Tomato Salad with Pomegranate Molasses

I may have already mentioned (gushed!) that I bought Sabrina Ghayour’s Persiana last week. I have already made 3 recipes from it and loved each of them. I’m blogging this as it is so simple, tasty and perfect for the recent heatwave we’ve had. Well, 2 sunny days counts as a heatwave in Ireland, doesn’t it?!

What I love about this recipe is that I have all of the ingredients in my cupboard but don’t use them all very often. That will change now I think. If you don’t have them, it is worth stocking up on the unusual items. I buy all of mine from Mr. Bells in the English Market in Cork but they are easily available online if you can’t find them locally yourself.  I have scaled down the recipe to serve 2 as a side dish and the original calls for green peppers but I refuse to eat green peppers! They taste like metal to me. I like to make it in advance of serving it and keep it at room temperature. It allows the flavours to blend nicely and the dressing takes the rawness out of the red onions.

Serves 2 as a side dish

 

 

Ingredients:

• 200g tomatoes
• ½ red pepper thinly sliced lengthways
• 1 small red onion cut in half and thinly sliced into half-moons
• ¾ tsp sumac, plus a little extra for garnishing
• 4 tsp pomegranate molasses
• Salt
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil or enough to make a dressing to your own taste
• 30g walnut pieces

 

Method:

• I use piccolo cherry tomatoes in this and halve them but you can use any variety you like.  If you are using large tomatoes, chop them into rough 2 cm cubes.
• Arrange the tomatoes, peppers and onions on a flat plate.
• Mix the sumac, pomegranate molasses, a small pinch of salt and the olive oil well together. Taste the dressing to see if it needs mare salt.
• Drizzle the dressing over the salad.
• Garnish with a little more sumac and the chopped walnut pieces.