Spanish tomato bread

Toast some slices of good country bread, then rub with halved, very ripe tomatoes and cut cloves of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve on their own or with slices of Serrano ham.

Roasted tomatoes

Halve tomatoes, sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt and thyme leaves. Put into a cool oven (120-140C, gas mark ½-1) and leave for about three hours, until semi-dried. Serve with fish or barbequed meat.

Hot tomato Chutney

Chop 900g tomatoes, 450g each of onions and apples, two red chillies and a good chunk of ginger. Put into a large, heavy-based pan with 125g of sultanas and brown sugar, and 280mls vinegar. Season, bring to the boil, then simmer for 45 minutes-1 hour until it thickens. Pot in sterilised jars.

Chilled soup

Chop 1kg ripe tomatoes, a red pepper, several garlic cloves, a handful of spring onions and half a cucumber. Blitz in a blender with around five tbsp of olive oil and two tbsp of vinegar. Chill and serve with chilled cucumber and shredded basil.

Quick salsa

Chop ripe tomatoes into small dice and mix with finely chopped spring onions, red chilli, plenty of coriander and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Goes best with . . . basil. Pair the two and you have an instant salad; add mozzarella and that’s lunch.

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