A Love Letter to Tomatoes: 13 Methods to Let Them Shine

There’s one thing a few ripe juicy tomato that immediately alerts “carefree summer.” Whether or not I’m slicing right into a sun-warmed heirloom straight from the market or slow-roasting cherry tomatoes till they’re candy and tender, this time of yr at all times evokes me to get artistic within the kitchen with new tomato recipes.

Tomatoes are a type of substances that don’t want a lot fuss—they shine in every part from easy pastas to hearty mains. Tomatoes hit their peak in late summer season, and there’s really no comparability to the flavour of an in-season tomato—candy, juicy, and bursting with wealthy taste. As a younger prepare dinner, I’m at all times astonished by the various methods to carry out their finest: roast them low and sluggish till they’re caramelized and candy, sauté them shortly for a recent pasta sauce, or serve them uncooked with only a drizzle of olive oil and flaky salt. Nonetheless you select to include them, tomato recipes are one of many season’s easiest (and most scrumptious) pleasures.

Featured picture by Michelle Nash.

13 Tomato Recipes for Each Event

We’ve rounded up our all-time favourite tomato recipes to encourage your warm-weather cooking and rejoice this versatile fruit at its peak. Belief us: You’ll need to make each single one.

Appetizers

Bruschetta with Sluggish-Roasted Tomatoes & Ricotta

This bruschetta with tender pillowy ricotta is a top-tier approach to take pleasure in a savory taste mixture we all know and love in a bite-sized kind. Professional tip: Use a high-quality sourdough or a ciabatta for a base that’s each a contact of soppy and crunchy.

Basic Straightforward Bruschetta

It doesn’t get a lot simpler to take pleasure in cherry tomatoes than this traditional bruschetta. Paired with a recent, crusty bread and home made (or store-bought) pesto, this bruschetta makes it straightforward to wow your company (and their style buds).

Heirloom Tomato and Burrata Galette

A couple of summers in the past, I fell down a rabbit gap of galette recipes. The outcome? A brand new love for the edible centerpiece that’s assured to pair completely along with your al fresco eating expertise.

Hummus Toast with Tomatoes, Feta, and Za’atar

Simply as yogurt on toast had its second in 2022, hummus toast is the brand new toast development of 2025. Merely slice up quite a lot of your favourite tomatoes to prime your hummus of selection, and you’ve got an appetizer that’s shockingly flavorful and nutritious.

Salads and Sides

Watermelon Tomato Caprese Salad

In the case of tomatoes, I sometimes flip to a caprese salad for getting essentially the most out of this summer season fruit. On this salad, the watermelon-tomato mixture is the proper stability of candy and savory, making it laborious to place down the fork.

Avocado Caprese Salad

Whereas avocado doesn’t sometimes make the minimize for caprese, Camille made a groundbreaking discovery with this salad as the proper mix of summer season flavors and textures.

Tomato, Avocado, & Cucumber Salad

Seeking to kick up the warmth along with your tomato-based salad? This recipe pairs freshly sliced jalapeños with different crunchy additions, similar to cucumber and pickled onion, to carry the warmth whereas conserving every chew well-balanced.

Tomato Salad

Having fun with a tomato recipe has by no means been simpler than with this tomato salad. Delivered to us by Margarita Kallas-Lee and her husband, Phillip Frankland Lee, these heirloom tomatoes require little to no accompaniment to disclose their vibrant and candy taste.

Fundamental Programs

Summer season Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Burrata, & Basil

Whereas tomato-based appetizers are spectacular, I feel that a number of the most particular makes use of for this fruit belong in the principle course. Exhibit A: this summer season spaghetti with creamy burrata and a contact of basil.

Tomato and White Bean Soup

Throughout my journey to Washington state firstly of the summer season, I used to be stunned to see snow nonetheless on the mountainside in early June. In gentle of the abrupt distinction in climate in comparison with Austin, I used to be impressed to whip up this heat and creamy tomato soup recipe. Let’s simply say, it tastes even higher than it seems.

Burst Tomato Pasta

A easy spaghetti recipe could be elevated to the following degree with the addition of tomatoes. This burst tomato pasta might sound easy, however by incorporating three sorts of tomatoes into the sauce, it’s positive to shock your style buds.

Miso Tomato Pasta

This miso pasta will not be your typical tomato recipe, however the jammy burst cherry tomatoes add a candy, savory depth that makes this umami-packed dish a standout. Tossed with miso butter and completed with recent basil, it’s a taste bomb that proves tomatoes can do far more than simply play a supporting position.

Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Recent Ricotta

These lamb meatballs by Seamus Mullen are nestled in a wealthy, savory tomato sauce and topped with creamy dollops of ricotta that cool and stability each chew. Merely put: it’s a refined but cozy tomato-forward standout.