Where To Find Ina Garten's Favorite, One-Of-A-Kind Tomatoes

If you've been cooking for long enough, you'll know that tomatoes are among the most useful ingredients to have at your disposal. However, not all tomatoes are grown the same. You may have already noticed the massive differences between common varieties of tomatoes on the market, but you can also find characteristics that set certain farms apart in terms of the quality of their products. For example, beloved celebrity chef Ina Garten has a deep love for the tomatoes from a farm near her home which she recommends for anyone who's able to source them. The purveyor in question is none other than Balsam Farms, whose small farm stand can be found in Amagansett, New York.

Founded in 2003, Balsam Farms has become known for its fresh produce, providing an unequaled level of authenticity to those in the surrounding area — many of whom are incredibly rich, incredibly famous, or both. Balsam's produce has been said to put supermarkets, grocery stores, and other farmers' markets across the country to shame. This is why it comes as little surprise that Garten — a Brooklyn native known for cooking in her iconic barn kitchen in East Hampton — is a devout believer in the small business' tomatoes, a fruit that can really separate a good farm from a great one. Despite being seasonal, Balsam Farms' tomatoes are available to be shipped, delivered, or purchased in person throughout the year; allowing just about anyone who needs the reliably delicious ingredient to get some.

As a chef with an abundance of unique recipes at her disposal, Ina Garten has plenty of uses for Balsam Farms tomatoes. The longtime celebrity chef took to Instagram last year to share not only her love for Balsam Farms' high-quality tomatoes, but also some of her favorite recipes that feature them.

The beauty of this list of dishes (beyond looking absolutely delicious to eat) is that it highlights the versatility of tomatoes as an ingredient. Featured on a crusty tart, in a salad, a soup, or alongside pasta in an entree; fresh-picked tomatoes amplify each and every one with summery flavor. Suffice it to say, while many professional chefs appreciate the merits of canned tomatoes in this day and age, a great fresh tomato can clearly still be used to great effect if you know what you're doing.

Of course, those aren't the only tomato-centric dishes Garten has debuted for her fans. Her use of fresh heirloom tomatoes for her classic Tomato & Goat Cheese Crostata, for example, further demonstrates what can be done with high-quality tomatoes; making her frequent visits to Balsam Farms all the more warranted.