Ingredients
- 200 g red cherry tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch/5-mm dice
- 200 g yellow cherry tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch/5-mm dice
- 200 g tiger or plum tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch/5-mm dice
- 500 g medium slicing tomatoes (about 5), cut into 1/4-inch/5-mm dice
- 1 red pepper, cut into 1/4-inch/5-mm dice
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 60 ml olive oil, plus extra to finish
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large pomegranate, seeds removed
- 1 tablespoon small oregano leaves
- Mix together all the tomatoes, the red pepper, and the onion in a large bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, allspice, vinegar, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, and a scant 1/2 teaspoon salt until well combined. Pour this over the tomato mixture and gently mix.
- Arrange the tomato mixture and its juices on a large, flat plate - be careful there will be a lot of juice. Sprinkle the pomegranate seeds and oregano over the top. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve.
Method
This is an Ottolenghi. Nuff said. Taken from Plenty More, this is a banker for any time you are having a buffet or cold collation - but more contemporaneously, it is brilliant with barbecued meats or actually on its own too.
I made this for one of our first Gransden Pop Ups, which was a mezze style communal eating themed evening - mainly taken from Ottolenghi truth be told. This salad has become an absolute staple of my repertoire and one I keep coming back to. I made it one time in Devon when on holiday with friends - and gave an interesting insight into the (non) penetration of Ottolenghi's ideas beyond the south east of England. While it is relatively easy these days to find Pomegranate molasses around where we live (near Cambridge) - in South Devon (which I thought was pretty much Ascot-by-Sea) it was nigh on impossible to find it. After many miles and hours, I tracked down a bottle to a health food shop in Totnes. Result. My intended audience was sceptical that an ingredient was worth the hassle. Until they tried it that is.
Because although there are very few ingredients here (if you treat all the tomatoes as 1 anyway), the contrast between the sweet of the tomatoes and the sour of the pomegranate molasses is a refreshing salivating delight. The chopping of the tomatoes is a bit of a labour but it is worth getting the variety of them for colour and flavour reasons. The red pepper and pomegranate seeds add crunch and texture - the onion a bit of a savoury anchor.
But it is the molasses and tomatoes which are a revelation. Try it - I cant believe you wont love it. But don't try it without pomegranate molasses - you cant leave it out!