Grated tomato and Calabrian chili
Grated tomato with a Calabrian kick and a lemon lift. Sauce or dip, your call.
At a Glance
Story
Calabrian chilies come from the toe of Italy, the same fruity, smoky little peppers that go into nduja, so they bring warmth and a bit of depth rather than flat heat. Grated raw tomato is the base most people forget they can make, sweet and fresh, and the chili and lemon pull it in two directions at once. Salt it at the end, like any raw tomato, so it stays bright instead of watery.
Ingredients
- 1 ripe tomatohalved and grated (skin left behind in your hand)
- 1 clove garlicgrated
- 1 tbsp Calabrian chilischopped (from the jar in oil, start shy, they are punchy)
- ¼ tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsleychopped
- flaky salt and black pepper
Method
A grated-tomato sauce with attitude, somewhere between a fresh salsa and a condiment. Loose enough to spoon over things, thick enough to scoop with bread.
- Grate the tomato on the large holes of a box grater over a bowl, leaving the skin in your hand, then grate in the garlic.
- Stir in the Calabrian chilis, lemon zest and juice, oregano, olive oil and parsley. Taste and add more chili if you dare, they vary a lot by jar.
- Season with flaky salt and pepper just before serving. Spoon it over grilled chicken or fish, toss it through pasta, or set it out as a dip with bread and raw vegetables. An anchovy or two mashed in at the start, the way the old versions did it, is never a mistake.
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