I quarter them, throw in a pot with seeds, skins, and all. Simmer forever (most of the day) or until reduced by about 1/3. Saute some flavory stuff - sausage, peppers, onions, fennel, garlic, basil, whatever you want and add it in. Deglaze pan with a splash of water to get the good Maillard bits. Salt to taste. If you want to speed up the process a bit, add a wad of tomato paste.
You can also skip the flavor-adders if you want to make your own base sauce that you can season how you want each time. Freeze a bag of the naked sauce and then you can make some meat sauce one time or arrabiata sauce the next.
You can also skip the flavor adders and pour it into some disposable chafing pans over sterno. Let it cook for about 24-48 hours like that and you have made your own tomato paste.
Bruschetta is super simple to make too. My tip there is to not salt the fresh tomato mixture. That draws out the juice and you have watery topping. Instead, toast the bread in heavily-salted olive oil, or smoosh the toasted bread in a plate of kosher salt before serving. Make the bread salty, not the tomato mixture.
My absolute favorite way to enjoy tomatoes is to take a couple thick slices between some buttered bread with salt and pepper. Just a tomato sandwich is so epic.
You can also blanche some, yank the skins, and freeze them whole or cut. Never underestimate the power of a good pomodoro with a little basil
Funny that this post just came up. My lady is bringing over a bunch of maters from her garden tomorrow to cook me a roasted tomato soup. She spreads slices out on a cookie tray and covers it with thin onion slices and salt/EVOO and broils them until the tomatoes are roasted and the onions are almost black. Then she blends it with some cream. It's like taking tomato bisque and adding some French Onion soup to it. Deadly yummy.
Our family also loves making Zucchini slop. The primary ingredients are zukes, tomatoes, and onion. Just cook it for a while in a skillet and maybe top with a little shredded cheese. Works well with any squash pretty much. If you want to take it up a notch add about a cup of Stove Top stuffing, cover it with cheese and toss it in the oven for a spell. Makes a really dandy casserole.
One I like to do is put slices on a tray in the oven topped with cheese. Parm Reg is really good, but ricotta, swiss, cheddar, or Feta works great too. Add other stuff if you want - black olives, garlic, banana peppers, or pepperoni. 425F until the cheese is brown and bubbly.
