1. Look for firm, deep coloured tomatoes without any soft spots. It’s best to store tomatoes at room temperature as chilling can damage cell structure in flesh and give them a mealy texture.
2. To slice tomatoes, remove green stalk and turn tomato on its side. Always cut across the width, as this prevents seeds from falling out. Use a thin serrated knife as this cuts through the skin well.
3. To remove skin from a tomato, pull out green stalk, then turn tomato over and score a shallow cross in bottom. Put in a bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover. Leave for 20sec. Remove from boiling water and plunge into cold water briefly to cool slightly. Take out of water and peel the skin away easily using fingers. If it doesn’t then put tomatoes back in boiling water for a further 20-30sec.
4. To deseed a tomato, cut in half lengthways, then use a spoon to scoop out seeds.
5. To chop, flatten halves on a board and cut in half down middle. Slice pieces into thin strips, then rotate strips a quarter turn and thinly slice again, to create small diced pieces. These peeled, deseeded and chopped tomatoes are known as tomato concasse.
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White China oval plate, Sophie Conran. Classic glass bowl (1 / 2 litres), Pyrex. Oak chopping board, Lakeland. Polished Thermosystem kettle (1.8 litres), Magimix UK. Small serrated knife, slotted spoon, chef's own.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
