Heirloom Tomato, Sweet Onion & Mâche Salad with Blue Cheese Crema

Heirloom tomatoes are fleeting summer treasure. This salad shows them off to perfection.

At the Portland Saturday Market yesterday, I couldn’t resist selecting a bag of what may be the last of the season’s heirloom tomatoes. They come in such a variety of beautiful colors, shapes and sizes, and their flavor is incomparable. Nothing like the grocery store tomatoes we grudgingly subsist on over the long winter.

Over the past year, restaurant menus everywhere featured heirloom tomato salads, and I sampled my fair share.

The most creative and gorgeous rendition was surely this beauty, which we were enthralled with at Clio restaurant in Boston. Every dish at Clio is a work of art with stunning juxtapositions of flavors. In this salad, the striking complement was the tiny local blueberry compote.

In this next rendition, from a recent visit to Elements restaurant in Scottsdale, the tomatoes and accompanying buffalo mozzarella were accentuated with balsamic chili glaze, basil and queen creek olive oil. A simple and lovely dish.

Then at Jsix restaurant in San Diego, there was a refreshing salad of heirloom tomatoes with creamy burrata mozzarella, butter lettuce, and green goddess dressing. I haven’t seen green goddess dressing on a menu for eons, so had to order it.

Almost every heirloom tomato salad I encounter out these days matches the tomatoes with mozzarella. While that’s an effective pairing, I wanted to try something a little bolder, without, however, overpowering the flavor of the tomatoes.

I chose a deliriously delicious creamy blue that I picked up on a whim at Trader Joe’s, and then tamed it quite a bit by combining it with cream cheese. For a counterpoint, I whipped up a honey mustard vinaigrette and included the barest sprinkling of salty, crunchy pancetta and fresh thyme.

You can use any baby greens here, such as arugula or watercress, but the tender, subtle mâche (lambs lettuce) is particularly lovely.

Heirloom Tomato, Walla Walla Sweet Onion & Mâche Salad with Blue Cheese Crema

Tomatoes have a natural affinity for blue cheese. However, when tomatoes are to be the star of the dish, it may be necessary to play down the blue a bit. In this salad, the blue is tamed with cream cheese, which also adds a lush texture to the salad. The tiny bursts of salty pancetta, sweet onion, and fresh thyme enliven each bite.

Blue Cheese Crema
8 ounces cream cheese
3 ounces Italian Stagnola Blue cheese (available at Trader Joe’s) (or other creamy blue cheese)
1 large clove garlic, peeled, and then minced or pressed
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons wildflower honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 large clove garlic, peeled, and then minced or pressed
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Salad
4 large heirloom tomatoes, preferably in different colors, sliced ½-inch thick
¼ medium Walla Walla sweet or red onion, chopped
4-ounce package mâche (lambs lettuce), stems trimmed
4 ounces pancetta, chopped, sautéed, and drained on paper towels
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1. To make Blue Cheese Crèma, in a processor, process the cream cheese until smooth. Add blue cheese, garlic, and salt. Process until incorporated. Scoop into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
2. To make Honey Mustard Vinaigrette, in a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, and garlic. Whisk in the olive oil to form an emulsion, and then season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. To serve, smear a couple tablespoons of Blue Cheese Crèma in the center of each of four large salad plates. Grate black pepper over the crèma. For each serving, arrange ¼ of the tomatoes, overlapping, to one side of the crèma. Put the mâche in a bowl and drizzle over a few tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Toss to coat and then arrange the mâche on the other side of the crèma. Drizzle remaining vinaigrette over the tomatoes. Sprinkle each salad with cooked pancetta, chopped onion, and minced thyme.
4. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Inspired Heirloom Tomato Recipes from Around the Web

• Black Pepper Cornmeal Tarts with Heirloom Tomato Salad and Sea Salt | Satisfied
• Heirloom Tomato and Olive Tapenade Tartelette | Tartelette
• Heirloom Tomato Salad | Julia’s Kitchen
• Roasted Tomato Tart | Patent & the Pantry

Copyright 2015 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.