Three years ago today Sam and I got married. Three weeks
before that, Sam’s Aunt Jane and Uncle David gave us this amazing Dinosaur
Designs platter. We were incredibly touched, both by the generosity of the gift
and by the beauty of the piece. I’d like to think that we will cherish every
wedding present and remember who gave it to us (so far, so good), but this one
is particularly notable.
I have always thought that this platter deserves a colourful
salad, although I’ve not yet been game enough to serve beetroot on it. I pictured
a bright red, yellow and green salad of heirloom tomatoes however I haven’t
been able to grow any (more on that later) and such delicacies are hard to find
in Tamworth.
Fortunately, all of my tomato salad dreams came true last
week, when a family friend and my in-laws offloaded a kilo or so of Digger’s
Heirloom collection.
Wash all tomatoes before cutting in to rough chunks and
placing in a large mixing bowl. Preserve variety by considering each tomato’s
shape and by slicing bigger tomatoes into thick horizontal slices. Drizzle
generously with extra virgin olive oil – I used Chapman Hill New Norcia – and sprinkle
with sea salt flakes. Turn gently in the bowl to ensure an even coverage, adding
more oil and salt as you go, then leave for an hour.
Arrange tomatoes on your own beautiful platter, reserving
the juice in the bottom of the mixing bowl. Taste the juice, adjust for
seasoning and add a splash of red wine vinegar if you would like a sharper
flavour, before pouring the juice over the tomatoes. Scatter with basil, pepper
and buffalo mozzarella (if you have any – I used feta) and serve at room
temperature.
