You say Tomato
Tomatoes - what can I say? Tomatoes are the most amazing fruit on earth. No, really.
Now tomatoes are delicious on their own, especially when you have grown them yourself, but when they’re married with just a sprinkle of salt, they are lifted to absolutely mouth-watering loveliness. If ever there was a perfect union, this is it.
FOUR GORGEOUS THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH A TOMATO...
Cut them in half, squeeze out all the juices and seeds on to some toast and rub it all over, drizzle a little olive oil and a shake of salt and you have the prefect breakfast.
Grab as many different types of tomatoes as you can find, chop them roughly and throw them into a bowl with some fresh rocket, perfect creamy goats fetta, roasted pine nuts, thinly sliced red onion and of course some olives. Add some sliced and fried chorizo into the mix if you feel like it. Dress with caramelised balsamic and some EVOO and sea salt. The perfect lunch.
Grab a punnet of cherry toms, throw them on a shallow baking dish with some whole cloves of garlic, pour in some fruity olive oil and roast for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile slice some kalamata olives - don’t use pitted because they’re only good on a pizza - and ten minutes in, throw them in with the tomatoes. Boil salted water and cook your favourite pasta, then drain.When the tomatoes have split and are soft and luscious take them out of the oven. Throw the lot into a bowl and mash it up with a fork, add some fresh basil, season with salt flakes and some fresh ground pepper and then add the pasta. Mix through. You may want to add some more oil now. Grate some fresh parmesan on top - reggiano preferably - and you are good to go.
Find some big ripe juicy tomatoes and slice them about 1/2 cm wide, now get some fresh mozzarella and slice that too. On a dinner plate lay a slice of tomato and then place a slice of the cheese on half of it and then top with a fresh basil leaf. Overlap that with another tomato, cheese, leaf, all around the plate. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and you have an easy peasy salad to go with a perfect antipasto platter.
There are so many things to do with the fabulous tomato and the great thing about them is that raw or cooked they're amazing. What's not to love.