On yet another installment of "Jamie can't stop cooking whatever Alison Roman is making," I bring you one of what AR calls the "Holy Trinity" of summer salads. In her June 29th Home Movies video, she prepares this fabulous tomato salad along with two others (linked above if you want to follow along with her).
Roman describes this recipe as, "These tomatoes with anchovy and fennel are so good it is actually unreasonable and literally everybody in your life will agree." When I first saw this recipe it looked divine, but upon reading the ingredients I was a little turned off. Never a fan of anchovies, this dish has our household converted!
Ingredients:
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fennel seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 anchovy fillets, plus more if you like
2–3 pounds small-ish very ripe tomatoes, quartered or sliced (Alternative: 2-3 large heirloom tomatoes, chopped)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
Flaky sea salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
FIRST: Heat the olive oil in a small pot over medium heat (I use my butter warmer, it is the perfect size). Add the fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, and anchovies, swirling and toasting until the spices are fragrant and the anchovies are completely melted, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
THEN: Scatter the tomatoes on a serving platter or large plate. NOTE: Be sure to use something with a lip. Drizzle with vinegar. If you're a big fan of anchovies, sprinkle more on top, or alternatively, serve them alongside the dish.
FINALLY: Spoon the toasted fennel–anchovy mixture over and top with flaky salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
Comments