#2: The Tomato Pesto Salad
A choose your own adventure summer staple
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Last summer I made watermelon tomato salads every other week. With no exaggeration, we easily enjoyed 30+ of them. I passed on the loose recipe to my readers and saw dozens of photos from them throughout the hot summer months as well. The recipe is this: watermelon, tomatoes, shallots (onion if that’s all you have), mint (maybe basil), feta (sometimes goat cheese), white balsamic, good olive oil, salt, and pepper. The only real instructions are to let the shallots sit in white balsamic vinegar for five minutes, this helps take the sharp bite away, and toss everything together. This salad is perfectly balanced and highlights the sweet, fresh, tangy flavors of summer. It will make an appearance again this year but today I am going to arm you guys with another summer salad. Please say hello to The Tomato Pesto Salad.
I like to call recipes like this “Choose Your Own Adventure” recipes. These are recipes that are meant to be loosely followed and that cooks at home (you) have the freedom to choose their own outcome. This is what real cooking is all about! So today I am going to break down the components, why they work, a few important steps, and ratios that work for me. I want you guys to try it my way once, then make it your own.
Tomatoes
You may be reading this newsletter and thinking “Marcella it is only May this is NOT prime tomato time,” and you are correct. We are starting to see the first harvest of heirloom tomatoes at our local farmer’s markets here in KC. I have been using them to test this recipe and they have been fine. As we get into the summer months tomatoes will get better and this salad will get better!
Because we are relying heavily on tomatoes in this salad, I want you to use the best tomatoes you can get your hands on. Homegrown, heirloom, super sweet cherry, fresh from the farmers market, or ones from your neighbors garden. Avoid the super affordable pack of Romas from Costco. They will 100% disappoint you here. This I can promise you.
Use a variety. This will keep things exciting to the eye and the palate as each kind has its own unique flavors. To help amplify the already amazing ripe summer tomatoes you have, there is one really important step: salt them. Larger tomatoes will be sliced or cut into wedges, small tomatoes cut in half, and then salt is sprinkled all over the exposed cut side. I use one of my really clean-tasting salts here. Celtic, fleur de sel, or salina crystal salt. Different salts have different purposes, and we will dive into this next month, but this is a time where I want to upgrade from the all-purpose kosher salt. This is my first step when making this dish. Wash, slice, salt, and set to the side while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
One last note on salting tomatoes: salt will draw out moisture. It is important to line your plate or sheet tray with paper towels for your tomatoes to sit on and give them a light blot before assembling. This will prevent tons of extra moisture in the finished salad.
Pesto
On the first round of testing, I mashed only pistachios and basil in my mortar and pestle. I added olive oil and took it past a paste to a dressing consistency and seasoned it with a little bit of salt. When Marco and I sat down and had our first bite we instantly agreed it was lacking a sharp kick. It needed garlic. On my second test, I mashed pistachios, garlic, and basil in my mortar and pestle. Thinned it out with olive oil and said to myself “hello…this is pesto.” After a few tweaks, I landed on a thin pesto that I was able to spread on a plate AND drizzle to finish. I didn’t add any grated cheese because it wasn’t needed for this application. Olive oil, basil, and garlic are the stars of this show. This is when we are highlighting the flavors of the olive oil, so whip out your nice bottle!
My nut of choice for pesto is pistachios. I have done this for years because I like the subtle flavors the nut adds. Traditionally, pesto is made with pine nuts (which I also love) but can be made with any nut you enjoy. Pepita, cashew, walnuts, almonds, macadamia, sunflower…you get the idea. The only real difference is the flavors each nut adds. Permission to substitute as you please.
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle OR don’t want to use your arm, use a mini food processor or blender! In a rush or can’t be bothered to make pesto? Grab some at the store!
Cheese
Burrata will always be my first choice, nothing compares to the milky soft curds, but fresh mozzarella works too. I have tested cow’s milk, buffalo milk, ovoline, bocconcini, ciliegine, and slices. You know what? They are all delicious! I like to take large mozzarella balls and gently rip them in half. This makes the salad easier to eat and the organic edge is really beautiful. For burrata, I always break the ball open. This makes it easier to scoop right up and we can see the beautiful creamy insides.
You know what else would be delicious…little dollops of fresh ricotta nestled into the tomatoes!!
Peppadew Peppers
First things first, Peppadew is a brand, not a pepper. You might have seen them at the olive bar at Whole Foods, maybe you love them already, or you have no clue what I’m talking about. Today I am here to make Peppadew peppers a regular ingredient in your home.
