British tomato and fennel salad

PERFECTLY timed for summer, the scent of a British tomato evokes many a childhood memory for me as the granddaughter of a local grower. Nowadays food lovers can find a wide selection of varieties to add interest and flavour for pasta sauce, salads and roasting.

The aniseed notes of herb fennel complement the sweet – sharp profile of the tomato perfectly, adding a sophisticated edge to an easy summer salad.

Don’t worry too much about the salt used to season the tomatoes as most of it runs off with the discarded juice.

Ingredients

500g of British tomatoes. For the prettiest effect choose a variety of shapes, colour and size.

One red onion.

A generous handful of herb fennel fronds, roughly chopped.

Good quality buffalo mozzarella For the dressing: One garlic clove.

Half a fresh and mild green chilli.

A tablespoon of good quality olive oil.

Two tablespoons of red wine vinegar.

Black pepper to season.

Method

Rinse and cut the tomatoes. Keep it interesting with a mixture of chunks, slices and wedges. Place the tomatoes into a large colander sat on a bowl, and season them well with a good shake of sea salt. Stir carefully to ensure that all of the tomatoes are covered in salt before setting aside to drain.

Fill another bowl with cold water. Peel and thinly slice the red onion, separating the slices into rings and submerging in the water. As with the tomatoes, set aside.

Finely chop the garlic and green chilli before combining with the rest of the dressing ingredients. Season it with a little black pepper.

Take a break – read a paragraph in your favourite book, have a cup of tea, enjoy a stroll in the garden. After about 30 minutes, return to assemble your salad.

Discard the salty tomato juice under the colander and toss half of the herb fennel with the seasoned tomatoes. Drain the onion slices and pat dry.

On a large serving plate, create alternate layers of tomato and red onion. Sprinkle the remainder of the fennel on top.

Pull apart the buffalo mozzarella and nestle the pieces on top of the tomato and onion salad.

Finish it all with the dressing and serve the tomato salad at room temperature.

For more recipes, visit Claire's blog: clairedaviescooks.wordpress.com