Tomatoes: how to pick tasty ones, peel them, make sauce and dry them
Which tomatoes for salad, sauce and roasting, why tomatoes don't belong in the fridge, how to peel them in a minute, sauce from fresh and tinned tomatoes, roasted cherry tomatoes, oven-dried tomatoes and what to do with green ones.
Which tomato for what
All tomatoes can be eaten raw or cooked, but varieties differ in their balance of flesh, juice and seeds.
- Cherry and cocktail — the sweetest and reliably tasty even in winter: salads, roasting, pasta.
- Plum (roma, San Marzano) — lots of flesh, little juice and few seeds: sauces, roasting, drying.
- Large beefsteak and heirloom — juicy and aromatic: salads, sandwiches, gazpacho.
- Round medium red — all-purpose, but often bland in winter.
Why not the fridge
Below 10–12 °C tomatoes stop producing aroma compounds and the flesh turns mealy. The fridge takes away exactly what you bought the tomato for.
Keep tomatoes at room temperature, stem side down, out of the sun. Unripe ones ripen in 2–4 days — faster next to a banana or apple. Only refrigerate cut or very overripe tomatoes, and let them warm up before eating.
Peeling in a minute
In sauces and soups the skin curls into tough little tubes, so it's often removed.
- Score a cross in the base of the tomato.
- Drop it into boiling water for 20–30 seconds, until the edges of the cut start to curl.
- Transfer straight into iced water for a minute.
- The skin slips off with your fingers in one go.
- For sauce there's an easier way: halve the tomato and grate the cut side on a coarse grater — the skin stays in your hand.
Tomato salad: the flavour secret
Slice the tomatoes, salt them and leave for 10–15 minutes. The salt draws out the juice and brightens the flavour. Don't pour the juice away — it's the base of the dressing: add olive oil, a drop of vinegar and pepper.
Cut tomatoes with a sharp or serrated knife so you don't crush the flesh. And assemble just before serving: dressed tomatoes release their juice quickly.
Tomato sauce: fresh or tinned
In summer, when tomatoes are sweet, a fresh sauce is unbeatable. The rest of the year, tinned whole tomatoes are often better: they're picked ripe and canned the same day.
Basic sauce: warm 3 tbsp olive oil with 3 crushed garlic cloves, add 800 g tomatoes (peeled fresh or tinned, crushed by hand), salt, and a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes are sharp. Simmer on low heat for 20–30 minutes and add basil at the end.
- A spoon of tomato paste fried in the oil for 1–2 minutes adds depth.
- A knob of butter at the end makes the sauce velvety.
- Long simmering (1–2 hours) is for ragù and bolognese; for pasta, 20 minutes keeps it tasting fresh.
Roasted cherry tomatoes
The simplest way to make bland winter tomatoes delicious. Spread cherry tomatoes on a tray, drizzle with oil, salt, and add garlic and thyme.
Roast at 200 °C for 15–20 minutes, until the skins burst and the juices start to caramelise. Serve with pasta, on toast with ricotta, with fish or just with bread.
Oven-dried tomatoes
Plum tomatoes are best for drying. Halve them lengthways, scoop out the seeds, lay them cut side up, salt them, sprinkle with sugar (a pinch per half) and dried herbs.
Dry at 90–100 °C with the door ajar for 4–6 hours, until leathery but still pliable. Pack into a jar and cover with olive oil with garlic and rosemary. They keep in the fridge for up to a month.
Green tomatoes
Fully green tomatoes contain solanine and aren't for eating raw in quantity, but they're delicious cooked or pickled.
- Fried: 1 cm slices in cornmeal, 2–3 minutes a side.
- Fermented or pickled with garlic, dill and chilli.
- Green tomato chutney with apple and onion — for meat and cheese.
- Ripening: tomatoes that have started to blush will ripen at home in a box with paper in 1–2 weeks.
Questions and answers
Why is my tomato sauce sour?＋
The tomatoes were underripe or a sharp variety. Add a pinch of sugar or some grated carrot and simmer the sauce longer.
Should I remove the seeds?＋
Not for salad — they carry a lot of flavour. For drying and thick sauces, yes, as they add water.
Can I freeze tomatoes?＋
Yes, whole or chopped, for sauces and soups. After thawing the skins slip off easily, but they're no good for salad.
What can replace tinned tomatoes?＋
Ripe fresh tomatoes without skins in the same weight, or passata.
How do I choose tinned tomatoes?＋
Check the ingredients: tomatoes, tomato juice, salt — nothing extra. Whole peeled tomatoes are usually better than chopped.
Try it in practice
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