I’m a huge fan of heritage tomatoes because they look so beautiful and all the different shapes and colours really excite me. However, as with a lot of the tomatoes grown in the UK, because of the lack of strong sunlight, the tomatoes can sometimes be a little floury and tasteless. To counterbalance this, you need to use a good quality, thick, syrupy balsamic vinegar. I use the Belazu one which I could slurp straight from the bottle it’s so delicious!
8 heritage tomatoes (a mixture of both colour and size)
really good quality soft goat’s cheese
thyme flowers
chive flowers
extra virgin olive oil
good quality balsamic vinegar
a handful of basil leaves
Quarter the tomatoes and lay them on a serving dish (once laid and dressed you don’t move them so you want to arrange them to prettily). Season well with salt and pepper then drizzle over with extra virgin olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Now arrange the goat’s cheese – I pull it apart with my fingers to create a textured look – over the tomatoes. Carefully arrange the herb follows and then top with the basil leaves.
This makes a truly fab starter but you do need to make sure that you use a really good balsamic and a top quality soft goat’s cheese. You could use buffalo mozzarella instead if you preferred.
