Time to get juicy! Tomato season is nigh, and it is glorious. We know you’re psyched to get knee-deep in gazpacho, ratatouille, peach-tomato salad, and fresh tomato pizza as soon as possible. Here’s how to incorporate more ‘maters all summer long. A few little tomato tools make coring, pressing, slicing and eating quicker, less messy work.
1. Tomato Knife
Stop squishing the tomatoes for your burgers, BLTs and Caprese salads this summer! A serrated tomato knife is a clutch tool to have in your arsenal. You can use it on delicate fruits and veggies, use the tip of the knife to hoist slices on to your burgers, and it takes up a barely a whisper of space in your cutlery drawer.
2. Wedger and Slicer
Arewe the only ones constitutionally unable to make neat work of cutting up a tomato? No, just us? Huh. At any rate, we sure love this all-in-one tool that lets you cut fresh tomatoes into uniform slices and wedges. Just place a tomato in the guide cup, insert one of two blades, and press. Slices and wedges land softly in the cup. Countertops stay neat and clean. Best of all, the components nest for compact storage.
3. Italian Tomato Press
Your nonna didn’t teach you how to put up ripe tomato sauce all summer long for nothin’! Enter this Italian tomato press, somehow as chic as it is sweet. Lovely for silky-smooth gazpacho and ratatouille bases and able to separate pulp from skin and seeds in no time, it’s just the thing for those who dream in ripe, fresh tomato sauces.
4. Tomato Corer
Stem haters, go one further with our neat tomato corer. Sharp, stainless-steel blades quickly remove the tough, leafy center of the tomato while preserving the tender fruit around it. Salads just got that much tastier.
5. Serrated Peeler
You’ve likely done the blanching-in-boiling-water-and-then-in-ice-water dance getting peels off tomatoes, yes? Don’t you wish you had those minutes back? So buy a serrated peeler, and improve the quality of your life for less than the cost of a movie. Use it on peaches, tomatoes, and any other delicate, soft-skinned produce.
6. Cherry Tomato Slicer
Oh, cherry tomatoes. How can we never get you bobbing, rolling little babies neatly sliced? We need this cherry tomato slicer like it is going out of style. The handy prep tool allows one to slice an entire row of cherry tomatoes simultaneously. Simply place them in the tray, align your knife along the guide and slice lengthwise. It’s a time-saver that’s as cute as it is necessary.
7. Strawberry (and Tomato!) Huller
There will always be the one grouse in the family furious that he found a stem in his tomato sauce, salad or the like. Make that cantankerous human happier by investing in a strawberry (and tomato!) huller. It makes neat work of getting rid of strawberry tops and those pesky stem bases.