What’s your favourite recipe of all time? If you could only eat one thing before you die? Right, you’re marooned on a desert island…
I don’t mind being asked questions like these – they make me really think – but it’s so difficult to give a single straight answer. There are just so many things I love to eat. Besides, every time I’m asked, I think of something else. But, if I were tied to a train track…
Serves 2
Ingredients
2–3 garlic cloves, relatively thinly sliced
600g (1lb 5oz) ripe tomatoes, whole, or halved if large
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
2–3 rosemary sprigs
2–3 marjoram sprigs
2 thick slices of sourdough bread
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Prepare your !re and when the flames have died back and you have a nice, even bed of hot embers, set a grill in place.
Push one or two slices of garlic into each halved tomato. Poke a little slit in the smaller whole tomatoes with the point of a knife and insert a sliver of garlic into these, too. Trickle the tomatoes all over with the extra-virgin olive oil and season them well with salt and pepper.
Place the tomatoes on the hot grill. Tear over the herbs and cook, turning the tomatoes once or twice, until they are charred and soft.
Lay the bread on the grill next to the tomatoes and toast it for a minute or so on each side, until it’s crunchy and golden.
To serve, place the toast on the plates, trickle with a little extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Pile the tomatoes up onto the toasts and serve at once.