It’s time for tomatoes

In Inside Time’s monthly recipe column, a prison nutritionist provides ideas for creating your own tasty and wholesome dishes

September and October see beautifully ripe tomatoes in the shops. Unfortunately, unless they are being grown at your facility, you are unlikely to experience the luscious ripeness of in-season tomatoes. 

The reality is that prison kitchens, like many caterers, buy standard unripe tomatoes which go from supplier cold store to kitchen cold store. Chilled tomatoes don’t ripen and remain bland in flavour. If you are lucky and buy some fresh tomatoes from the canteen, they might ripen on your windowsill, so long as they haven’t previously been stored at too low a temperature. Cherry tomatoes do tend to be a little riper and sweeter at the point of purchase.

The importance of eating ripe tomatoes is that they have spent longer in the sun accumulating health-giving nutrients. Tomatoes are a source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K. The red colour in tomatoes is the antioxidant lycopene which is thought to be beneficial to your health. The redder and riper your tomato, the more lycopene it contains. Lycopene is linked to better heart health and may play a role in reducing cancer risk.

The good news is that tinned tomatoes and tomato purée are made from ripened tomatoes. Nutrients like lycopene and vitamin K are actually more concentrated in these minimally processed products. As they are fat-soluble, cooking them with oil makes the lycopene more bioavailable [meaning more can be absorbed by your body].

Roasted Tomato Soup 

Roasting tomatoes in the air fryer, then balancing the sweetness with tomato purée and a little sugar, produces a rich tomato soup. (Serves 2) 

Ingredients:

• 6 medium tomatoes (or 1 pack), quartered

• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into several chunks

• 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

• ½ teaspoon dried thyme (or Italian seasoning)

• ½ vegetable stock cube

• 1 heaped teaspoon tomato purée 

• 1 teaspoon sugar 

• A handful of fresh basil 

• Black pepper and salt to taste

• Natural yoghurt

Method:

1. Place the quartered tomatoes and onion chunks in the air fryer basket.

2. Drizzle with oil, then sprinkle with thyme and black pepper.

3. Air fry at 180°C for 15-20 minutes, until the tomatoes are softened and slightly charred.

4. Dissolve the stock cube and tomato paste in half a cup of boiling water and transfer to a large bowl.

5. Add the roasted vegetables to the bowl. Mash with a fork until as smooth as possible. Remove the tomato skins if you wish. Add boiling water to reach the correct soup thickness. Tear up the basil leaves and add to the soup.

6. Taste and adjust seasoning — add a pinch of sugar if it is too acidic.

7. Reheat the soup gently in the microwave before serving.

8. Garnish with a swirl of yoghurt.