Recipes: cooking with tomatoes

Last week my mother visited. The trouble is, I’m so like her that it’s a clash at every opportunity.

Carina Contini - Spaghetti Pomodoro

The children adore their Nonna and they love showing her the kitchen garden. We have 20 varieties of salad leaves, dozens of different herbs, garlic, broad beans, strawberries, rhubarb, but we have no tomatoes.

Growing for fun and for a restaurant are completely different challenges. This year we chose the varieties that add most value in terms of taste, yield and impact. The big winners last year were the brassicas, courgettes, peas and broad beans, and the herbs and salads. We felt we could do better buying tomatoes from Italy or the Clyde Valley. Know your strengths and stick to them is my motto, so we will leave tomato-growing to the experts.

Tomatoes do say summer. A spicy tomato broth with shellfish or, my favourite fast food, a plate of spaghetti pomodoro really can’t be beaten.