Ingredients
Ingredients
The same recipe turns out differently with different tomatoes. Beefsteak tomatoes are great in salads, plum tomatoes in sauces, cherry tomatoes in the oven, while green ones need an approach of their own. Below are some pointers: how to choose, store and use tomatoes and the ingredients they pair with best.
The fridge isn't the best place for a ripe tomato. If you plan to eat it in the next few days, leave it on the counter.
How this section works: each ingredient comes with three pointers — how to choose it, how to store it and how to use it; we don't name specific varieties, brands or shops.
Tomatoes
The four types you're most likely to meet in the kitchen.
Large beefsteak tomatoes
- How to choose
- Heavy for their size, with flesh that is firm but not rock-hard and a noticeable aroma at the stem end. Cracks near the stem are fine as long as they are dry.
- How to store
- At room temperature, out of the sun, stem side down. Once cut, cover, refrigerate and use quickly.
- How to use
- Salads, sandwiches, stuffed and baked, thick slices on the grill.
Plum tomatoes
- How to choose
- Elongated fruit with dense flesh and little juice. Pick evenly coloured ones without soft spots.
- How to store
- Like any other ripe tomatoes: on the counter, out of direct sunlight. Underripe ones will ripen in a few days.
- How to use
- Sauces, homemade tomato paste, oven-drying, canning: they hold less water, so they cook down faster.
Cherry tomatoes
- How to choose
- Firm and glossy, with no wrinkled skin. Those still on the vine usually stay fresh longer.
- How to store
- In an open bowl at room temperature; if you can't eat them in time, refrigerate them once cut.
- How to use
- Salads, whole or halved, roasting, quick pan sauces, snacks on skewers.
Green (unripe) tomatoes
- How to choose
- Firm, unblemished and evenly sized, so they pickle or fry evenly.
- How to store
- In a cool, dark place; you can leave some to ripen in a box, checking them every few days.
- How to use
- Pickled salads, fried in breadcrumbs, braised. They aren't usually eaten raw in large amounts, as they contain the glycoalkaloid tomatine.
What goes with tomatoes
The ingredients that turn up most often in tomato recipes.
Basil
- How to choose
- Bright green leaves with no black spots or wilting. You should be able to smell it straight away.
- How to store
- Like a bunch of flowers — stems in a glass of water at room temperature; in the fridge the leaves soon darken.
- How to use
- Sauces, bruschetta, salads. Add it at the end of cooking or tear it by hand just before serving.
Garlic
- How to choose
- Firm, heavy bulbs with dry skins, no sprouts and no soft cloves.
- How to store
- In a dry, airy place at room temperature, not in a sealed bag.
- How to use
- Almost any sauce, roasting, bruschetta. Fry it only briefly — burnt garlic turns bitter.
Olive oil
- How to choose
- For dressings, an oil with a pronounced flavour; for frying, a milder one. Let your own taste guide you.
- How to store
- In a closed bottle in a cool, dark place, away from the hob.
- How to use
- Salads, roasting, sauces. Fat helps: lycopene from cooked tomatoes is better absorbed in the presence of fat.
Cheese
- How to choose
- Soft fresh cheeses for salads and starters, hard aged cheeses for baking and serving with pasta.
- How to store
- In the fridge in its packaging or in baking parchment; wrap hard cheese well so it doesn't dry out.
- How to use
- Baked tomatoes, pasta, salads. Allow for salty cheese when seasoning the dish.
Related sections
- Recipes
Four home recipes: pasta with fresh tomato sauce, a salad, a puréed soup and bruschetta.
- Cherry tomatoes: the different kinds (in Russian)
Cherry tomato shapes and colours, determinate and indeterminate plants, cherry tomatoes in the kitchen.
- Cooking techniques
Blanching, roasting, oven-drying, sauce, homemade tomato paste, freezing and safe home canning.
- Cooking questions
Answers to common questions about choosing, storing, cooking and preserving tomatoes.
Sources
- PNAS (2016) — study on storing tomatoes at low temperature
- Encyclopedic sources on Solanum lycopersicum
- State Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation (Gossortkomissiya)
Times and temperatures in these recipes are a guide: a lot depends on your hob, oven, pans and the tomatoes themselves. For home preserving, use tested recipes that give processing times.