Vine tomato

Heat the oven to 200°C. Put the tomatoes on a tray, drizzle with oil and roast for about 20–25 minutes, until softened and blistered; keep the stalks on for an attractive serving, but don’t eat them.

Look for even colour, smooth skin and a fresh-smelling stalk; a ripe tomato should yield slightly to gentle pressure without feeling soft or bruised. The vine is a useful freshness clue, but being attached to it does not guarantee that the tomato ripened on the plant.

Keep firm tomatoes at room temperature until ripe. Once ripe, refrigerate them if you need to keep them longer, then bring them back to room temperature before eating for a fuller flavour.

Yes. Remove the stalks, wash and dry the tomatoes, then freeze them whole in a suitable container. Their texture will be soft after thawing, so use them in sauces, soups or stews rather than salads.

No, the skin is fine to eat and usually softens in a sauce. For a smoother sauce, score a small cross in each tomato, blanch for about 30 seconds, cool in cold water and slip off the skin.

Their juicy flesh works well sliced in a salad or sandwich, or cooked into tomato sauce, soup or shakshuka. For a quick sauce, chop them and simmer with olive oil, garlic and herbs until they collapse.

Yes, especially in fresh sauces and soups. Chop them and simmer until they release their juice and soften; fresh tomatoes are less concentrated than tinned ones, so allow extra cooking time for a thicker result.

Vine tomatoes are generally larger and are sold attached to a truss, while cherry tomatoes are small and often sweeter. Cherry tomatoes have 1.1 g of protein per 100 g, compared with 0.7 g in vine tomatoes.