For some, weeks of preparation go into making holiday lunches perfect. But often, sides seem to be an afterthought: a sad salad, the same roasted veggies you have throughout the rest of the year. We reckon every dish – not just the meat and desserts – should be striving towards perfection.
This salad – beloved in Levantine countries like Lebanon and Syria – by Shane Delia (Melbourne’s Maha, Maha East, etc) will buttress your feast with the brightness of in-season ox heart tomatoes, minty freshness and plenty of crunch from nuts, cucumber and fried flatbread. And unlike the ham or turkey, it’s a doddle to prep. Just make sure you use the ripest tomatoes you can find.
Shane Delia’s fattouche
Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
500g large ox heart tomatoes
200g cucumber, peeled and diced, excluding all seeds
100g red onion, diced
100g pomegranate seeds
15g fresh mint, finely sliced (reserve some small mint leaves to garnish)
60g roasted walnuts, roughly chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
150ml good quality extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
Sea salt and sumac, to taste
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 large pieces Lebanese flatbread
Method
Grate tomatoes with a box grater into a bowl, keeping all the juice and discarding the skin.
Add all other ingredients, excluding the mint leaves for garnishing and the bread.
To cook the bread, cut into roughly 2cm squares then shallow fry in vegetable oil until golden brown and crispy. Season with sumac and salt.
Place tomato mix into a bowl with fried bread and gently fold through. Serve in a wide serving dish, and garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and picked mint leaves to garnish.
