Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef Hillary Sterling cut her teeth in Bobby Flay’s kitchens at Mesa Grill and Bolo, at Lupa Osteria Romana, and under Missy Robbins at the Michelin-starred A Voce. Now, the four-time James Beard–nominated executive chef of Ci Siamo has completed her most personal project: Ammazza! Culinary Adventures from New York to Italy and Back Again. The new cookbook gathers more than 100 seasonal recipes, including this Sungold tomato salad, which captures the book’s sensibility: sunny, briny, herbal, and simple. The salad, Sterling writes, is designed to show off the “candy-like sweetness, low acidity, and sunset-orange color of peak-season Sungolds.”
🔖 Wild Sorrel Pick
Ingredients
Method
DIRECTIONS
- Place 10 ounces (300g) of the tomatoes in a shallow medium ceramic or glass dish. Sprinkle with salt and let them sit for 15 minutes—the salt will draw out some of their water and concentrate their sweetness. (No need to drain off any water the tomatoes release since you’ll use it to mingle with the vinaigrette.)
MAKE THE VINAIGRETTE
- In a medium bowl, combine the remaining 2 ounces (60g) tomatoes, the garlic, olive brine, vinegar, and orange zest. Using an immersion blender, blitz until mostly smooth—a little texture is fine. Add the olives, olive oil, and vinaigrette to the dish. Squeeze the orange half over the top, then season with a pinch more salt. Stir gently, then set aside a few minutes to let the tomatoes soak up the flavors. Transfer the tomatoes to a serving dish, leaving the vinaigrette behind in the bowl.
TO ASSEMBLE
- Spoon as much of the vinaigrette over the top of the salad as you like, depending on your preference for acidity. Sprinkle with fennel pollen and garnish with basil and fennel fronds. Serve any remaining vinaigrette on the side with crusty bread for tearing and swiping.
Notes
Recipe excerpted from AMMAZZA! Culinary Adventures from New York to Italy and Back Again. Copyright © 2026 by Hillary Sterling. Reprinted by permission of Scribner, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC.
