A Tomato Salad with Warm Basil Dressing
This colorful, big-flavored tomato salad is something you could eat alongside rose-pink cold roast beef, but it could easily make a more substantial candidate for a main course with the addition of a few croutons or some slices of olive oil–drenched toast. The colors are important here if the salad is to look lively—I usually use a mixture of tomatoes, including little peardrop ones and yellow cherry tomatoes. I think it is worth adding that this is also good with cilantro instead of basil.
Recipe information
Yield
enough for 4 as a side salad
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Peel the shallots, chop them finely, and warm them in a shallow pan with the olive oil. Peel and finely slice the garlic and add it to the softening shallots. Remove the parsley leaves from their stalks and chop them coarsely. Stir them into the shallots with the lemon juice and red wine vinegar.
Step 2
Rinse, dry, and coarsely chop the anchovies, tear up the basil leaves, and add both to the dressing. Taste and add a little black pepper if you think it needs it.
Step 3
Cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters, depending on their size, dropping them into a mixing bowl as you go. Pour over the warm dressing (you should never get basil too hot), toss gently, and serve.
