For 23 years, I hated tomatoes. I hated them with a passion – cutting them, touching them, sometimes even looking at them made me recoil. It’s the firm outside and squishy inside. Or its the way they spurt when you bite into them, and the weird jelly that surrounds the seeds. For 23 years, my dad asked me on at least a monthly basis if I liked tomatoes, making a shudder pass through me as I contemplated them. No.
And then one day the answer was yes…right as he learned that I do not like tomatoes. We’re now three years into the reversal, and sometimes when I see a photo of a dark, juicy, fleshy specimen I salivate instead of sneer in disgust. Now that we’re in British tomato season, that happens with alarming regularity, a craving I never thought I’d feel.
They’ve come a long way since first being cultivated in South America in around 700AD – literally, as tomato seeds spent six years in a satellite orbiting Earth. In addition to being the base of loads of sauces, they’re full of vitamins and anti-oxidants, which I’m pretty sure means pizza is a health food. In their fresh form, though, they’re just as delicious. Check out the recipes below for inspiration!
Click here for previous June round ups!
- Cheese and tomato tarts @ Kitchen Sanctuary
- How not to f*** up a caprese salad @ Serious Eats
- Dakos (Cretan bruschetta) @ Queen of Tarts
- Mediterranean stuffed tomatoes with quinoa @ Cookie + Kate
- Tomato, ginger & sultana chutney @ British Larder
- Baked cod bruschetta with hot tomato & aubergine salsa @ British Tomatoes
- Tomato and pomegranate salad @ Ottolenghi
- Basil tagliatelle with fiery cherry tomatoes @ A Mummy Too
- Avocado, tomato, and goat’s cheese toast @ Two Peas & Their Pod
- Mexican hash brown stack @ A Beautiful Plate
Featured image courtesy of Simon Stamm/Flickr