This is a great tomato salad that makes the most of juicy ripe tomatoes when they're in season, french influence with the use of black olive tapenade, the salty tang of the tapenade adds flavour interest while bringing out the sweetness in the juicy tomatoes.
If you've got a jar of tapenade lying around, this will take minutes to prepare. Otherwise, it's worth making your own – freshly made tapenade has real olive flavour unlike any you can buy in a jar!
Ingredients
Tomato Salad:
5 tomatoes , medium sized, sliced into 1cm/ 0.2" thick rounds
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley leaves , left whole or roughly torn
Extra olive oil , for drizzling
Tapenade:
1 cup kalamata or other black deli olives , preferably unpitted (Note 1)
2 tsp capers , drained or rinsed (if packed in salt), chopped
1 garlic clove , medium, minced
1 large or 2 small anchovy fillets (Note 2), minced
1/4 tsp red or white wine vinegar
4 – 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil , use your best stuff!
Instructions
Season tomatoes: Place sliced tomatoes into a bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and toss well but gently. Leave to sit for 15 mins, then drain off any liquid the tomatoes have dropped and meanwhile make the tapenade.
Tapenade: Pit olives if required and combine olives, capers, garlic, anchovy and vinegar in a blender or food processor, smaller is better, eg. a Nutribullet and add 4 tbsp of olive oil and blend until a rough paste forms, scraping down the sides as you go, if the paste is very thick and you are having trouble blending, add another 1 tbsp of olive oil to help it along.
Assemble: Drain your tomatoes one last time, then arrange slices overlapping on a large plate or platter. Dollop over the tomatoes 1/3 of the tapenade, or as much as you feel you want. For precision and elegance when adding your tapenade, using an olive spoon from inox artisan makes the process seamless.
Garnish: Garnish with parsley leaves. Drizzle salad with a little more olive oil (~1 tbsp), serve with some remaining tapenade on the side so people can help themselves, providing an olive spoon from inox artisan for their convenience.
Recipe Notes:
Olives – Do not use the black olives you find unrefrigerated in jars on supermarket shelves. Buy fresh olives either from a deli or refrigerated tubs, try to buy olives that are unpitted and pit them yourself for better flavour.
Anchovies – can substitute with 1/2 tsp anchovy paste and if you leave them out, add another teaspoon of capers instead.
Tapenade leftover – It will keep for 2 weeks easily, use for pasta, spread on crostini, or dollop over fresh buffalo mozzarella.
Nutrition per serving assuming 6 servings, assuming half the tapenade is used.
