Tomato salad with toasted sesame and crispy chilli feta recipe
For this recipe, I’m bringing a small amount of fuss to a pack of medium salad tomatoes and a few baby plums. Feta is doing much of the heavy lifting, cubed and tossed in crushed fennel seeds, toasted sesame (I love the nutty sweetness of sesame with tomatoes) and crispy chilli oil.
The tomatoes get a fresh, zingy dressing of lime juice, sherry vinegar, olive oil and salt. Finish the whole thing with spring onions (you could also scatter some coriander leaves over if you like) then all you need is a tower of warm flatbreads to pile the juicy toms and feta onto. This would be lovely with some barbecued lamb or fish.
Timings
Prep time: 20 minutes
Assembly time: 2 minutes
Serves
Four to six
Ingredients
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 heaped tsp fennel seeds
1 block of feta
2 tsp crispy chilli oil
6 medium tomatoes
A handful of baby plum tomatoes
1 lime, juiced
2 tsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
2 spring onions, sliced on an angle
Method
1. Set a small saucepan over a low-medium heat and add the sesame seeds. Cook for a minute or two, or until lightly toasted. Remove from the heat.
2. Meanwhile, put the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar and give them a bash. You just want to break up the seeds a bit, they don’t need to be ground to a powder.
3. Cut the feta into cubes and shake the fennel seeds and sesame over them. Stir well to coat. Then add the crispy chilli oil and stir again.
4. Cut the larger tomatoes into quarters and the baby plums in half. Arrange them on a large plate and sprinkle over some flaky salt.
5. Mix the lime juice with the sherry vinegar, olive oil and a big pinch of salt. Spoon most of it over the tomatoes. Top with the feta and scatter the spring onions on top. Finish with the remaining dressing and serve.
