It’s here again, tomato season. As we established in our tomato-butter sauce post, you’re best off eating tomatoes one of two ways:

* Fresh when in season
* Preserved when not in season

The sauce is one way to lock in their flavor, cooked down and frozen for later use: a bowl of fresh pappardelle in February.

My favorite method, though, is oven-drying tomatoes and storing them in olive oil.

Why bother with jarred salsa when a smoky, spicy homemade batch is so simple? This fast, easy recipe uses the broiler for an extra layer of charred flavor and a blender to bring it all together. Use it to sauce up some Chiles Rellenos or Mushroom and Chile Tacos, or for dipping tortilla chips.

Literally "re-boiled", this sustaining, ancient recipe is the very essence of kitchen economy – a big fat soup substantial enough to be a main course.

It's come a long way from the tables at 1980s dinner parties. Do you like your ratatouille soft and jammy, or fresh-tasting and crunchy?

When did ratatouille disappear? I can't remember the last time I saw it here, but in France it can still be found on many a menu. The ripe tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and peppers (all technically fruits), are cooked to a velvety texture on the edge of collapse. The flavour is heady with garlic and basil. It is too good to be consigned to the scrap heap.

It seems fitting, in the year that celebrates 60 years since the publication of Elizabeth David's A Book of Mediterranean Food, to offer a classic that she helped bring to our notice.This little stew of onions, tomatoes and sweet peppers appeared in more than one of her books. According to the area and whim of the cook, it can also contain potatoes, black olives and garlic. ED uses none of these. (Marcella Hazan adds potatoes.)

Dan's recipe is foolproof and the dough keeps well, sealed in the fridge, for a couple of weeks. Whenever you feel that pizza craving coming on, simply break off a lime-sized piece of dough and get rolling. Makes eight small pizzas.

This quick supper dish should be salty, piquant and hot. The saltiness comes from anchovies and olives; the piquancy from the tomatoes and the effect of the capers; the heat from dried chilli flakes. Spaghetti puttanesca is not a genteel dish – it should in fact be a little coarse and the flavours should explode in the mouth. It is the best of all standby dishes, ready in minutes and made from ingredients you probably have.

Lemon zest and juice add punch to this light pasta salad that incorporates common summer ingredients like tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil. Pine nuts add a touch of toast and crunch to round out the flavors.

There’s still some summer left, right? It’s not too late to pick up some peak-o’-the-season tomatoes, is it? There’s no time to waste! Let’s make some tomato-butter sauce using fresh tomatoes this time. Then we can freeze it and enjoy it on January pasta or pizza.

Almost nothing is required of the cook – this salad stands or falls on the quality of the provisions. For each person you will need one large, perfectly ripe tomato, a ball of mozzarella di buffala, 4 to 6 basil leaves and extra-virgin olive oil. Slice the tomatoes thinly and the mozzarella less so. Arrange them as you wish on a plate. Dress with basil leaves, black pepper and olive oil. It's as simple as that. (The Italians are fiercely torn over the subject of vinegar, but I prefer not to use it here.)

It's amazing what even quite young children can achieve in the kitchen, and the summer holidays are the perfect time to let them find their culinary feet.

The deeply satisfying classic soup pappa al pomodoro is an excellent way of using up a glut of tomatoes. A thick soup, no doubt designed to make tomato soup substantial enough to eat as a main course, it is often made entirely with canned tomatoes, but better if you include some sun-ripened fresh ones.