On lazy, late summer days, a tomato salad is always a great option. The sun-drenched tomatoes are now bursting with flavour and you can combine them with anything from mozzarella, tinned bonito, salted anchovies to red onions and capers.
I love to make a simple, traditional Trampó salad, it’s the perfect dish to enjoy for lunch on a warm summer’s day in Mallorca. Simply made with tomato, green pepper and onion dressed with salt and olive oil, the name trampó comes from "trempar" or "to dress" in mallorquí. The basic recipe is often spruced up with the addition of anything from artichokes, capers, olives, potatoes, boiled eggs, chickpeas and even tuna or salted cod. But the best part is dipping freshly baked bread into the olive oil infused tomato essence and the bottom of the bowl. I also like to spruce up my “Trampò” by giving it a makeover with a few North African influences and the addition of pomegranate molasses, red chilli and mint. For me it really takes Trampo to another level…just don’t tell the locals, it might well be deemed sacrilege.
I also can’t resist a well-made “Ensaladilla Rusa”(Russian Salad). It’s one of the most popular dishes in the whole of Spain and you’ll find it in practically every tapas bar you care to visit. Every traditional Spanish cookbook has an ensaladilla recipe in it somewhere. I’m a huge fan and it became one of my favourite Pinxos some years ago when I lived in San Sebastian, where it was often topped with a fresh, tender langoustine and served with crunchy little breadsticks called picos.
A typical ensaladilla rusa recipe includes humble ingredients such as potatoes, peas, and carrots with the addition of tuna, olives and hard-boiled eggs. For me the key to a good ensaladilla Rusa is making a homemade mayonnaise, but if you want to use jarred mayonnaise it also works perfectly fine. I like to mix all the ingredients while they are still a little lukewarm and serve the salad immediately without being refrigerated, but it is also delicious chilled and can be made in advance and served as part of a selection of tapas or as a side dish to grilled fish or barbecued meats. The Spanish sometimes like to decorate the potato salad with tinned white asparagus, cooked piquillo peppers and olives but if you’re feeling a little more decadent, serve it with some, fat, local prawns cooked over sea salt …they are utterly delicious!
MORO “TRAMPÒ” SALAD
Ingredients | Serves 4
4 very ripe vine-ripened tomatoes, skinned and finely diced
2 long green peppers, seeded and finely diced
2 red chilli peppers, seeded and finely diced
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
½ small onion, peeled and finely diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
½ teaspoon pomegranate molasses
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
A few fresh mint leaves
Salt and black pepper
1. Place the diced tomatoes, pepper, chillies, cucumber and onion in a salad bowl and add the parsley, pomegranate molasses, red wine vinegar and the extra-virgin olive oil.
2. Stir well so that everything is very well combined and leave for 20 minutes to macerate.
3. Season with salt & pepper, scatter with torn mint leaves and serve immediately.
MY SIMPLE “ENSALADILLA RUSA”
Ingredients | Serves 4
400g large potatoes
200 carrots, peeled and diced
100g cooked peas
100g cooked French beans, chopped
2 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 small tins of tuna
10 green olives, stoned and chopped
150ml mayonnaise
1. Boil the potatoes in their skins until just cooked. Drain and leave to cool.
2. Boil the diced carrots until just cooked, drain well and place in a large bowl.
3. Add the cooked peas, chopped beans and tuna meat to the carrots.
4. Peel and dice the potatoes and add them to the other vegetables.
5. Fold in the mayonnaise, chopped egg, olives and serve immediately or refrigerate until required.
The real purists insist on eating local red prawns “a la Sal” with absolutely no accompaniments or frivolous garnishes.
Ingredients | Serves 2
10 large, whole red prawns
200g flaky sea salt
2 tbsps olive oil
1. Sprinkle the salt flakes evenly over a heavy-bottomed frying pan or cast iron skillet.
2. Preheat over a high heat and place the whole prawns in a single layer over the salt and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes.
3. Carefully flip the prawns and cook for a further minute on the other side and sprinkle with a little olive oil.
4. To eat, gently pull the body from the heads and suck the juices from the head. Suck on the shells of the bodies before peeling and eating the tails.
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