Tomato (Cherry) recipes

Giant pasta shells are filled with a creamy ricotta mixture, then baked on a bed of burst cherry tomatoes that cook down into a vivid, jammy sauce beneath them. A basil brown butter poured over at the end adds a nutty richness that lifts the whole dish. It looks impressive but is straightforward to assemble, and the tomatoes genuinely do all the work in the oven.

A British twist on the classic Niçoise that swaps tinned tuna for hot-smoked mackerel — a combination that works even better given the tomatoes' acidity cutting through the fish's richness. Cherry tomatoes are the sweet, juicy backbone of this salad, scattered in abundance alongside waxy new potatoes, crisp green beans and jammy soft-boiled eggs. It is an easy, no-fuss weeknight dinner that looks far more impressive than the effort involved.

This is a weeknight stalwart — one pan, under thirty minutes, and the kind of dish that tastes far more considered than the effort deserves. Cherry tomatoes are crushed directly into a pan with garlic and olive oil until they form a rough, intensely flavoured sauce, then butter beans are stirred through to drink it all up. Capers fried until crispy in a little oil add pops of salt and texture, and a good squeeze of lemon at the end keeps everything bright.

A proper shortcrust pastry tart with a creamy goat's cheese custard filling and rows of slow-roasted cherry tomatoes pressed into the top, their edges just catching and concentrating into something intensely sweet and jammy. This is the kind of tart worth making on a weekend when the tomatoes are at their best. It holds together beautifully when sliced and is just as good at room temperature as it is warm.