Roast tomato sauce

Choose tomatoes that are really ripe and juicy. The more interesting the tomato, the more interesting the sauce. Great for pasta.

650g tomatoes, or enough to fill a medium-sized baking dish
olive oil
4 bay leaves
red wine vinegar

Put the tomatoes into a roasting tin or baking dish (they should fit snugly in a single layer; give them too much space and they'll burn).
Pour over enough olive oil to wet the fruit and to form a thin layer at the bottom of the dish. Season with salt and black pepper, tuck in the bay leaves and sprinkle over a couple of teaspoons of red wine vinegar.
Bake in 200C for 30 minutes until the skins have started to blacken.

Crush the tomatoes with a fork, then return them to the oven for a further 15 minutes.
Now you can either push the tomatoes and their juice through a food mill, blend to a thick slush or leave the sauce as it is.

Slow-roast tomatoes

Serves 4.

16 medium-sized tomatoes
olive oil
thyme leaves
2 balls of buffalo mozzarella
small bunch of parsley

Set the oven at 160C.
Remove the stalks from the tomatoes and put the fruit into a small baking dish (they should fit snugly).
Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.

Pull the thyme leaves from their stalks and toss with the tomatoes and seasoning. Bake until they are collapsing - a good hour or more.

Pull the mozzarella balls in half. Place half on each plate and season with olive oil and coarsely chopped parsley leaves.
Serve the roast tomatoes alongside.

Parmesan tomatoes

A good savoury little number, fantastic with roasts and grills, but equally worth making as a side dish for cool, milky mozzarella. Serves 4 as a side dish.

450g tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
small bunch of basil
40g grated Parmesan

Set the oven at 200C.
Cut the tomatoes in half and put them in a bowl.
Pour over the oil, and add a good grinding of black pepper and a little salt.
Tear the basil leaves and add them with the grated Parmesan.
Tip the tomatoes into a baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the Parmesan is slightly crisp.