How to cook Tomatoes

You can’t beat a perfectly ripe tomato! If you have good tomatoes, keep it simple and enjoy those sunshine flavours in a simple salad. They can be made into sauces, added to pasta or pizza, or made into soup. They’re also really tasty eaten on their own with a few basil leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

WATCH: The best tomato & chorizo salad

READ: A guide to Italian tomatoes

WHAT ARE TOMATOES?

You can’t beat a perfectly ripe tomato! They’re delicious eaten raw or cooked in savoury dishes. They’re the most widely grown fruit on the planet. They grow as far north as Iceland and as far south as the Falkland Islands. Tomato seedlings have even been grown in space! There are more than 1000 different tomato varieties, in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colours. You can find yellow, orange, purple and even striped tomatoes. When they first arrived in Europe from South America in the 16th century, these early tomatoes looked like small, yellow apples. This explains why they are called pomodoro in Italy, which literally translates as ‘golden apples’.

WHEN ARE TOMATOES IN SEASON?

Tomatoes are in season from June to October, but they really peak at the end of August and early September. Choose tomatoes that smell fresh and are heavy for their size – this means that they are full of delicious juice. Avoid any that have blemishes or squashy bits.

HOW TO STORE TOMATOES

Tomatoes should be stored at room temperature. Refrigerating can change the texture and make them a little floury.

What are the health benefits?

Tomatoes are a source of vitamin C, which keeps our immune system working properly so we can fight illness and flu. One medium tomato or seven cherry tomatoes count as one of your 5-a-day (one portion of veg or fruit is 80g raw weight).