This Salad Is a Protein Powerhouse

The addition of luscious mortadella and creamy ricotta kicks up the simple tomato salad to full meal status. We can't think of a better way to eat fresh tomatoes at home.

Tomato Salad with Mortadella and RicottaPhoto by2foodtrippers

While we enjoy eating fresh tomatoes all year in Portugal, we don't have access to the remarkable tomato variety that's readily available in America. So, we jumped into action when we noticed a crate of "Cherokee" tomatoes in the fruit section at our local Spanish hypermarket. But we were skeptical and wondered if they'd be similar to the big, sweet Cherokee purple tomatoes we used to buy at Philadelphia farmers markets along with others from a range of hundreds of heirloom tomato varietals offered every summer season.

Successs! While these tomatoes were a bit more red and green than the Cherokees we'd previously eaten in the States, we found them to be no less tasty. They were juicy and sweet - a perfect snack with just a little salt and olive oil. But, after we returned to the market and bought more tomatoes, we got creative and added mortadella and ricotta to the mix. The result was bold, fresh and creamy.

It may seem a bit antithetical to add meat and cheese to a fresh tomato salad; however, there's something special about the way that salty mortadella and creamy ricotta mixes with the sweet, adicic umami of an heirloom tomato. We've already made the salad multiple times - it's a quick and tasty dinner option that tastes great.

Ingredients

This ramped up salad is essentially a five-ingredient dish not counting salt, pepper and optional chili flake. There's no cooking involved, just some creative assembly. Here's every ingredient that you need:

• Tomatoes - Use ripe, seasonal tomatoes for this salad. Don't be afraid to splurge on heirloom tomatoes and don't worry about the color. In fact, you can make a dramatic salad presentation if you use tomatoes of mixed colors.
• Mortadella - Use mortadella that's sliced as thin as possible. If you can't find ultra-thin sliced prepackaged mortadella, have some sliced thin at your local premium deli counter. Also, while we prefer plain mortadella in this salad, you can use mortadella with pistachio or peppercorn if that's your only option.
• Ricotta - Use the best ricotta that you can find. We have access to great, creamy ricotta in Europe and hopefully you have access to the same.
• Fresh Basil - We like to use fresh basil but you can substitute fresh mint if that herb floats your boat.
• Olive Oil - This is a recipe where you'll want to use the good stuff. So, if you have a great bottle of EVOO hanging around, use it. You can use commodity cold pressed extra virgin olive oil instead if that's what you have on hand.
• Salt - Salt will make your tomatoes come to life. We recommend using crunchy sea salt since it adds another dimension to the finished dish.
• Pepper - Pepper adds flavor to the ricotta. Be careful not to grind it directly on the tomatoes.
• Optional - Chili Flake - We like our food spicy so we sprinkle a little chili flake on the ricotta. This ingredient is optional.

How To Make This Ramped Up Tomato Salad

This preparation of this salad is all about easy assembly. The trickiest steps come in seasoning and mixing the tomatoes and neatly assembling the salad.

Begin by coring your tomatoes. Take out the stem and eliminate and any tough fibrous parts of the fruit. Cut the cored tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.

Next, place the tomato pieces into a mixing bowl and generously sprinkle them with salt.

A chef once told us that tomatoes take salt very well. This so true. So, when you add the salt, don't be bashful. Since the salt will cause the tomatoes to break down a bit and get juicy, you need to mix the tomatoes with a gentle hand.

Now it's time for assembly.

First, lay the tomatoes down (again, gently) in a circle on a wide flat bowl.

Next, lay down the mortadella after you shape the slices into florets.

We like to wrap the slices around our fingers and then fold back the tops to make a floral shape. Don't stress - the slices need to be nice and neat, not perfect.

Evenly lay the ricotta in teaspoon dollops on top of the tomatoes. You can form the ricotta into quenelles (see the photo at the top of this article) if you're feeling fancy but that's certainly not mandatory.

Grind black pepper on top of the ricotta (not the tomatoes). If you opt to add a bit of chili flake, gently sprinkle it on top of the ricotta too.

Drizzle olive oil on top of the entire salad.

Garnish evenly with torn basil leaves.

That's it. You're now ready to eat the tasty tomato salad.

Serve with bread. Be sure to dip the bread into the salad's juice for maximum enjoyment.

This recipe was originally published on 2foodtrippers. Consider subscribing to 2foodtrippers if you enjoyed it.