Peeling tomatoes

It may seem fussy and tedious but there is nothing worse than coming across plastic-like skins in a sauce.

It may seem fussy and tedious but there is nothing worse than coming across plastic-like skins in a sauce.

With a small, sharp knife make a cross in the top of firm tomatoes, and remove the little core where the stalk was attached. Drop tomatoes into a pan of rapidly boiling water for 10-12 seconds and remove with a perforated spoon into cold water. The skins should easily peel away, if not drop them back into the water for a few more seconds. The tomatoes can then be cut in half, the seeds squeezed out and the flesh diced up ready to cook.