Don’t settle for a mealy tomato. Here are five expert tips from a chef to make sure they’re delicious every time.
It can be hard to tell the texture of a tomato from its exterior, but you can set yourself up for success.Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Long before Suzanne Cupps knew she wanted to be a chef, she knew she loved tomato sandwiches. Throughout her childhood summers, she’d visit her grandfather on his central Pennsylvania farm, where he would press thick slices of ripe tomatoes, still fragrant from the vine, between white bread slathered with mayonnaise. He made that sandwich every day before lunch and before dinner, just for her, because it was her favorite.
It remains a favorite even as she has created countless tomato dishes in her work, and now as chef of her own restaurant, Lola’s, in Manhattan. Ms. Cupps works closely with farmers to get the tastiest fruit, but recognizes that home cooks don’t have that option. And, even if they grow their own, some seasons yield better fruit than others.
Here, then, are her tips for how to avoid mealy, flavorless tomatoes and what to do with them when you can’t avoid them:
1. Don’t refrigerate tomatoes
Tomatoes turn mealy in the fridge, so keep them at room temperature for best results.Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times
The way tomatoes look — round and taut or amoebic and ridged — doesn’t correlate with their flavor. “They’re one of the trickiest crops because it’s hard to tell which are good,” Ms. Cupps said. What she is certain of is that mealy tomatoes are “the worst, and putting them in the fridge makes them mealy.”
2. Buy in a range of ripeness
Keeping your tomatoes stem side down on a kitchen towel to prevent them from bruising.Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Ripe tomatoes carry the most intense sweetness, tang and juiciness. When shopping, give the tomatoes a little squeeze and choose some that feel like water balloons to eat immediately and firmer ones for later in the week. Once home, Ms. Cupps recommends setting them stem side down on a kitchen towel to prevent bruising, and in a cool place to keep them from ripening too quickly.
3. Blend them into soups and sauces
Blending tomatoes, as in this gazpacho, helps remove their mealiness.Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Breaking down mealy tomatoes in a blender or food processor eliminates their wet-sand sadness. Ms. Cupps considers making gazpacho to be the easiest way to do this and also suggests blending mediocre tomatoes with vinegar, olive oil and shallot (or your favorite vinaigrette) for a summery salad dressing.
4. Cook them down
Once you’ve roasted your tomatoes, try tossing them with pasta or pairing them with meatballs.Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
The most low-effort way to deal with a lot of mealy tomatoes is to roast them. Second to that is slowly simmering them into pasta sauce, soup or tomato jam, or searing them for salsa.
5. Add flavor bombs, like kimchi or chile paste
Hetty Lui McKinnon’s tomato-y noodle soup has hints of gazpacho and is ready in 15 minutes.Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
If you really want to bite into some nice tomatoes but have only mealy ones, try the art of distraction: Add punchy heat, as in this kimchi soup, or simply mix chopped tomatoes with any chile paste. “It’s a way to bring that freshness and also flavor — that’s also some of what those tomatoes are missing,” Ms. Cupps said.
This may be your lucky summer, with nothing but slick, sweet tomatoes destined for tomato sandwiches. But if you end up with some that are less than stellar, you can still save — and savor — them.
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