Dara Klein's Pomodoro and Smoked Scamorza Crostino

Think of this as a hybrid between a bruschetta and pizza, with a beautiful fresh olive and caper dressing.

Done in 30 minutes

Serves 4

Dish by Dara Klein

Ingredients

2 slicesgood quality bread

250mlslow cooked tomato sauce

6large slices smoked scamorza

4 tbsppitted taggiasche olives

1 1/2 tbspcapers

1lemon, zest

Handfulflat parsley, chopped

Drizzleextra virgin olive oil

Splashred wine vinegar

Salt, to taste

Italian-born Dara Klein grew up in her family's trattoria, Maria Pia's – a New Zealand institution. Not only that, but her mother is a bonafide celebrity of the Italian food scene, so it's no wonder cooking is in her DNA. Now, she heads up Tiella, at north London’s Compton Arms. The MO is food which is a love letter to the rustic, comforting, traditional Italian fare that she was brought up around. This recipe, like many Italian dishes, benefits from using a few simple ingredients of the best possible quality. Taking the time to source excellent bread, tomatoes, scamorza, as well as the remaining ingredients, will make this even better.

Method

Firstly, make your chopped olive and caper dressing. It doesn’t need to be too finely chopped as it will add texture to the dish. Chop the parsley, olives and capers and add to a bowl. Cover with oil until it’s spoonable but not too runny. Add a good pinch of sea salt and combine.

Taste, and adjust to your palate. Add a splash of the caper juice along with a swig of vinegar. Taste again and tweak to your preferred acidity.

Gently heat up your pomodoro/tomato sauce. Set a large pan (cast iron, stainless steel or non stick will work fine. If you have a grill to toast your bread, even better!) over a medium-high heat. Drizzle some olive oil over both slices of bread and massage the oil into the bread.

Turn the heat down to medium and toast the bread for a couple of minutes each side until it’s golden brown.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. On an ovenproof tray, assemble the bread, spoon over the pomodoro so it’s completely covering the surface, I used roughly 3 tablespoons per slice. Cover with a layer of scamorza, you might need to cut the slice so it fits the bread.

Toast for 10 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Remove from oven and let it rest for a minute. Sprinkle over a pinch of sea salt.

Slice into three pieces and spoon the dressing over each piece. Buon appetito!

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Dara Klein