I’ve been waiting on beautiful, summer-ripe tomatoes in order to make this simple but outstanding recipe. It’s basically grated tomato pulp served over Greek yogurt. It was published in August of 2024 at New York Times Cooking, by Ali Slagle.

According to Ms. Slagle: “This two-ingredient summertime dip of yogurt and grated tomato is a real showstopper. Like the tomatoes and mozzarella in a caprese, this combination of raw tomato and creamy dairy is luscious and electric all at once — and there’s no need to embellish it.”

What’s funny, is that if you read the reviews, most all recipe testers attempted to embellish this dip. And, they concluded that it was just perfect without embellishment. So I didn’t add a thing. It’s absolutely perfect!

Tomato and Yogurt Dip

Sliced crusty bread
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 cups full-fat Greek yogurt or labneh
1 large, ripe tomato
Salt and black pepper

Brush the bread with olive oil and toast under the broiler or on the grill. While still warm, rub with the garlic clove until you smell garlic. Set aside. (I just toasted bread in a cast-iron skillet, then rubbed the garlic on the toasted sides.)

Spoon the yogurt into a shallow bowl and spread into an even layer.

Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the cut sides of the tomato on top of the yogurt. (I squeezed out as many seeds as I could first.) Discard or compost skins. (I grated into a shallow bowl so I could remove some of the tomato water.)

Season generously with salt and pepper.

Serve right away with the bread for dipping.

This was truly magnificent. I’d remove a little more water beforehand, however, using a fine sieve.