes et au pistou, pâte de basilic) from Cuisine Niçoise by Hillary Davis
• How to make the perfect Caprese salad from The Guardian by Felicity Cloake (pictured above)
• Tomato sauce (Salsa di pomodoro) from Lidia’s Italian Table by Lidia Bastianich
• Tomato curry with coconut rice from Nigella Kitchen by Nigella Lawson
• Shakshuka from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
• Tomato jam from Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan
• Caprese eggs Benedict from The Curvy Carrot
• Meatballs braised in tomato sauce from Good Food (Aus) by Neil Perry
• Farro salad with cherry tomatoes, smoked mozzarella, and mint from Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark

and for the truly dedicated tomato lover:

• ‘All tomato’ – risotto with tomato sauce, tomato sorbet, tomato foam, tomato confit and tomato powder from Great Italian Chefs by Igles Corelli