While perusing recipes from The New York Times, I came across this recipe for Puttanesca Chickpea-Tomato Salad. I love Pasta Puttanesca, so I thought I’d give it a try! The first time I made this, I had an abundance of Sun Gold tomatoes growing on my deck in a tiered planter. The original recipe made a lot, and unless I was going to an event to share with others, I had to adjust the quantity. Today, the tomatoes are fading out with the fall temps and decreasing daylight hours, so I needed to act quick, if I was going to enjoy some of my summer’s best work! Here, I’ve adjusted the recipe by half using the tomatoes and herbs grown on my deck!
The Prep:
Halve about 3/4 of a pound of tomatoes in a large bowl. I obviously used my Sun Gold tomatoes, but you can use any color small tomato or a rainbow mix of colors.
Drain, rinse and skin 1-15 oz can of chickpeas. Skinning takes a few minutes, but by releasing the skin by pinching it off allows the flavors to absorb into the chickpeas! YUM!
For the cheese in this salad, my favorite one to use is Parmigiano-Reggiano! I sliced off a chunk and estimated it was around an ounce (0.95); close enough! I sliced the chunk into strips.
Then, I made 2 layered stacks and sliced again.
Finally, doing my best to hold them together and not cut my fingers off, I sliced again to create these little cubes. Altogether, it was between 3 and 4 tablespoons. Aren’t they cute? This is more cheese than the NYT recipe, but we love this cheese! It will hold its shape and rub some of its wonderful flavor off onto the other ingredients. The salt requirement for this is minimal since the cheese, capers and olives add their natural briny flavor to the mix.
Add in the capers, olives, cheese and garlic to the bowl along with the freshly chopped herbs. Two of the three herbs were in my garden for use in the dish as well. I had to buy some parsley since I sacrificed my parsley to the swallowtail caterpillar munching away on it. (If you don’t have access to fresh herbs, you could use dried in place of them: 1 teaspoon dried replaces 1 tablespoon fresh.) Squeeze the lemon juice over it and drizzle on the olive oil. Gently toss in the bowl and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt and toss gently again.
You can allow this Puttanesca Chickpea Tomato Salad to sit at room temperature for about an hour or so before serving, but refrigerate any leftovers. The flavor even slightly intensifies on the second day and the flavors meld further.
How to use this salad:
- Meatless Monday Meal
- Topping for fish
- Dip chips into it
- a side dish
- mixed with some small pasta
- by the spoonful
Puttanesca Chickpea Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1- 15 oz can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, skinned
- 10 Kalamata olives, pitted, halved and sliced
- 1 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, sliced, diced into very small cubes This is between 3-4 T.
- 1-1/2 T drained capers
- 1/2 t finely minced garlic
- 1 T fresh basil chiffonade or 1 t dried-see note below
- 1 T fresh oregano, chopped or 1 t dried-see note below
- 1 T Italian flat-leaf parsley, choppped or 1 t dried-see note below
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 t Kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine everything BUT the salt in a large bowl. Stir and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
- Add the Kosher salt and stir gently once more to distribute.
- After 10 minutes, taste and adjust seasonings to your preference. Keep in mind, these flavors will meld together the longer they are sitting. I don't add any more salt because cheese and olives add just the right amount for me!
- Refrigerate until serving. (I even think it tastes better the next day!)
