makes
12
prep
30 minutes
cook
10 minutes
difficulty
Mid
makes
12
serves
preparation
30
minutes
cooking
10
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
- ¼ loaf of two-day-old heavy sourdough bread
- 30 ml fruity extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
- sea salt flakes
- freshly ground black pepper
- 12 perfect anchovies
- smoked tomato sorbet
- 72 lilliput capers
- 1 tbsp finely chopped curly parsley
Smoked tomato sorbet
- 600 g salt
- 100 g sugar
- 1 kg Roma tomatoes, blanched, skinned
- 350 ml liquid glucose (approximately – needs to be half the amount of pureed tomatoes)
Makes approximately 650 g sorbet
Chilling time overnight
Chilling time overnight
Smoking time 1 hour
Drink match Seppeltsfield Solero DP117 Pale Dry Flor, Barossa Valley, SA
Instructions
For the smoked tomato sorbet, mix together the salt and sugar. Use this mix to cure the tomatoes, by covering them and leaving them in the fridge overnight, covered.
The next day, drain and rinse the cured tomatoes.
Smoke the tomatoes by either putting them in a cold smoker; or placing them in a zip lock bag and using a hand held smoke gun with hickory chips in it. Pipe the smoke into the bag. Place your peeled, cured tomatoes in the bag, seal and leave in the fridge for 1 hour.
Puree the smoked tomatoes in a blender until completely smooth. Strain into a bowl. Measure how much liquid you have. Add this back to the blender with exactly half the amount in liquid glucose and process until smooth.
Place the tomato puree into a sorbet machine and churn until ready.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Using a very sharp bread knife, cut off the crusts of the bread and cut into a block 2.5 cm wide, 7 cm deep and 10 cm long. Cut the bread into the finest slices you can, around 1 mm. This will make far too many croutons so place the best croutons flat on a baking tray, brush generously with the extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.
Carefully remove and cool on a wire rack.
To serve, place an anchovy on each crouton. Top with a quenelle of smoked tomato sorbet and sprinkle with capers. Drizzle with the fruity extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with parsley and a little sea salt and serve immediately.
Note
• Handheld smokers can be bought online.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
