Tomato and pomegranate salad
Victoria says: Back to 2016 for this recipe, which I’ve cooked regularly since publishing it. No excuses for breaking my ‘seasonal only’ rule either. Yotam’s recipes are reputed to be faffy but this couldn’t be simpler. It’ll be far better in late summer when the ingredients have their fullest flavour, but I still enjoy it with some early summer mini plum tomatoes.
V Yotam Ottolenghi writes: I rarely rave about my own recipes but this is one I can just go on and on about. The definition of freshness with its sweet and sour late-summer flavours, it is also an utter delight to look at. But the most incredible thing about it is that it uses a few ingredients that I believed I knew everything there was to know about, yet had never thought of mixing them in such a way. Until I travelled to Istanbul and came across a similar combination of tomatoes and pomegranate in a famous local kebab restaurant called Hamdi. It was a proper light-bulb moment when I realised how the two types of sweetness
– the sharp, almost bitter sweetness of pomegranate and the savoury, sunny sweetness oftomato – can complement each other so gloriously.
I use four types of tomato but you can easily use fewer, just as long as they are ripe and sweet.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
200g red cherry tomatoes, cut into ½ cm dice
200g yellow cherry tomatoes, cut into ½ cm dice
200g tiger (or plum) tomatoes, cut into ½ cm dice 500g medium vine tomatoes, cut into ½ cm dice
1 red pepper, cut into ½ cm dice (120g)
1 small red onion, finely diced (120g)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½ tsp ground allspice
2 tsp white wine vinegar 1½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
60ml olive oil, plus a little extra to finish
Seeds of 1 large pomegranate (170g)
1 tbsp small oregano leaves salt
METHOD
l Mix together the tomatoes, red pepper and onion in a large bowl and set aside. l In a small bowl whisk the garlic, allspice, vinegar, pomegranate molasses, olive oil and 1/3rd teaspoon of salt, until well combined. Pour this over the tomatoes and gently mix. l Arrange the tomatoes and their juices on a large flat plate. Sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds and oregano. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve.
Recipe adapted from Plenty More, Ebury Press