Tomatoes on toast with olive oil, mint and lovage

Summer

So much of the fruit and veg we like to eat has become ‘seasonless’ and few illustrate this difficult truth more starkly than the tomato. Tomatoes are, as you probably know, available 365 days a year and for many of us that’s normal. Although, calling it normal makes it sound like we even think about or acknowledge it as normal. No, the all-year-round tomato is just a dull constant we never think about, sitting alongside other dull constants. Sadly we’ve forgotten that tomatoes can be special; that a naturally grown, sun-ripened tomato eaten when it’s plump and warm and soft enough to split can be a heartbreakingly wonderful experience.

Serves 2

Ingredients

400g (14oz) large, soft, ripe tomatoes
1 small handful of mint, leaves picked and ribboned
1 small handful of lovage, leaves picked and chopped
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 big, thick slices of sourdough bread
1 small garlic clove
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Tear the tomatoes up into bite-sized pieces with your fingers and place them in a bowl with the mint, lovage, vinegar and a generous trickle of olive oil. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and tumble together.

Toast the bread until it’s crunchy around the edges. Place the slices of toast on a plate and lightly rub the surface of each slice with the garlic clove. Trickle each toast liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with flaky salt. Pile the tomatoes and any juices from the bowl onto the toast and serve at once.

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