Fast-roasting tomatoes

Here’s how to concentrate the gorgeous sweetness of summer tomatoes.

Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F). Line a shallow ovenproof tin (I use a Swiss roll tin / jellyroll pan) with baking (parchment) paper.

Put whole tomatoes, leaving calyxes intact if liked, in lined ovenproof tin. Rub with olive oil and dust with caster (superfine granulated) sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes, until tomatoes colour a little and start to collapse.

Use any which way you like! With an omelette, alongside fried eggs, on bruschetta, with avocados on toast, threaded through pasta, with barbecued meats, added to couscous … you get the idea.

To fast-roast halved tomatoes, prepare oven and tin as above. Cut tomatoes in half and arrange in tin. Sprinkle with sea salt and caster sugar. Grind over a little black pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin or lemon-infused olive oil. If liked add a sprig of thyme or small basil leaf and a sliver or two of garlic. Roast for 20-30 minutes until collapsing and charring around the edges.