Tomato Stracciatella Salad

This is the sort of salad I make when the tomatoes are actually worth eating. Properly ripe, juicy ones that leave a little puddle behind when you slice them.

Once you have those, piling on loads of complicated ingredients almost feels like missing the point.

 

Stracciatella is what makes it especially good. It’s ridiculously creamy and soft, so instead of cutting neat pieces of cheese, you can just spoon it around the tomatoes and let everything mingle together on the plate.

Some bites end up mostly tomato, others get a big creamy scoop, and that slight messiness is exactly how I like it.

I add rocket for a peppery bite, along with sliced bell peppers and Castelvetrano olives.

The olives are mild, buttery and not aggressively salty, which works really nicely here.

Then comes extra-virgin olive oil, and this is definitely not the moment for a cautious little drizzle.

You want enough to mix with the tomato juices and create a sort of accidental dressing at the bottom of the plate.

Finish with flaky sea salt and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. That’s really all it needs.

Serve it with crusty bread if you have some, because once the tomatoes, stracciatella and olive oil have been sitting together for a few minutes, the juices left on the plate might actually be the best part.

 

Why You’ll Love This Salad

There isn’t much work involved here, but it certainly doesn’t taste boring.

• Really quick: You can have the whole thing on the table in about 15 minutes.
• Fresh and juicy: Tomatoes are the star rather than getting buried under loads of lettuce.
• Creamy without a heavy dressing: Stracciatella does all the work.
• Plenty of texture: Soft tomatoes, creamy cheese, crisp peppers and meaty olives make every bite slightly different.
• Easy to change: Use whatever good tomatoes and peppers you can find.
• Great for sharing: Put the whole plate in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves.
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Ingredients

You don’t need loads, so try to use the best ingredients you can reasonably get.

• 500g ripe tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 2 handfuls fresh arugula
• 100g Castelvetrano olives, pitted
• 200g stracciatella
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Flaky sea salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper

You can also add a few fresh basil leaves if you have them hanging around.

About The Tomatoes

Good tomatoes make this salad.

I’d go for a mixture if possible. Big red tomatoes give you those lovely thick slices, while yellow or orange tomatoes bring a slightly different sweetness and make the whole plate look gorgeous without you having to do anything clever.

Most importantly, they need to be ripe.

If your tomatoes are very cold from the fridge, take them out for a while before making the salad. Their flavour is so much better once they’ve lost that fridge chill.

And slice them fairly generously. Paper-thin tomatoes aren’t what we’re after here.

 

How To Make Tomato Stracciatella Salad

Prepare The Tomatoes

• Slice the tomatoes into thick rounds, wedges or a mixture of both. They don’t need to look perfectly uniform.
• Arrange them across a large shallow serving bowl or platter.
• Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
• Leave the tomatoes for about 5 minutes. This draws out some of their juices, which will eventually mix with the olive oil and stracciatella to make a lovely dressing right on the plate.

Add The Bell Peppers

• Remove the seeds and white membrane from the red and yellow bell peppers.
• Slice the peppers into fairly thin strips so they’re easy to eat alongside the tomatoes.
• Scatter them between the tomato slices rather than piling them all on top.
• Keep the peppers raw. That fresh crunch is really good against the soft tomatoes and creamy cheese.

Add The Castelvetrano Olives

• Drain the Castelvetrano olives well.
• Remove the stones if yours aren’t already pitted.
• Halve some of the olives and leave a few whole for a bit of texture.
• Scatter them evenly around the tomatoes and peppers.

Add The Stracciatella

• Take the stracciatella out of the fridge a little before serving so it isn’t completely fridge-cold.
• Spoon generous dollops around the tomatoes rather than spreading it into one smooth layer.
• Tuck some underneath the tomatoes too. Those hidden creamy bits are so good once they catch all the tomato juices.

Add The Arugula

• Take a couple of loose handfuls of fresh arugula and scatter them over the salad.
• Tuck a few leaves between the tomatoes and peppers.
• Don’t go overboard with it. This is still very much a tomato salad, with the arugula there for a fresh, peppery bite.

Dress And Finish

• Drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil generously over the tomatoes, peppers, olives and stracciatella.
• Sprinkle over flaky sea salt.
• Add plenty of freshly cracked black pepper.
• Give everything a very gentle toss or simply leave it layered on the platter.
• Taste one of the tomatoes and adjust the salt or pepper if needed.
• Finish with one last drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil just before serving.

Don’t Toss It Too Much

This is one salad I wouldn’t vigorously toss in a big mixing bowl.

You can gently move things around with a spoon if needed, but that’s about it.

The tomatoes are soft and juicy, and the stracciatella is delicate. Toss everything too enthusiastically and you’ll end up with something closer to tomato soup with leaves floating through it.

Not ideal.

Arranging everything directly on the serving plate keeps the tomatoes intact and makes the finished salad look much better too.

The Olive Oil Matters

Because the dressing is basically olive oil plus everything naturally released by the tomatoes and cheese, use an extra-virgin olive oil you actually enjoy.

It doesn’t need to be ridiculously expensive.

Just don’t use an old bottle that’s been sitting forgotten at the back of the cupboard since who knows when.

A fruity, slightly peppery olive oil is lovely here.

As the salad sits for a few minutes, the oil catches the tomato juices, salt, pepper and little streaks of stracciatella.

That’s when things get really good.

What To Serve With It

Honestly, give me this salad and some warm crusty bread and I’m happy.

But it also makes a lovely side for:

• Grilled chicken
• Steak
• Grilled salmon
• Garlic prawns
• Roasted vegetables
• Pasta
• Focaccia
• Toasted sourdough
• Roasted potatoes

If you’re serving several dishes for lunch or dinner, put this salad right in the middle of the table. It’s the sort of thing people can keep picking at between everything else.

Easy Swaps

No Stracciatella?

Use burrata.

Break it open and spoon the creamy centre around the tomatoes. You can tear up the mozzarella exterior and add that too.

Fresh mozzarella works as well, although the salad won’t be quite as creamy.

No Castelvetrano Olives?

Any good mild green olive will work.

I’d avoid anything intensely flavoured or heavily marinated because you don’t want the olives overpowering everything else.

Don’t Like Arugula?

Use fresh basil instead, or combine a smaller amount of arugula with basil.

Baby spinach also works, although it won’t have that same peppery bite.

Want Some Heat?

Add a small pinch of chilli flakes.

Just a little. There’s already plenty going on.

Can You Make It Ahead?

Sort of.

You can prepare the individual ingredients ahead of time, but I wouldn’t assemble the entire salad hours before serving.

The peppers can be sliced and the olives prepared earlier in the day. Wash and dry the arugula too, then keep everything refrigerated.

Wait until closer to serving before slicing and salting the tomatoes.

Once salt hits them, they’ll start releasing their juices. That’s exactly what we want when we’re about to eat them, but less helpful if the salad needs to sit around for three hours.

Add the stracciatella, arugula and olive oil shortly before serving.

What To Do With Leftovers

This salad is definitely best freshly made.

If you do have some left, pop it into an airtight container and refrigerate it until the following day.

The tomatoes will soften and the arugula won’t be quite as perky, but the flavour will still be fantastic.

My favourite way to rescue those leftovers is toast.

Toast a thick slice of sourdough until crisp, spoon the leftover tomatoes and stracciatella straight over it, then pour some of those juices from the container over the top.

Suddenly yesterday’s salad doesn’t feel like leftovers at all.