Heritage Tomato Salad with Basil and Sea Salt

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sharp kitchen knife
• •Wide, flat serving plate or shallow dish

Instructions

1. 1

   Slice the tomatoes

   Take your tomatoes out of the fridge at least an hour before you need them. Cold kills flavour, and a cold tomato tastes of nothing. When they're at room temperature, slice the larger ones into thick rounds, about the width of a pound coin. Cut smaller ones in half, or just leave the tiny ones whole. Arrange them on a wide plate or shallow dish, overlapping slightly, mixing the colours and shapes as you go. Don't overthink the arrangement. Scatter the shallot rings over the top.

   A sharp knife matters here more than anywhere. A blunt blade crushes the flesh and squeezes the juice out before it reaches the plate. If you do one thing, sharpen the knife.
2. 2

   Dress simply

   Whisk the olive oil and vinegar together in a small bowl with a pinch of salt. It doesn't need to emulsify perfectly. Spoon this over the tomatoes, letting it pool in the dips and hollows. You want enough to dress every slice but not so much that the plate is swimming. The tomatoes will release their own juices as they sit, and those juices are the best part of the whole thing.

3. 3

   Season and scatter basil

   Crush the flaky salt between your fingers as you scatter it over the tomatoes. Be generous. Tomatoes need salt the way bread needs butter. A few grinds of black pepper. Then tear the basil leaves roughly and drop them across the plate. Don't chiffonade, don't chop. Tear. The ragged edges release more fragrance, and it looks like someone made this for supper, not for a photograph.

4. 4

   Let it sit

   Leave the plate on the counter for ten minutes before you bring it to the table. The salt draws the juices out, the oil mingles with them, and the basil starts to perfume everything. Those ten minutes are where the salad becomes itself. When you carry it out, there should be a slick of rosy, oily juice on the plate that everyone will want to mop up with bread. Make sure there is bread.

   The juice left on the plate after everyone has eaten is cook's privilege. Tip it onto a piece of bread, or save it. It makes a remarkable base for a quick vinaigrette the next day.

Chef Tips

• •Buy tomatoes with your nose, not your eyes. A tomato that smells of something at the stall will taste of something on the plate. If it smells of nothing, it will taste of nothing, and no amount of dressing will save it. This is the whole recipe, really: find good tomatoes.
• •The olive oil matters almost as much as the tomatoes. Use the best you have, something with a bit of pepper and grassiness. This isn't cooking oil, it's a finishing ingredient. You'll taste every drop of it.
• •Don't refrigerate tomatoes if you can help it. Cold storage breaks down the compounds that give them flavour and scent. Keep them on the counter, out of direct sun, and use them within a few days. If they're already cold from the shop, give them a full hour at room temperature before slicing.
• •Flaky salt, not fine salt. Maldon or something similar, crushed between your fingers. You want occasional bursts of salinity against the sweet tomato, not a uniform seasoning. The texture contrast is part of the pleasure.

Advance Preparation

• •This cannot be made ahead. The tomatoes must be sliced and dressed no more than twenty minutes before serving. Any longer and they soften and weep too much, losing the contrast between firm flesh and silky juice.
• •The shallot vinaigrette can be whisked together an hour or two in advance and left at room temperature. The shallot mellows slightly in the acid, which is no bad thing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)