A feast of tomatoes

Technically a fruit, but prepared like a vegetable, Rachel Allen says the glorious tomato is the most versatile of all her favourite summer foods

Of all my favourite summer produce, tomatoes are definitely the most versatile. Technically a fruit, but prepared like a vegetable, the tomato is impossible to replace. Used in everything from soups, stews and chutneys to salads, sauces and breads, summer eating would be different without the glorious tomato.

Applauded for their high levels of the antioxidant lycopene and myriad different vitamins and minerals, like all fruit and vegetables, tomatoes are at their best flavour and peak nutrition when they haven’t flown halfway across the world to get here.

One of my favourite things to eat while in Spain in the summertime is gazpacho, and seeing as I won’t be getting there this year, I’ve been making it at home instead.

A refreshing chilled soup made from tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and onions, typically gazpacho has a little bit of white bread in it, but I tend to omit the bread as in this recipe, right.

Gazpacho normally comes with little bowls of finely diced onion, peppers, hard-boiled eggs and croutons to scatter over the top, but this version, which has crab and avocado, is also divine.

The braised lamb with tomatoes, cannellini beans and rosemary recipe, far right, is perfect for chilly late-summer evenings. It’s just as good, if not better, when it is reheated the day after it’s

“Tomatoes are at their best flavour and peak nutrition when they haven’t flown halfway across the world to get here”

made, and it also freezes well.

If you have lots of tomatoes and want to preserve them for the winter ahead, try drying them. I use the term ‘sun-dried’ loosely, as they can also be dried in your oven if you don’t have a greenhouse or sunny window. And to make a delicious pesto out of these tomatoes, just blend them with some nuts, cheese, garlic and olive oil — see far right. Toss this pesto through pasta or serve it with lamb chops or goat’s cheese for a delicious taste of summer all year.