Our exceedingly generous, green thumbed, pensioner neighbour marched by earlier today with a crate load of tomatoes from his garden. He was off distributing his red jewels to another neighbour, and then another. While I snapped the moment in my memory, I was sorry I didn’t have my camera with me. A blisteringly hot summer’s morning, cicadas already in stereo sound, and him in his workman’s blue singlet and his overloaded crate, off on his pomodori rounds – it just seemed like something from a movie set. While he didn’t have a corner-knotted handkerchief tied around his head, that was pretty much the kinda look he was rocking. Overlooking the fact that tomatoes aren’t native to Italy but arrived from South America by Spanish conquistadors, it just seemed to ooze italianity.
With my swag of tomatoes, I settled on making a slightly modified version of Yotam Ottolenghi’s marinated buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad from his book Plenty. What sold me, was his declaration in the recipe intro that the best tomatoes he had ever tasted were from Manarola in the Cinque Terre – i.e. a stone’s throw from our front door.
From the original recipe, I halved the fennel, upped the basil and lemon, and added a sprinkling of chilli flakes for some extra punch. Also, I swapped out the grapeseed oil with olive oil. It’s a bit of minimalist recipe, so if you can’t lay your hands on top quality ingredients, save making it for when you can. Buffalo mozzarella with its creamy, woven texture makes all the difference as do, the sweetest of summer ripened tomatoes. Use whatever size, colour variety of tomatoes you find, as long as they are alive with freshness.
Yotam Ottolenghi quantities are for 4 people as a starter. He suggests serving if alongside crusty bread. I like it for lunch – layering the cheese and tomatoes over a healthy bed of rocket or other mild, salad greens and serving it with some prosciutto or salami. Served this way, the quantity here is more like a light lunch for 2-3 people.
Marinated Buffalo Mozzarella and Tomato Salad ~ Insalata di Mozzarella di Buffalo Marinata e Pomodori
- 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
- grated zest of 1 large lemon
- 20 basil leaves, shredded
- 2 tsp chopped oregano
- 4 tsp olive oil plus extra to finish
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- ½ tsp sea salt
- sprinkling of chilli flakes
- black pepper
- 250g buffalo mozzarella
- 2 plump, ripe, large tomatoes or the equivalent in small tomatoes
- several handfuls of rocket or other mild salad leaves
- olive oil to serve
For the marinade, dry fry the fennel seeds over medium heat until they pop and darken a little. Place the seeds in a mortar and pestle and roughly crush. Transfer the seeds to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Break the mozzarella into crude clumps and mix with the marinade. Set aside for 15-30mins. To serve, cut the tomatoes into chunky wedges or, if using cherry tomatoes in halves. On a large serving plate scatter rocket to cover, then layer on the tomatoes and the marinated cheese blobs. Drizzle with extra olive oil and serve.
