Tomato Basil Ceviche

    Ripe summer veggies in a ceviche with fresh white fish. Serve it with bread.

    Ingredients

    • 6 Big Summer Vine Ripe Tomatoes
    • 4 Ears Corn
    • 20 Basil Leaves
    • 1 Smallish Red Onion
    • 5 Pepperoncini Peppers (plus a tablespoon of the juice from the jar)
    • 10 Lemons
    • 2 Oranges
    • 1 Clove Garlic
    • 2 Teaspoons Red Pepper Flake
    • 2 Pounds Fresh White Fish

    Instructions

    1. Today I used 50/50 mackerel and snapper, but I suggest going to a market and seeing what they suggest for ceviche from what they have on that day.
    2. Broil or grill the corn with some butter and salt to brown. Let cool. Dice up the tomatoes and put in a large bowl. Chop the corn off the cobs and add to the bowl. Dice the pepperoncini and add along with the juice. Rip up the basil into smaller pieces and add to bowl. Mix and season well.
    3. Meanwhile, juice all the lemons and oranges. Cop the fish into cubes roughly the same size as the tomato chunks. Pour the citrus over the fish chunks and season well. Grate the garlic into the bowl and add the chile flakes. Mix well. Dice up the red onion and top the ceviche mixture with the onion, pressing it down into the fish to keep the fish nicely submerged. Place this mixture into the fridge and allow the fish to cure for about 45 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
    4. Finally, dump the fish mixture into the tomato mixture and mix well. Cut a baguette into crostini rounds and toast. Serve the ceviche with the bread.

    Notes

    This past weekend I had some friends over for dinner. I had just gone to a tomato tasting with Backyard Farms tomatoes, so I was all fired up about how delicious these tomatoes were. I also took a bunch home from the event and wanted to use them while they were still fresh. I settled on a summery tomato basil ceviche that came out really tasty! So good in fact that multiple people who “don’t like fish” loved it. This is a simple recipe that relies on extremely fresh ingredients, so don’t try and make it if you can’t get quality stuff!


    Tomatoes, corn, and basil.

    Shout out to New Deal Fish Market where I got this super fresh mackerel.  This is me taking the skin off.

    The juice is lemons with a couple oranges.

    I like to leave the onion as a top layer to keep the fish submerged in the citrus.

    This is like summer in a bowl!

    The flavors really pop. This is the kind of appetizer that leaves you refreshed, awake, and ready to eat more.

    This recipe makes enough for an appetizer for 10-15 people. Make sure you get enough bread though, I had 2 baguettes and it wasn’t nearly enough. 4 would be just right.

    Backyard farms tomatoes are available many Shaw’s, hannaford, and Whole Foods locations across New England. They may have given me lots of free tomatoes, lobster, and wine, but that doesn’t make them any less delicious.