recipe: lemon dill tomatoes

My cherry tomatoes plants are bearing an abundance of fruit currently, and I am always looking for different and interesting ways to use them when the crop yield is at its peak. This recipe was created about this time last year and it is really great way to use an excess of cherry or grape tomatoes.

The combination of the chilli, lemon and dill works really well with the tomatoes. You could serve this dish warm or at room temperature as an accompaniment to fish or chicken, or cold as a side-salad. My favourite way to enjoy this is with sesame crusted salmon, as seen in the photo below. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled, and you can increase the quantity of chilli flakes if you like your food hot.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
500g cherry or grape tomatoes
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ – 1 teaspoon chilli flakes (depending how hot you like your food!)
1 large lemon, juiced
¼ cup finely chopped dill

Method:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium-large frypan. Add the tomatoes and the salt and cook, shaking the pan, until the tomatoes start to change colour and some of them start to burst (about 3-4 minutes).
2. Add the chilli flakes and the lemon juice and shake the pan for about 10 seconds. Add the remaining olive oil, stir and take off the heat.
3. Place the contents into a bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Stir in the dill and cover with plastic food wrap, allowing the flavours to mingle.
4. Serve either cold as a salad, or warmed or at room temperature as an accompaniment.

Lemon Dill Tomatoes served with Sesame Crusted Salmon
(click on photo to view larger image)