At the restaurant, we used to put a cut-to-order tomato salad on the menu every summer. But given that everyone loves summer tomatoes, we’d end up making it for every single table, which would drive us crazy by the end of January. This recipe is our solution to capturing the sharpness and brightness of tomatoes in a way that could be pre-made and plated straight from the fridge. One of my finer moments.
Ingredients
Burnt bay leaf oil
- 20g bay leaves
- 500g vegetable oil
- 10g salt
Marinated cherry tomatoes
- 500g mixed ripe
- cherry tomatoes
- 20g vegetable oil
To finish
- 30g sourdough breadcrumbs, toasted
- 30g pine nuts, toasted
- 30g aioli
- 5g olive oil
- 2g dried oregano white vinegar, to season
Method
Burnt bay leaf oil
Place the bay leaves into a wide grill sieve and grill over a hot bed of coals. The trick here is to grill them a little unevenly; you want a range from bright green and fragrant all the way through to ‘I have to blow out the burning bay leaf’. Immediately transfer the leaves to an upright blender and add the other ingredients. Blend on high speed until the oil reaches 60°C, or is hot when you hold your hand against the blender bowl. Pour into a container big enough to hold the oil and the tomatoes and leave to cool.
Marinated cherry tomatoes
Place the tomatoes in a bowl and pick through to make sure they’re clean and free of debris. Add the oil and season with sea salt. Working in small batches, grill the tomatoes quickly over a really ripping fire, then take them off the heat. The key here is speed, as we aren’t looking to cook them at all, we just want the skin to blister and crack open. Place the grilled tomatoes straight into the bay oil and chill overnight, ideally.
To finish
Place the sourdough crumbs, pine nuts, aioli and olive oil in a small bowl. Season lightly and stir to combine, then scoop this into a pile on one side of your serving bowl. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the cherry tomatoes from their marinade and place into a bowl. Add the dried oregano and season to taste with salt, pepper and white vinegar. Arrange the tomatoes and some of the dressing on the other side of the serving bowl.
Recipe extracted from On Sundays: Long lunches through the seasons by Dave Verheul, published by Hardie Grant Books.
