Heritage tomato salad
Weekend BBQ sides? This is for you
I could literally eat tomatoes for every meal, smothered in olive oil and salt. When I was doing a food shop the other day, I bought 3 punnets of DELICIOUS Isle of Wight tomatoes, and since then I’ve been eating them like sweets – just chucking them down my gullet like a seagull.
There’s so many things you can do with the simple tomato, but I mostly just keep it super simple. A nice little salad, zingy dressing and fresh herbs from my garden (I know, who am I? Loving my little herb garden) to keep everything nice and light.
It’s giving salt water hair, jugs of sangria and a bag of lays with a tub of aioli – ultimate holiday vibes. If you’re staying home over the weekend to enjoy the Costa Del Birmingham like I am, then this might be the dish for your family BBQ. Change up the dressing as you like but I generally keep it simple to let those pretty little tomatoes shine.
I can 100% recommend if you’re making this salad to also chef up some crispy little morsels of deliciousness, like my Crispy Potato Cubes or Garlic Snacklebacks. If you’re feeling really ambitious, get yourself a copy of my newest baby The Potato Book for some recipe inspo, including a LOT of potato salads.
Heritage tomato salad
By Poppy Cooks
https://www.poppycooks.com/recipes/heritage-tomato-salad/
Ingredients
For the tomato salad
- 2 large beef tomatoes, sliced
- 4 mini yellow cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 4 mini red cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 2 sprigs fresh oregano
- 2 sprigs fresh basil
- 150g ricotta
- Pinch of chilli flakes
- Flaky sea salt and black pepper
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For the salad dressing
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Sprinkle of chilli flakes
- Salt and pepper
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For the croutons
- 2 thick slices of stale bread, torn into uneven chunks
- 25g butter
- Drizzle of olive oil
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Instructions
- Heat a medium sized frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add in the butter and a glug of olive oil, then when they're hot, chuck in the chunks of stale bread. Toss to coat in the oil and butter, then fry until golden brown all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Scoop the ricotta into a bowl and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of chilli flakes. Arrange the sliced beef tomatoes on the bottom of your serving dish, then top with the quartered red and yellow cherry tomatoes.
- Add splodges of your seasoned ricotta over the tomatoes, season with salt and pepperthen set aside while you prepare the dressing.
- In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar and honey with a pinch of salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil - it won't be a fully emulsified dressing!
- Spoon the vinegarette over your delicious tomatoes. Scatter over your crispy croutons, then serve with a final drizzle of olive oil.
Notes & Tips
- Serve this glorious tomato salad with some baked fish or a chargrilled steak for the ultimate summers evening meal.