This dish couldn’t be simpler. It’s all about good produce: deep-red beef tomatoes, piquant capers and rich gooey goat’s cheese, all pepped up with a dose of Grandad’s famous mint sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 thick slices of sourdough
- 3 large beef (beefsteak) tomatoes, sliced
- glug of olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 3½ oz (100 g) capers in vinegar, drained
- small handful of finely shredded parsley
- 9 oz (250 g) goat’s cheese, roughly crumbled
- 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- glug of extra virgin olive oil
Grandad's Mint Sauce
- bunch of fresh mint (ideally home-grown, as Grandad would use), leaves picked
- 1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons malt vinegar
How to Make It
- First make the mint sauce. Take a large knife and roughly chop the mint, then sprinkle over the sugar and chop the mint again. Add a dash of malt vinegar and chop again until the mint is finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and gradually stir in the remaining vinegar, tasting as you go. Grandad says if it doesn’t taste right, throw it away and start again. I say… adjust the vinegar and mint ratio, gradually add the vinegar and taste until you’ve got it just right – sharp, but sweet.
- Lightly toast the sourdough. Season both sides of the tomato slices with salt and pepper. Heat a glug of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat for a minute or so, then add the tomatoes and garlic and cook for 2–3 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic colour too much. Using a slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes and garlic from the pan, then dunk the toasted sourdough into the juices left in the pan, so it soaks them up. Top the sourdough with the fried tomatoes and garlic.
- Combine the capers (add a glug of vinegar from the jar too, if you like), parsley, goat’s cheese and white wine vinegar, then place on top of the tomatoes. Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil and add a dollop of mint sauce.
