Roasted with chickpeas, grilled with labneh, baked with coconut – Nigel Slater’s tomato recipes

Of all the homegrown seasonal fruit and veg we get in Britain, the tomato is summer’s finest. Here are five dishes that celebrate its versatility

I sometimes think I grow tomatoes for their scent alone. Passing the straggly plants on the steps, it is almost impossible not to rub a leaf or two between finger and thumb. They offer a smell that is herbal, a little spicy at the stalk, with – to my nose at least – notes of thyme and marjoram. Unlike sweet peas or narcissi, other favourite “homegrown” smells, your nose doesn’t become numb to it if you sniff too often.

There are plenty of good fruits if you look around. The best are often those with a flash of orange or green rather than a perfect, monotone scarlet. Give them a sniff. Not an infallible trick to detecting a tomato worth eating, but more reliable than going on looks alone. Those fruit with a snap of sharpness, a hint of piquancy and bite are the ones I eat unadulterated, maybe with a little olive oil or a timeless dressing of black olives and basil. These are the ones I cut into small dice – a more delicate version of a chopped salad – and toss with crisp gnocchi or garlicky croutons still hot and salty from the frying pan. It is the larger fruits I tend to bake or grill.

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