Italian taste

Tomatoes: the beating heart of summer

The taste and lightness of summer is now tinged with red thanks to the succulent tomatoes.

Cherry, perini, pachino, beefsteak, no matter which variety of tomatoes you choose, it will always be the best choice for you to prepare so many fresh and colourful recipes. Tomatoes are a summer gift. They can be eaten raw or cooked, baked, pan-fried, transformed into a delicious sauce for hot or even cold pasta dishes.

Every recipe has its tomato

When choosing tomatoes, an important thing is to have a clear idea of exactly what you want to cook. Whether you want to eat them raw, the pulpy beef hearts are extraordinary, either with a drizzle of Evo oil and a pinch of salt or in a salad or along with fresh mozzarella, always sliced. Instead, to make delicious sauces, you should choose a slightly elongated San Marzano, which helps obtaining a perfectly thick sauce, or even baby plum and cherry tomatoes, for maximum sweetness.

Nutritional properties

Tomatoes are not only good for you but also particularly good for your health. They are rich in vitamin C, to boost your immune system, and in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that increases its effectiveness due to the contraction that takes place during cooking. Besides, they are a vegetable rich in water, refreshing and hydrating, an ideal food to fight the summer heat in a healthy way.

How to choose

Do you know how to tell if a tomato is fresh? Quite easy: look at the stalk, which should be green and scented, and the colour of the fruit, which should glow a deep red while the skin should be smooth and not wrinkled.

How to store them

Our tip is to store them outside the fridge, in a cool, dry place, away from other vegetables. And if you want to enjoy them raw and fresh, place them in the fridge only a few hours before serving, otherwise they will become floury and lose their shine.