About the Recipe
Samphire has vibrant green stalks, similar to baby asparagus, with a distinctively crisp and salty taste. You can eat it raw but it tends to be very salty therefore blanching it for a couple of minutes might help to improve the flavour.
Samphire is the only reason I visit fishmongers; they usually sell it as an accompaniment to fish.
For me, this is a summer salad, as you need to have some good tomatoes to go with it. And since we don’t live in Italy, summer is the only time during the year that you can get some real tomatoes.
Ingredients
100g samphire
4 large tomatoes
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot or small bunch of chives, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
1. Bring to the boil a pan of fresh water, drop in the samphire and cook for three to four minutes.
2. Wash and chop the tomatoes into small wedges.
3. In a salad bowl pour olive oil, add the chopped shallot or chives and tomatoes, stir well.
4. Drain the samphire and add it to the salad bowl. Season with black pepper and serve immediately or, if possible, put aside for an hour for the flavours to combine.