Tomato salad with blackberry vinegar, pickled shallot, tarragon oil and bread
My version of the classic Italian salad Panzanella!
I, like many of us here in sunny Australian, have gardens overflowing with ripe tomatoes. Every day we pick another bucket load and I'm running out of ideas of how to use them all up! I've made tons of pasta sauce and bruschetta but I think my favourite tomato recipe has to be the classic Italian combination of tomato and burrata. I juts can't get enough of those deliciously soft burrata curds combined with herbs and perfectly ripe tomatoes ......so good! I mean burrata and tomatoes are just meant for each.
You know what else go together? Tomato and bread. Think bruschetta, pizza, gazpacho, Catalan tomato bread, Tuscan bread soup....and of course Panzanella salad. In searching for tomato recipe inspiration I had almost forgot about one of my favourite salads! I'm currently stuck at home in ISO so trying to make meals out of what we have here. And I have officially run out of burrata......so whats the next best thing? Panzanella salad!
And bonus I had everything at home I needed to make the classic Italian bread and tomato salad! Fresh tomatoes, garlic and herbs from the garden and half a stale loaf of Che's homemade sourdough bread. I also found some picked shallots in the fridge and some fruit vinegar I made last year out of blackberries and tamarillso. All the making's of a delicious Panzanella right here! I ended up tweaking a few ingredients so this is not a traditional Panzanella salad but I can assure you its super tasty! I mean it's pretty easy when you are using in season perfectly ripe tomato and herb picked straight from the garden. But a few things I've added really make this salad a standout.....if I do say so myself!?
I always find it weird going on an on about how good my recipes taste....it seems rather conceited doesn't it? That's the funny thing about food and recipe writing, if you be all modest and say “well this salad is ok”, no one is going to want to make it are they?! So I've had to learn thats it ok to say something I made is delicious! I have many fails mind you, but if something doesn't work I make my family eat it and you'll never see it. So therefor all the recipes I share here I think are petty good. Though in the case of this recipe, I'm gonna say its freakin amazing!
The combination of the herb oil, sweet fruit vinegar, juicy tomatoes, tangy lemon, kick from the shallots and garlic and the crunch from the bread all combine into super yumminess. It also looks pretty impressive when plated up nicely and is pretty easy to make, the perfect salad for next time your have friends coming over for dinner. You can prep all the ingredients beforehand and just through it together at the last minute.
Tomato salad with blackberry vinegar, pickled shallot, tarragon oil and bread
Ingredients
500g of firm ripe mixed tomatoes sliced into wedges
5 very thin slices of stale sour dough bread
3 tablespoon of olive oil
½ a cup mixed fresh herbs (any combo of dill, basil, tarragon, chives, parsley, sorrel)
2 tablespoons of blackberry or other fruit vinegar*
3 tablespoons of tarragon oil (see recipe below)
Zest of 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons
Salt and pepper
Tarragon and basil oil
½ a cup of extra virgin olive oil
Small hand full of tarragon leaves (about1 tablespoon)
Small hand full of basil leaves (about1 tablespoon)
½ a teaspoon of lemon juice
½ a teaspoon of salt
1 medium garlic clove
Pickled shallot
3 French shallots thinly sliced
40ml of olive oil
60ml of white wine vinegar
½ a teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of sugar
*I make my own blackberry vinegar or you can buy fruit vinegars at speciality shops. If you don't have access to any I have provided a blackberry vinaigrette recipe (below) you can make as an alternative. It's important the dressing has some sort of sweetness in it, so don't just use straight red wine vinegar. If thats all your have, combine equal parts vinegar and sugar (warmed to dissolve the sugar) to make a super quick sweetened vinegar
Instructions
To make the tarragon oil, first cream the garlic. Place the garlic clove and ½ teaspoon of salt in a mortar and smash it up as much as you can - you want to try and get a paste consistency. Add a scant tablespoon of the olive oil and mix well. This process helps make the raw garlic more palatable. Transfer the garlic paste and remaining ingredients into a small jug and whiz with a stick blender until the herbs are finally shopped. Reserve until needed.
To make the pickled shallots heat the sugar, salt, oil and vinegar in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat, add the sliced shallots, toss to combine and leave to cool before placing in the fridge until needed.
To make the crispy sour dough pieces fry the bread with the olive oil in a fry pan over low to medium heat – you may need to cook in 2 batches depending on the size of your pan and bread. Place something heavy on top of the bread to flatten it whilst its cooking (this makes them super crispy). I use a dinner plate with the mortar and pestle weighing it down. Cook on both sides until golden. Season with salt and let cool. Store in an air tight container until needed.
To assemble the salad scatter the tomatoes, herbs, shallots and crispy bread on a large salad platter. Drizzle over the tarragon oil and blackberry vinegar, top with the lemon zest and lots of black pepper and sea salt flakes. Alternatively mix everything together in a bowl and transfer to a platter – juts note the salad will go a lovely reddish purple colour and will look different from my photo! Though still taste delicious!
Quick blackberry vinaigrette
1 cup of blackberries
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
Blend everything together with a bar mix, strain through to sieve to remove the seeds and store in the fridge until needed.
