Buzz
Tomato season is here, and it's the most exciting time of the year! However, this fleeting season won’t last long, so it's crucial to approach it with a strategy to make the most of your harvest.
Though I've only been growing tomatoes for a few years, my lifelong love for them has given me plenty of tips and tricks to fully savor their flavor.
Elevate your tomato sandwiches and BLTs to the next level
Tomato sandwiches are incredibly underrated. In fact, they're so underrated that it's almost impossible to find a decent stock photo of one (which is a double erasure of Southern culture and Harriet the Spy). Just a few months ago, some people who clearly didn’t know what they were talking about tried to criticize this (absolutely correct) young woman for making an authentic tomato sandwich. If you're not from the Southern U.S. (or haven't read Harriet the Spy), it’s possible you’ve never tasted this simple, perfect sandwich—but you should definitely change that this summer.
Here’s everything you need to craft your ideal tomato sandwich:
Duke’s mayonnaise, for that true Southern flair
A serrated knife, to slice the tomatoes perfectly
A Blue Willow plate, to capture the spirit of tradition
Using bland tomatoes for this sandwich is simply not an option. Since there are only four ingredients—white bread, mayo, tomato, and salt—this sandwich is unforgiving, meaning it’s best enjoyed during peak tomato season, when the tomatoes are at their most sweet and flavorful.
I’ve gone over my method for making the perfect tomato sandwich before, but it’s worth reiterating:
The bread should be soft, white, and inexpensive (it should practically stick to the roof of your mouth), and you’ll want to spread mayo on
both
slices. The mayo is the only element I switch up. Right now, I’m all about this Korean mayo that comes in a bag. (I’d tell you the name, but it was printed on the bag, which I tossed out to access the bottle inside.) The mayo not only adds flavor but also keeps the sandwich from getting soggy too quickly.
Slice the tomato—preferably right when you get home from the market—then place the slices onto the mayo-coated bread and season with Maldon salt. Don’t add cheese. Don’t add basil. You can add pepper if you wish, but I never do.
(It’s highly encouraged to eat it off a Blue Willow plate, though it’s not a requirement.)
A BLT is not a tomato sandwich (it’s more of a bacon sandwich with some tomatoes), but it’s still delicious, and you can elevate it by marinating your tomatoes à la Chef Clare de Boer. The marinade is simple, yet works wonders on less-than-perfect, early-season tomatoes:
Lazy days begin with
BLTs
for breakfast. Luke’s are a slice of heaven, and he has two secrets. First: While the bacon cooks, he slices and marinates tomatoes with a splash of red wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt. This turns even the dullest tomato into a dream come true. Second: After toasting his bread (either a plain bagel or sesame loaf, which are preferred in our home), he smears it generously with mayonnaise and then adds olive oil and the vinegary tomato juices. Sound absurd? It’s perfect.
Don’t stress over subpar tomatoes.
When it comes to early season, less-than-ideal tomatoes: you’re going to end up with one, or maybe more. It’s just how things go. Even with the influence of climate change, you probably won’t come across a perfect, flavorful summer tomato until late July, so aim for early August to start searching (hey, that's right now!). But even if you’re stuck with a bland, mushy tomato, don’t fret: I’ve got strategies to make it work.
You can always compensate for the lack of flavor by sprinkling it with something:
When it comes to seasoning, I prefer a trifecta of
sugar, salt
, and
MSG
. The first two enhance the flavor while drawing out moisture, and the latter adds a burst of umami. Simply sprinkle a slice or two with table sugar and sodium chloride, allow them to rest on a wire rack for 10 minutes to let the solutes draw out some of the water, then re-season with a bit more of each, plus a pinch of monosodium glutamate.
If that doesn’t do the trick (or you have an abundance of bland tomatoes), you can transform them by roasting them down into a rich, flavorful pasta sauce, or intensify their flavor using your air fryer, oven, or microwave.
I get such satisfaction from annihilating bland tomatoes in my air fryer. I don’t often impress myself—the bar is always set high—but I was genuinely pleased when I tossed a bunch of cherry tomatoes into my air fryer and reduced them to oblivion. These tomatoes went beyond roasted—they were condensed, concentrated, and potent. To quote myself:
They have a rich, caramelized sweetness—almost like tomato paste—with deep, slightly raisiny notes reminiscent of sun-dried tomatoes, but without the overpowering tartness. They spread like a thick jam, making an incredible sandwich filling, especially when you're craving something warmer, sweeter, and more substantial than just tomato toast.
On the gentler side of roasted tomatoes, we have a method from Nigella Lawson. This approach involves a bit of oven work, making it perfect for those late-season tomatoes that don’t have the intensity of peak-season ones. You’ll just need to set the oven to 450℉ (but only for a short time!), then follow these simple steps:
...take those sad, flavorless tomatoes, cut them in half, sprinkle on some salt and sugar (perhaps with a hint of thyme), then turn off the oven and let the tomatoes rest in there overnight. Be sure to resist the temptation to open the oven door, even just for a peek. The soft, ambient warmth works its magic, transforming the tomatoes from limp and watery into something sweet, vibrant, and still wonderfully juicy.
