Tomato Salad

Transform a humble tomato salad into an absolutely stunning dish, using clever tricks to enhance the presentation and flavour of individual ingredients.

It may be a little complicated, but gratifying and delicious. Also, all of the various techniques showcased here are valuable in their own right.

Ingredients

Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Handful black olives
1 tablespoon of capers
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
1 red chilli
1 sheet of rice paper
1-2 tablespoons dried oregano
Thyme
Oregano
Chives
3-4 baby cucumbers and/or 1 regular cucumber
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Rapeseed oil

Curd:
2l full fat milk
4 tablespoons of lemon juice

Serves 2

Method

1. Apply a generous drizzle of oil to the lower baking sheet.
2. Submerge the rice paper in a bowl of water and soak for one minute.
3. Remove and dry using kitchen roll.
4. Season generously with the dried oregano, salt and lemon zest.
5. Fold in half, cut into wedge shapes and place on the oiled baking sheet, pressing the other baking down on top.
6. Bake at 170°C for 8-10 minutes, or until crispy and transparent.
7. Leave on a sheet of kitchen roll to soak up the excess oil.
8. Chop the baby cucumbers brunoise, cut the cucumber skin into strips and slice the cherry tomatoes in half lengthways.
9. Slice, blanche and peel the large tomatoes as shown in the video.
10. Quarter half of the tomatoes, removing the core and cutting into concasse.
11. Cut the remaining half of the tomatoes into thick slices.
12. Marinate these thick slices in oregano, salt, vinegar and oil (in a vacuum-packed bag or in a bowl).
13. Finely chop the chives, oregano and thyme.
14. Chop the olives roughly, spread on a lined baking tray and bake in the oven at 170°C, for 8-10 minutes or until they are firm, dry and slightly crunchy.
15. To make the curd, heat the milk in a large pan.
16. Once it begins to boiling point and rise up the sides of the pan, turn the heat off, add the lemon juice and give it a gentle stir. Then leave it to cool for 20 minutes.
17. Remove the lumps with a spoon and transfer to a sieve to drip dry.
18. Season with a bit of salt and dried oregano.
19. To make the sauce or vinaigrette, finely chop a clove of garlic and a section of a red chilli.
20. Heat a glug of oil in a small pan on a high heat, adding the chopped thyme and oregano, then the capers.
21. Add the garlic and chilli, and simmer for a few minutes.
22. Finally, add the cherry tomatoes and stir.
23. As the tomatoes begin to soften, add a little squeeze of lemon juice, plus the chopped baby cucumbers and heat through just before removing the pan from the heat.
24. Assemble all the elements in the tomato salad and serve.