Cherry and grape tomatoes are a farmers’ market treasure
Small but packed with flavor, candy-sweet cherry and grape tomatoes are some of our favorite farmers' market finds in the summer. They add a pop of color and flavor to all sorts of dishes, from salads, to pastas, to sauces. We've rounded up our favorite grape and cherry tomato recipes.
Cherry and grape tomatoes often act as supporting characters, but sometimes they get to star. This is certainly true in our herbed tomato tart, in which the tomatoes are cooked until blistered with anchovies on a puff pastry base and topped with fragrant parsley, chives, and oregano.
Tomatoes and cheese are a perfect pairing to top crostini for a summer hors d'ouevre. For a simple summer crostini, try lightly broiled cherry tomatoes and ricotta. To make a sweet, jammy compote that you can preserve for the winter, match cherry tomatoes with vanilla bean. It's perfect with a triple cream goat cheese.
Raw cherry or grape tomatoes add beautiful color to summer salads. Add them to our red leaf salad with an herb-laced yogurt ranch dressing or toss them with garlicky toasted bread cubes, olive oil, vinegar, and basil to make a summery panzanella.
Similarly, tomatoes add a pop to pasta dishes like a classic spaghetti alla primavera or spaghetti with garlic scapes and arugula. Cooking the tomatoes just until the start of burst intensifies their sweetness while preserving some of their texture.
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Find all of these dishes and more in our collection of cherry tomato recipes.
Penn Hongthong, the author of Simple Laotian Cooking (Hippocrene, 2003), taught us that charring the vegetables for this dip is the secret to its smoky flavor.
Sweet, ripe, summer tomatoes dressed in olive oil, vinegar, and basil are tossed with garlicky, toasted bread cubes to soak up the delicious juices in this classic Italian salad. Get the recipe for Summer Panzanella »
Succulent lamb entrecôte, a well-marbled boneless cut from the sirloin, is blanketed in a marinade of garlic, fresh marjoram, thyme, rosemary, and sage, which caramelize to form a flavorful crust as the lamb grills.
Fresh summer tomatoes and juicy fish filets come together in an easy, one-skillet meal. It calls for only four ingredients, making it perfect for a weeknight dinner.
This jammy tomato compote is perfect paired with a triple cream goat cheese or with firm white-fleshed fish dishes. Floral vanilla bean brings out the musky qualities of cherry tomatoes. It is best made with ripe tomatoes at the height of summer.
Fragrant herbs and anchovies underscore the bright sweetness and acidity of ripe cherry tomatoes in this eye-catching tart from Tuscany—cut into small squares, it makes an elegant appetizer.