Peppadew is the brand name for pickled piquanté, also known as Juanita, peppers. They are a little bigger than grapes, have mild heat, and are pickled in simple syrup and vinegar. These sweet peppers are great on a cheeseboard, stuffed with goat cheese, or tossed into salads. They are similar to pickled hot cherry peppers but with their own unique sweetness. Peppadew now produces sweet Goldew peppers which contain no heat but have the same sweet-tangy flavors as the pickled piquanté peppers.
In this salad, they help add texture, sweetness, and a little bit of heat. Whole Foods carries both at the olive bar and you can buy them on Amazon or directly from the Peppadew website. During my research, I purchased a little pouch of Peppadews at Whole Foods only to discover the pouch didn’t say Peppadew! It said “Hot & Sweet Peppers.” The ingredients were vague listing “peppers” but not specifying the type. Upon further investigation I found these peppers to be a product of Greece, not South Africa where Peppadews come from. I ripped open the pack to pull one out and voila! In a side-by-side test, it was clear that these were not piquanté peppers!
After looking into the bulk distributor I was able to trace these peppers to Divina Foods. I still can’t find what exact pepper these are made with but they are similar. In a taste test, we found Peppadews to be sweeter with a unique vinegar zippiness. Bottom line if I was served either I wouldn’t complain. I have a feeling more “Peppadew style” peppers will start to hit the market in the coming years.
Capers
Capers get thrown into a TON of recipes I create because I love their briny salty flavor. That’s exactly what I use them for in this recipe.
Small capers that get used in cooking often are the buds of a capparis spinosa shrub. The buds get picked and then salt-cured or placed in brine to pickle. If you leave that bud on the shrub it will flower and then grow a fruit called caperberry. So capers and caperberries are from the same plant but two different things.
Caperberries are hit or miss. My mother hates them, Marco eats them in one bite, and I’m somewhere between them both. They bring the same briny saltiness that I love but are much bigger and filled with lots of tiny seeds. In this recipe, you can use either or both!
White Balsamic
White balsamic vinegar starts out the same way “normal” balsamic vinegar is made. The only difference is white balsamic is pressure cooked to prevent it from browning and it is aged for less time. It has a similar flavor profile but is a bit milder and fruity. I keep a bottle of both balsamics on hand and I usually grab the white balsamic in a recipe that I don’t want to be brown. I am able to drizzle a tablespoon over the tomato to finish them and keep their beautiful bright colors as the focal point.
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The Tomato Pesto Salad
1.5 lbs Ripe tomatoes, variety of sizes and colors
8oz Burrata or fresh mozzarella
5oz Peppadew peppers
2oz Caperberries and/or brined capers
½ cup Fresh basil leaves, divided
1T Shelled pistachios
1 Garlic clove
⅓ cup Olive oil
1-2T White balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
*Exact quantities are not super important here. Please riff on this recipe and make it your own!
Salt The Tomatoes
Wash and dry tomatoes. Slice large tomatoes into rounds, half-circles, or wedges. Slice smaller tomatoes in half. Line a plate or sheet tray with paper towels and arrange tomatoes in an even layer. Sprinkle generously with salt and let sit for 5 minutes while you make the pesto.
Make The Pesto
Using a mortar and pestle, grind 1T pistachios, 1 garlic clove, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and ¼ cup of fresh basil leaves until a smooth paste forms. Add ⅓ cup of olive oil and stir to create a loose pesto. The consistency should be similar to salad dressing instead of a thick paste.
Assemble
On a large serving plate or a few individual plates, scoop the basil, garlic, and pistachios from the pesto (leaving behind most of the olive oil) and spread an even layer on the plate.
Using a paper towel, blot excess moisture from salted tomatoes. Arrange tomatoes on top of pesto in an even layer.
Break open burrata or tear mozzarella pieces in half and snuggle them in with the tomatoes. Arrange capers/caperberries, Peppadew peppers, and remaining basil leaves on the plate.
Drizzle the remaining olive oil from the pesto on top along with 1-2T white balsamic vinegar. Finish with a generous amount of salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Serve with toasty bread to scoop cheese and tomatoes on to!
Comments, questions, concerns?! As always reach out and leave a comment below. I’ll get back to you ASAP. And don’t forget to tag me in all your beautiful salad pictures when you try this recipe out!
See you next week! M
Can’t wait to make this!