Tomato Salad with Mozzarella & Tomato Soup

For the Tomato Salad with Mozzaerlla

1.2kg               heirloom tomatoes (tiger striped, plum, black Russian etc)1                      red onion, sliced 3mm thick 2stalks            fresh basil, slightly bruised, roughly chopped            1clove            garlic, peeled and crushed1pinch            sea salt1pinch            black pepper, ground 1tbsp              white wine vinegar4tbsp              extra virgin olive oil120g                Mozzarella cheese, roughly torn 50g                  Kalamata olives, pitted, dried for 1 hour at 100’c, chopped fine

Slice all the tomatoes into bite sized wedges and mix together in a large bowl.

Add the sliced onions, garlic and basil and toss together in the bowl.

Season the tomatoes and onions with a pinch of salt, pepper, white wine vinegar and olive oil.

Leave for 5 minutes to marinade and exchange flavours.

Arrange the tomatoes on a large serving plate, finish by scattering over the mozzarella cheese and dried kalamata olives.

For the Tomato Soup

Serves: 4-6

½ white onion 3 garlic cloves 1.1kg large ripe tomatoes (such as Marmande or Coeur de Boeuf) 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes 1 basil sprig, plus a few leaves to finish 1 sage sprig 3 tbsp olive oil 1 small rosemary sprig 1 marjoram sprig (optional) 4 tablespoons tomato purée 400ml water 100ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish

To finish (optional) 4 tbsp              crème fraîche or Jersey creama few handfuls of croutons

Finely dice the onion and coarsely chop the peeled garlic. Coarsely chop the large tomatoes. Simply remove the stems of the cherry tomatoes and leave the tomatoes whole.

Coarsely chop the basil and sage, and putall of these to one side.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat.

Add the onion, garlic, sage and rosemary (and marjoram, if using). Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomato purée, stir, cover with the lid and continue to cook for 3–4 minutes. Increase the heat to high, add the chopped tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil and water. Cover with the lid again and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.

Pass the liquid through a moulin-légumes or food mill (or purée in a liquidiser) into a clean saucepan. Stir in the extra-virgin olive oil.

At this stage you can either chill the soup and serve it within a couple of days or freeze it. Or serve it straight away, adding the optional garnish – a spoonful of crème fraîche or cream for richness and croutons or a drizzle of olive oil and a few basil leaves.