Charred cos, kalamata olives and tomato

A tasty and simple little side dish that combines a nicely charry lettuce flavour, a saltiness from the olives and a hint of acidic sweetness from the tomatoes.

Credit: Benito Martin

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 medium head of cos lettuce, cut in half lengthways
• large splash of olive oil
• 2 medium brown onions, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• ⅓ cup sage
• 30 g butter
• 200 g cherry tomatoes
• 80 g pitted kalamata olives
• 200 ml chicken or vegetable stock
• ¼ cup chopped parsley river salt and black pepper

Instructions

Season the cos and place it, cut-side down, on a smoking hot grill. Give it a moment or two there to get a little colour, flip it over and repeat. Your aim here is to impart a little charry flavour and wilt the lettuce slightly. Remove from the grill and set aside.

Warm a shallow pot over a medium heat, add a large splash of olive oil and gently cook your onions and garlic with some seasoning. Give them 5 minutes or so to soften nicely before adding the sage and butter and turning up the heat.

Give the sage a couple of minutes, stirring often, you want it to almost fry a little. Add in the tomatoes and olives, stir vigorously to coat everything in oil; it’s okay if the tomatoes get bashed around a little as it helps to reveal their juiciness. Chop your cos into large chunks and add this into the pot also. Stir.

Pour in the stock, lower the heat and let everything simmer away and mingle for another 5 minutes or so. Have another taste for seasoning, remove from the heat and stir in the parsley before serving in a nice bowl. Finish with an extra drizzle of olive oil. 

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Lynsey Fryers. Food preparation by Suresh Watson.

Cape Vineyard square board with leather strap and Aria Entrée plate from Papaya. Medium pebble bowl from Mud.

For a taste of O Tama Carey’s cooking, visit her at Berta restaurant in Sydney. Like Berta on Facebook, and follow the restaurant on Twitter and Instagram.

Read our interview with Tama. This recipe is from our online column, The Seasonal Cook: lettuce. View previous The Seasonal Cook columns and recipes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.