Three Tomato Salad

Serves 4-6





Ingredients
For the salad:
30ml capers (optional)
2 ripe beef tomatoes
3 ripe plum tomatoes
125g red or yellow cherry tomatoes
40g small Nicoise olives (I used black olives)

For the dressing:
60ml(4 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil
30ml (2 tbsp) lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp runny honey
salt and pepper

To serve:
fresh basil leaves
pecorino or parmesan cheese










Method
1. If using capers, soak them in cold water for 30mins, then drain and pat dry.
2. Remove any stalks from the tomatoes. Thinly slice the beef tomatoes and arrange them in overlapping slices on a large serving platter.
3. Slice the plum tomatoes lengthwise and arrange over the beef tomatoes. Halve the cherry tomatoes and place in the centre of the plate.
4. Stone the olives (if not already pitted), and scatter them and the capers (if using) over the tomatoes. (I cut the olives into quarters first, but that's just my preference)
5. To prepare the dressing, place all the ingredients in a screw-topped jar and shake well until amalgamated.
6. Drizzle a generous amount of dressing over the tomatoes. Cover and leave to stand for 30 minutes to infuse. Serve at once, scattered with basil leaves and topped with pecorini or parmesan shavings.