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a plain plate of closed crustless white-bread triangle sandwiches with thin red tomato slices and a very thin green-basil-flecked butter layer, without cheese, lettuce, bacon or garnish
Melissa Hart

Tomato Tea Sandwiches

Good tomatoes don’t need a thick cheese spread to become a tea sandwich, but they do need enough time on a towel to stop dripping before you close the bread. Basil butter supplies a thin protective layer and keeps the filling tasting of tomato rather than mayonnaise. Use ripe tomatoes that still cut into clean slices, not soft ones that collapse when you lift them from the board. A serrated knife should do the cutting work while your other hand only steadies the bread; pressing down hard is how you squeeze the juice into the crumb and flatten the whole sandwich.
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 12
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb ripe firm tomatoes
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tsp sherry vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 12 thin slices soft white sandwich bread

Method
 

  1. Slice tomatoes about 1/8 inch thick and lay on a tray lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, stand for 10 minutes and blot both sides thoroughly.
  2. Beat butter with basil, sherry vinegar and pepper until evenly mixed. Spread a thin layer over one face of all 12 bread slices.
  3. Cover six buttered slices with one even layer of tomatoes, trimming pieces to fill gaps without building a thick stack. Close with the remaining bread, buttered faces inward.
  4. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm the butter. Trim crusts carefully with a serrated knife without pressing the tomatoes into the bread.
  5. Cut each sandwich diagonally in both directions to make 24 small triangles. Serve two per portion, keeping the tray covered and refrigerated until serving the same day.