Cherry Tomato Tips and Recipes

We think cherry tomatoes are one of the very best tomatoes you can grow in backyards.

• Cherry tomatoes have loads of that famous real tomato flavour
• Pests such as fruit fly don’t seem to attack cherry tomatoes as often as they do the larger types of tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes are easier to grow, and the small bush types are ideal for pots and hanging baskets
• Just give them the same growing conditions as all other tomatoes: lots of sunshine (at least 8 hours a day), well-drained soil and a steady supply of water and regular applications of fertiliser over the growing season.

Colourful seafood skewers

Cherry tomatoes are the ideal shape to thread onto a skewer with seafood, to add colour and flavour to your next barbecue. 

Serves 4

500g seafood – firm fish fillets (eg, ling) and prawns – to your liking
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, washed, left whole
1 large green capsicum, cut into 1 cm squares 

Marinade
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 crushed clove garlic

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Peel the prawns and add to the marinade, and/or cut the fish fillets into 2cm cubes and add to the marinade, too. Let it all marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
2. Thread the seafood onto skewers, alternating seafood with cherry tomatoes and capsicum squares.
3. Grill on a barbecue for 5 minutes. Serve with a green salad on the side, to which you can add any of the leftover cherry tomatoes.

Cherry tomato pasta salad

400g shell pasta
250g green beans, cut into 2cm lengths
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 small red onion, chopped finely
1/4 cup basil leaves, torn

Dressing
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil then drop in the beans and let them boil for just 1 minute. Scoop beans out with a strainer then drop into a bowl of cold water, to retain their green colour. Drain when cool.
2. Now add the pasta to the boiling water, and cook according to the packet directions (usually about 12 minutes), then drain.
3. Make the salad dressing by combining the ingredients in a small bowl. In a salad bowl combine the pasta, beans, cherry tomatoes, onion and basil leaves and toss to combine. Dollop the dressing over and toss the salad again. Serve immediately as a side dish.