Erica De Mane

Still Life with Watermelon, Piotr Alberti, 1913–1994.

Recipe: Watermelon and Tomato Salad with Mozzarella, Thai Basil, and Lemon Verbena

Savory Watermelon salads have been kicking around the New York restaurant scene for years now, and for the most part I really like them. The only time I don’t like them is when they’re not savory enough. Some places add sugar, which really misses the point. Last summer I made a few watermelon salads that I was pretty happy with. One that included ricotta salata, pine nuts, shallot, and purslane (I love purslane) was my favorite. It was sweet, salty, lemony, and full of texture.

A few nights ago my friend Jane mentioned a watermelon and feta salad she had loved at some Manhattan restaurant (I can’t remember where). Feta seems to be a popular ingredient in these things, its tartness and saltiness playing nicely against the sweetness of the fruit. Good idea (sort of the same thinking that went into my use of ricotta salata). I also recently had a watermelon salad at Peekamoose Restaurant in Big Indian, New York, that was distinguished by their having dehydrated the watermelon slightly, giving it a concentrated sweetness and firmness. That was a really good idea.

When I went about creating a watermelon salad this summer, I wanted to include tomatoes and mozzarella, ingredients I thought would produce a very savory result with a touch of acidity. But those are also ingredients that, like watermelon, can give off a lot of liquid, diluting flavor and messing up any type of vinaigrette you might want to dress the salad with. I didn’t have a way to dehydrate my watermelon, as they did at Peekamoose, but I lightly salted the watermelon, the tomatoes, and the mozzarella and let them all drain, and that did give me a richer final flavor.

Any perfumey or minty herb goes really well with watermelon. I’d avoid strong flavors such as rosemary, oregano, sage, and maybe even thyme (actually I can see thyme working, but it would really depend on the all-over balance of ingredients). In my apartment building’s stoop pots I’m now producing some amazingly healthy Thai basil and lemon verbena. I’ve tried growing both of those herbs in the past, either on my windowsill or in the two big twin pots on either side of the building’s entrance, but they just kind of fizzled out. I’m not sure what I’m doing differently this time around, but they’re bursting forth (we did just have a fabulously dramatic hailstorm last week, so maybe that had something to do with it). These two exotic and very special herbs not only go well together but, I’ve found, are amazing with both watermelon and tomato. If you can’t get your hands on them, use fresh basil and a bit of grated lemon zest instead. You’ll achieve a similar level of beauty.

To underline the salad’s savoriness, I finish it off with red summer onion and Olio Verde, a lush Southern Italian olive oil produced by Gianfranco Becchina, in Sicily. It’s mellow and less bitter than Tuscan, qualities that, to my palate, allow it to blend more naturally with sweet fruit.

My stoop pot, with Thai basil and lemon verbena.

Watermelon and Tomato Salad with Mozzarella, Thai Basil, and Lemon Verbena

(Serves 4 as a first course)

About 2 cups watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pint summer cherry tomatoes, cut in half
½ pound mozzarella (not buffalo, which is too watery for this), cut into ½-inch cubes
Salt
½ red summer onion, very thinly sliced
About 8 big sprigs each of lemon verbena and Thai basil, the leaves very lightly chopped
2 tablespoons mellow, high quality extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Place the watermelon in a small colander. Sprinkle it with a little salt, and let it drain for about an hour. Do the same thing with the tomatoes (use the watermelon and tomato juices to make yourself a bloody Mary, a little treat for the cook). If your mozzarella seems watery, you can drain that too.

Now transfer the watermelon, tomatoes, and mozzarella into a pretty serving bowl. Add the onion and the herbs. Drizzle on the olive oil, and give it a few good grindings of black pepper. Toss gently. Taste for salt (you probably won’t need more). This is best served right away and at room temperature.