Cooking with Monisha - Recipes & More

Tamater Mahal
tomato castles - Serves 4

This simple starter looks glamorous and tastes especially fresh and clean. It is wonderful for lunch and can easily be made well in advance. It is delicious in the summer with some crusty bread, but it also looks delightful in the winter if you can find some really good out of season tomatoes. An added bonus is that it is so very easy to make! This is a new recipe that is inspired by the nouvelle cuisine of France.

Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 0 minutes

3300g (10 oz) large, very red beef tomatoes, thickly sliced
150g (5 oz) mozzarella cheese or similar (sliced)
1 ripe, firm avocado (medium sliced)
1 medium red onion (sliced)

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper.
¼ teaspoon dry ginger powder
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon finely chopped coriander leaves

1. Place eight of the thickest slices of tomato on a serving plate. Place a slice of cheese on top of each tomato slice, then add a couple of slices of avocado and a single crunchy onion ring to crown it all. Build a pretty castle with the ingredients creating a whirl of colour and texture.
Make the dressing by combining the ingredients and mixing well. Drizzle the dressing over the tomato castles and serve with warm, crusty garlic bread.