Tomatoes Dressed in Toasted Fennel and Anchovy

Name: Tomatoes Dressed in Toasted Fennel and Anchovy
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients: ½ cup Olive Oil (½ cup olive oil); 2 tbsp Fennel Seed (2 tablespoons fennel seeds, crushed); 2 tsp Aleppo Chili Flakes (2 teaspoons Aleppo-style pepper, or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes) — optional; 8 pieces Anchovies (8 anchovy fillets, plus more if you like); 2 lb Tomato (2–3 pounds small-ish very ripe tomatoes, quartered or sliced — up to 3); 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar (2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar); 0 pieces Sea Salt (Flaky sea salt); 0 pieces Black Pepper (Coarsely ground black pepper)

A Mediterranean salad of ripe tomatoes dressed with a warm, toasted fennel, anchovy, and olive oil mixture, finished with vinegar, flaky salt, and black pepper.

Mediterranean

Servings4

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Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Pescatarian

Steps

1Heat the olive oil in a small pot over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds, Aleppo-style pepper, and anchovies, swirling and toasting until the spices are fragrant and the anchovies are melted, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2Scatter the tomatoes on a large serving platter or in a shallow bowl. Drizzle with the vinegar and, if you want, scatter with more anchovies (or just serve alongside in their little tin for snacking on). Spoon the toasted fennel–anchovy mixture over and top with flaky salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
3DO AHEAD: The toasted fennel–anchovy oil can be made up to 2 weeks ahead, tightly covered, and stored in the refrigerator. The tomatoes can be sliced 1 hour ahead, if you must, but are really best if sliced, dressed, and served immediately.