You say tomato, I say tart, or linguine, or chutney.
Rejoice, tomato fiends. Our time is now. Even hobbyist tomato growers are swimming in the fruits of their harvesting labour.
When produce is at its peak you get the best, purest distillation of flavour by not messing with it
We’re not suggesting you can’t get creative with your preparations; the recipes below feature simple ways to show the best of tomatoes off – gently roasting to bring out sweetness, melting into velvety lip-coating sauces, doused in bright and sharp vinaigrettes.
Try all 18, there’s not a bad one in the crop.
A nifty way to use odds and ends, variation of tomato colour, size, variety and ripeness really adds to the visual and flavour profile of this tasty tart underpinned by a nutty chickpea flour casing and light ricotta filling.
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Advertise with NZME.On trying evenings when we need a super quick meal that delivers punchy flavours and a decent amount of protein we reach for this twirl of plump tiger prawns, toothsome linguine and Mediterranean aromatics.
You won’t regret making a batch of this gently spiced condiment – the process is simple, boiling down to a bit of meditative chopping and simmering, and the result can be dolloped on just about anything. Trying to use up red tomatoes? Halve the amount of sugar.
You probably haven’t considered meal-prepping a sarnie, but you can make both the meatballs and jammy baked tomato components for these brilliant baguettes in advance, making cooking them a breeze.
Too simple for words, this warm tomato and courgette salad recipe is an incidentally gluten-free meal that comes together in 10 minutes.
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Keeping your cool pays off in this supreme bean recipe from Ela! Ela! the cookbook from Melbourne food writer Ella Mittas. Ella instructs: “The most crucial element in this recipe is to be patient when cooking out your onions and capsicums before you add in the tomato. The longer you cook them out, the sweeter your result will be.”
As this fragrant curry slowly stews away, jewel-like cherry tomatoes will burst open, allowing their sugary juices to sweeten the creamy gravy.
For a recipe that makes a highlight of green tomatoes' textured firmness, swap traditional tabbouleh for this tasty tonal one.
With your pick of flavourings pushed into the pillowy surface before it enters the oven, this beginner-friendly bread is essentially a bruschetta with the toppings baked in.
Put down the canned fish and tub of mayonnaise. This seasonal tuna salad is fantastically light and fresh. Delicious as is, you can savour it further, or serve it as a party snack, by spreading it over toasted sourdough slathered with ricotta.
These showstopping French stuffed tomatoes are Apero chef Leslie Hottiaux’s mum’s favourite recipe. She would make them with heirloom tomatoes and herbs from the garden, so home cooks can be confident it’ll work well outside a professional kitchen.
Admittedly you’d be hard-pressed to come across asparagus at this time of the year, but don’t let that write these casually elegant tarts off – their versatility is part of the appeal. Try blanched green beans or tender-stem broccolini instead.
While we’re on the topic of string beans ... they nestle alongside spring onions, cherry tomatoes and a tomato anchovy oil in this winning Yotam Ottolenghi tray bake.
Think of this sun-drenched Angela Casley recipe like a high summer version of a TikTok viral dense bean salad (for the uninitiated these are pulse-prominent combinations of beans, hearty vegetables and acidic condiments). In this one, Borlotti beans get the lead role, with heirloom tomatoes, avocado and balsamic playing support.
In this two-pot riff on a roast dinner, cherry tomatoes get coated in the glossy, wine-tinged pan juices that drip off a baked chook to melt into a tangle of onion, garlic and jalapenos.
Gently roasting them brings out the natural sweetness of tomatoes, making a simple sauce sing.
For a meat-free approximation of the above chicken bake, look to this cosy skillet. Pillowy parcels of gnocchi and eggplant slowly sizzled until squishy are cosseted in a sticky, tart-sweet combination of cherry tomatoes and balsamic. A perfect use for end-of-season fruits.
Tomato salad for summer is hardly groundbreaking but it’s a classic for a reason. This version, from Eleanor Ozich, is a celebration of simple seasonality – with fresh basil, courgette and radishes joining the Caprese party alongside umami-rich anchovies.
