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A large plate of Mediterranean Tomato Salad sits. with lots of pesto dressing and shaved pieces of Manchego cheese

Mediterranean Tomato Salad (with manchego and pesto)

Byron
This vegetarian-friendly recipe takes just 10 minutes to prepare and requires no special equipment. In fact, there’s no cooking required at all! Our recipe makes a large tomato salad that will fill a platter and is a perfect side dish for 6 people, or a tasty and healthy main meal for 3 people.
5 from 6 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course appertizer, Salad, Side Dish, starter, tapas
Cuisine American, Authentic Spanish recipe, Mediterranean, salad, Spain, vegetarian
Servings 6 Tapas
Calories 187 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 large serving platter around 12-16 inches (30-40cm)
  • 1 Mortar and pestle for making the pesto.
  • 1 Nutribullet (optional)

Ingredients

For the salad

  • 1 kg of tomatoes a few different varieties is best
  • ½ red onion thinly sliced
  • ½ tsp caster sugar
  • 75 g g manchego cheese
  • 75 g g alcaparrones giant capers
  • 30 g g toasted flaked almond For garnishing
  • 30 g g Dried pumpkin seeds Optional, for garnishing
  • 6 slices Jamon Iberico or Serrano ham Optional

For the homemade pesto dressing

  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • Handful of fresh parsley roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 30 g g toasted flaked almond
  • 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus a little extra for drizzling
  • 2 garlic cloves

Instructions
 

STEP 1 - Prepare the salad

  • Slice the tomatoes and arrange on a large platter.
    1 kg of tomatoes
    Slices of tomato sit on a serving platter
  • Next, add the red onion on top and sprinkle everything with a good pinch of salt and around ½ tsp of sugar. Add capers and leave the salad to stand uncovered for around 5 minutes while you make the homemade pesto dressing.
    ½ red onion, 75 g g alcaparrones, ½ tsp caster sugar
    tomato slices, red onion, capers sit on a servingplatter

STEP 2 - Make the homemade pesto dressing

  • First, finely chop the parsley and peeled garlic cloves as much as you can, then you’ll need to combine all of the ingredients. We used a mortar and pestle and it took around 2-3 minutes to combine everything. You want to make a thick dressing and not a paste so don’t overdo it when combining the ingredients.
    Note: If you’re using a blender or nutribullet, a few quick buzzes for 10 seconds at a time will do it.
    Handful of fresh parsley, 2 tbsp sherry vinegar, 30 g g toasted flaked almond, 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp caster sugar
    A large white marble mortar sits with some homemade green pesto in the bottom.

STEP 3 - Add garnishing and serve

  • Drizzle over the pesto dressing and scatter some almonds and a few shavings of manchego over the salad. Optionally, add a few pieces of shaved serrano ham on top and serve.
    75 g g manchego cheese, 30 g g toasted flaked almond, 30 g g Dried pumpkin seeds, 6 slices Jamon Iberico or Serrano ham
    A large plate of Mediterranean Tomato Salad sits. with lots of pesto dressing and shaved pieces of Manchego cheese

Video

Notes

Storage:

Store any leftover tomato salad in a sealable container in the fridge. Tomato salad will keep for up to 2 days. Freezing is not recommended. 

Nutrition

Serving: 200gCalories: 187kcalCarbohydrates: 9.3gProtein: 3.2gFat: 16.8gSaturated Fat: 2.5gSodium: 227mgPotassium: 479mgFiber: 2.8gSugar: 4.9gCalcium: 38mgIron: 2mg
Keyword 10-minute recipe, authentic Spanish cuisine, easy recipe, easy to make, manchego, mediterranean, mediterranean cuisine, salad, salad dressing, summer, tomato, vegetarian