In the southern hemisphere we're heading into Autumn, which means (much to the irritation of our friends and relatives in the northern part of the world), that our days are warm, generally sunny with the slightest freshness on the air in the mornings.
Food-wise, it seems like a good idea to start thinking of something slightly more substantial - perhaps something slightly retro like an 80's tomato tart. Apart from the filling, it gets a topping of grilled mozarella and it has a delicious flavour surprise in the bottom... (Get the 'how-to' here.)
And then there's this 'thing' with tomatoes... the secret to take them from slightly mundane, into the realms of pure flavour delight: layering in the flavours - fresh, semi-dried, sundried, roast, grilled, marinated in olive oil, or boiled into a thick sauce with onions, garlic and herbs.
Whenever a dish calls for tomato, it can almost always be improved by using tomatoes in at least 2 different ways... and the best thing is that the supporting cast does not have to be fresh tomatoes...
Fresh tomatoes - especially those tiny little mini-Roma tomatoes that are as sweet as berries (I know Claude, tomatoes ARE berries - but you know what I mean). They are delicious to eat, but there's simply no 'depth' to their flavour... that's where it helps to back them up with the flavour of sundried tomato in an oil base - this can either be in a thick pesto or in a dressing consistency with a dash of vinegar and fresh basil.
You get the idea? If you LOVE tomatoes, they'll love you back if you use them in more than one way in the same dish - and most guests would not even notice - they'll just think you spent hours and hours in the kitchen!