Slow-roasting tomatoes is an excellent method for preserving them, though running the oven for three hours can make your house uncomfortably warm—especially in summer. But according to microwave aficionado A.A. Newton, “about 10 minutes in the microwave is a surprisingly effective alternative to hours in the oven, and it won't turn your house into a fiery furnace.”
Coat them in sizzling bacon grease
No one raises an eyebrow when summer tomatoes are finished off with a splash of high-quality olive oil, but if I suggest you do the same with hot bacon grease, suddenly I’m bombarded with hate mail?? (I’m not very popular!)
Olive oil isn’t neutral, and neither is bacon grease, yet both enhance the tomatoes’ bright tartness and sweetness with their rich, fatty flavor. Hot bacon grease not only adds a salty smokiness, but it also softens the raw edge of fresh tomatoes (or any other raw vegetable)—a wonderfully subtle effect. (Try it on a caprese and witness how it elevates fresh basil!)
Drizzle them with honey
Honey is an excellent finishing touch, and it works surprisingly well with tomatoes. As I’ve mentioned before, honey doesn’t compete with the tomatoes but enhances them:
Instead of overwhelming the fruit, the honey’s warm sweetness elevates and harmonizes with the tomato’s tangy acidity and umami-rich glutamates. Add a pinch of salt (or a sprinkle of cheese), and you've created a bite that touches all flavor notes—except bitterness.
Give it a try with some crumbled preserved feta. It will completely transform how you think about honey.
Shred them over toast
Alicia Kennedy is a tomato influencer in the sense that she convinced me to try tomato toast, and I haven’t stopped eating it since. (Pro-tip: Opt for small tomatoes during the colder months—they’re delicious all year long.)
The key to perfect tomato toast lies in grating the tomatoes. Unlike slices that can slip off the bread, grated tomatoes work like a juicier raw jam that sticks to the toast. I’ve been enjoying mine with a smear of mayo and Maldon salt, but there are plenty of other possibilities:
You can keep it simple—with grated tomatoes, olive oil, and flaky salt—or elevate it by grating the tomatoes over a creamy base like cream cheese,
labneh
,
whipped cottage cheese
, or avocado. I prefer a thin layer of the creamy spread; just enough to create a barrier that prevents the tomato juices from soaking into the bread and making it soggy.
Peel them for a better salad experience
Every time I recommend peeling tomatoes for a salad, people get frustrated, but I stand by it! A marinated, peeled tomato is a true delight, and my first encounter with a stripped-down tomato salad was life-changing. Let’s take a walk down memory lane:
I also recall the first time I tried a
peeled
cherry tomato. It was served to me at
this eatery
. I was 28 years old. There were men around. I was still talking endlessly. I popped the glossy little orb into my mouth. There was no burst, just the juiciest, silkiest, sweetest, and most tomato-like tomato I had ever tasted. It was so good that I stopped talking.
Peeling tomatoes may be a bit tedious, but it’s also kind of meditative, and the results are totally worth the effort. You can pair them with any dressing you prefer, or you can try my recipe, which is pretty amazing.
Repurpose the peels to create tomato salt
When you peel tomatoes, you’re left with the skins, but that’s actually a good thing because you can turn those peels into tomato salt. The idea originated with Gabrielle Hamilton, and tomato salt carries a bright, fresh flavor with a touch of summery umami. Plus, it's visually appealing, if that’s something you care about.
Blend them for an even fresher Bloody Mary
I enjoy a hearty and savory Bloody Mary just as much as anyone else during brunch, but sometimes they can be a bit too thick, and drinking something that resembles soup isn't very inviting on a hot day. A mixture of fresh tomatoes, pickles, and lemon juice might sound like the smoothie from hell, but it actually goes amazingly well with vodka (especially horseradish vodka).
Roast canned tomatoes to elevate your sauce
We often discuss roasting fresh tomatoes, but did you know there’s no rule saying you can’t roast the canned ones? That’s right! You can even throw an entire pan of sauce into the oven and roast it until it becomes a jammy, caramelized version of its stovetop counterpart. (It's a very “set it and forget it” method, which I adore.)
Prepare a flavorful tomato gravy
Sausage gravy often gets all the attention, but this lesser-known Southern classic is full of flavor and requires only a handful of ingredients (just five, if you include water and salt). The process is simple: make a roux with flour and bacon grease, toss in a chopped tomato, then add water and let it simmer until you’ve got a thick, savory gravy that's perfect for biscuits, pork chops, potatoes, or anything else you'd usually cover in gravy.
