Name: Wood-smoked tomatoes, jamón, grilled bread and olive salad
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 kg hickory or other dense woodchips, soaked in cold water for 1 hour, drained; 6 firm vine-ripened tomatoes; 300 gm mini Roma truss tomatoes; 6 thick sourdough bread slices; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 garlic clove, halved; 6 jamón Ibérico slices; 100 gm green olives, pitted and halved (½ cup); 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, torn (firmly packed); Sherry vinaigrette; 1 tbsp sherry vinegar; 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil (¼ cup)

Wood-smoked tomatoes, jamón, grilled bread and olive salad

Australian Gourmet Traveller Spanish-style recipe for wood-smoked tomatoes, jamón, grilled bread and olive salad.

Serves 6

Prep

30M

Cook

30M

Total

The key here is to use firm but ripe tomatoes, otherwise they’ll turn mushy when you cook them. Don’t worry if the skins split, but do be careful when turning the tomatoes, as you want them to remain intact. Crush them into the bread while they’re still warm and let the bread soak up the juices.

Ingredients

1 kg hickory or other dense woodchips, soaked in cold water for 1 hour, drained

6 firm vine-ripened tomatoes

300 gm mini Roma truss tomatoes

6 thick sourdough bread slices

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, halved

6 jamón Ibérico slices

100 gm green olives, pitted and halved (½ cup)

1 cup flat-leaf parsley, torn (firmly packed)

Sherry vinaigrette

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

60 ml extra-virgin olive oil (¼ cup)

Method

Main

1.Preheat a coal-bedded kettle barbecue to medium heat and set up for indirect grilling (see note). Add one-quarter of woodchips around coals and cook until smoke appears.

2.Place tomatoes on barbecue (mini Romas around edges and others in centre) and grill, covered with a lid and turning occasionally, until tender and charred (20-30 minutes; add more coals and woodchips to barbecue if embers and smoke die down).

3.Meanwhile, for sherry vinaigrette, whisk ingredients to combine, season to taste and set aside.

4.Meanwhile, brush bread with olive oil, grill until toasted (1-2 minutes each side), rub with cut-side of garlic, then transfer to a platter. Top with smoked tomatoes and jamón, scatter with olives and parsley, drizzle with sherry vinaigrette and serve warm.

Note Indirect grilling is cooking away from the heat, using the top rack. It’s important to have your coal base well established and glowing before adding woodchips. Refer to your barbecue manual for instructions.
Drink Suggestion: Joven (young) tempranillo. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
Notes