Michelle Darmody: Three savoury bakes to make with the best ripe tomatoes

Tomatoes are a base ingredient in many autumn and winter comfort-food faves

Tomatoes are deliciously ripe at this time of year and if you are lucky enough to get locally grown cherry tomatoes, they are usually a burst of flavour and sweetness. Tomatoes are the backbone of a huge number of savoury dishes, from various parts of the world, but when perfectly ripe I like to eat them with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, some olive oil, salt and pepper. Or you can roast similarly dressed tomatoes slowly in an oven at a low heat, adding some lightly crushed cloves of garlic, thyme or rosemary if you wish. I generally leave them in the oven for over an hour at 150°C.