The bottom of a Greek Salad

You know that bit at the bottom of a Greek salad? The tomato juices, good olive oil, vinegar, oregano, little pieces of feta and all that salty goodness from the olives?

The bit you end up mopping up with bread until there’s absolutely nothing left?

Well, I thought, why are we waiting until the end of the salad for the best part?

So I made an entire dish out of it.

This Greek salad dip is juicy, salty, tangy and a little messy in the very best way. I use Mutti Cherry Tomatoes because they’re beautifully sweet and juicy, and you get all that gorgeous tomato juice in the tin that mingles with the olive oil and vinegar to create the best part of a Greek salad, without actually having to make the salad.

Add Kalamata olives, red onion, garlic, oregano and plenty of feta, then put the whole thing in the middle of the table with warm, charred pita.

It’s ridiculously simple, but honestly one of those dishes where everyone just keeps going back for one more piece of bread.

Perfect as an appetiser, part of a mezze spread, or something to throw together when you have people over.

Recipe Notes

• Don’t drain the tomatoes. The juice is part of the recipe! It mixes with the olive oil and vinegar and picks up little pieces of feta, oregano and all that salty goodness from the olives. It’s essentially the whole reason this dish exists.

  Use good olive oil. This is one of those recipes with very few ingredients, so the quality of each one really matters. Use an extra virgin olive oil you love the flavour of.

  Leave the tomatoes chunky. You’re not trying to turn them into a sauce. Just lightly break them up with your fork so some of their juices are released while you still have beautiful pieces of cherry tomato throughout.

  And please, have enough bread. You want something sturdy enough to scoop up the tomatoes and feta and, most importantly, mop up every last bit at the bottom.

The bottom of a Greek Salad

Serves: 4–6 as an appetiser
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 x 400g tin Mutti Cherry Tomatoes

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 small garlic clove, finely grated

• ¼ small red onion, very finely diced

• 1 tsp dried oregano, plus extra to finish

• ½ tsp flaky sea salt, or to taste

• Freshly cracked black pepper

• ⅓ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and roughly torn or chopped

• 100g feta, crumbled

• 3–4 pita breads, to serve
  

Method

1. Start with the olive oil.
Pour the extra virgin olive oil into the base of a shallow serving bowl or plate.

2. Add the tomatoes.
Spoon the Mutti Cherry Tomatoes over the olive oil, along with some of their juice. Using a fork, lightly break up the tomatoes, leaving plenty of chunky pieces.

3. Build the flavours.
Add the red wine vinegar, finely grated garlic, red onion, oregano, flaky salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Gently mix everything together, allowing the tomato juices to mingle with the olive oil and vinegar.

4. Finish the dip.
Scatter over the Kalamata olives and generously crumble the feta over the top. Finish with a little extra oregano and another drizzle of good olive oil.

5. Char the pita.
Warm the pita in a hot frying pan, grill or barbecue until golden and lightly charred, then tear into generous pieces.

6. Get dipping.
Put the whole thing straight in the middle of the table with the warm pita and get dipping. Make sure you drag the bread right through the bottom of the plate so you get the tomato juices, olive oil, feta and everything else in one bite.