Ingredients
new potatoes
400g
summer carrots
350g
beetroot, raw
500g
banana shallots
4
olive oil
4 tbsp
chilli flakes
0.5 tsp
cumin seeds
1 tsp
ground coriander
2 tsp
garlic
3 cloves
courgettes
400g
summer squash
250g
thyme
8 bushy sprigs
rosemary
4 sprigs
red wine vinegar
2 tbsp
garlic
2 cloves
mint leaves
10g
coriander
15g
natural yoghurt
350ml
Ingredients
caster sugar
100g
water
200ml
large, fragrant rose (unsprayed)
1
apricots
9
pistachios
2 tbsp
rose petals
a handful
egg yolks
5
caster sugar
50g
vanilla paste or extract
0.5 tsp
sweet or dry marsala
35ml
double cream
125ml
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In summer, I roast vegetables early in the day, before the kitchen heats up, then let them cool to room temperature for lunch. I start with onions or, preferably, the large oval shallots the size of a Christmas bauble, that roast sweetly. I then introduce whatever summer vegetables I have to hand. This week there were long spring carrots, beetroots the size of golf balls and new flaky-skinned potatoes from Jersey.
Once the root vegetables are approaching tenderness, I add the softer sort, the pale-skinned courgettes and deep yellow summer squash, occasionally a handful of tomatoes or perhaps some radishes that have gone beyond their best. The melange of vegetables changes according to what I have or need to use up. A few caveats, I never add pumpkin or parsnips, reserving those for winter roasts, or large turnips which have a tendency to turn bitter in the oven’s heat. (The tiny summer ones are good.) And should the courgettes or tomatoes collapse as they roast, that is fine; their mingling with the olive oil and making the dish juicy and sweet.
Intended as a lunch dish with crusty bread to soak up the juices, we finished this off the following day, the softened vegetables piled onto rounds of toast. We had finished the yoghurt sauce that I made to trickle over it, so let it speak for itself, the juices soaking in to the toast underneath. I sometimes stir in a spoonful or two of harissa paste as the vegetables cook, especially if the weather is on the cooler side. The recipe changes according to what is around.
This week has seen more than a few soft fruits in the kitchen. Peaches and kesar mangoes, which I have been eating for breakfast, and apricots (some really fine ones this year) which have been grilled and served warm. Some of the latter were stoned and stuffed with mascarpone, others wallowed in a bath of a rose-scented syrup and thick sabayon-style custard. You can make a syrup with just sugar, water and rosewater but this time I made one with an overblown bloom from the garden – a high-scented dark rose that I knew had not been sprayed. It may be my imagination, but I find the syrup all the more heady made with the darker coloured roses.
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Serves
4-6
| Time90 mins
new potatoes
400g
summer carrots
350g
beetroot, raw
500g
banana shallots
4
olive oil
4 tbsp
chilli flakes
0.5 tsp
cumin seeds
1 tsp
ground coriander
2 tsp
garlic
3 cloves
courgettes
400g
summer squash
250g
thyme
8 bushy sprigs
rosemary
4 sprigs
red wine vinegar
2 tbsp
garlic
2 cloves
mint leaves
10g
coriander
15g
natural yoghurt
350ml
Serves
4-6
| Time90 mins
Method
Put a medium sized pan of salted water on to boil for the potatoes. Scrub them, cut them in half then add them to the boiling water and let them cook for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
Peel the shallots and halve them lengthways. (If you are using onions, cut them into thick wedges.)
Trim the carrots and cut them in half lengthways. Scrub and trim the beetroots, then cut them in half and then into thick wedges. Put the shallots, carrots and beetroots in a large, deep roasting tin, pour in the olive oil, season with salt and ground black pepper, the cumin and coriander. Peel and thinly slice the garlic then add to the vegetables. Drain the potatoes and add to the roasting tin, toss everything together, then roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Cut the courgettes and summer squash into large pieces, though nothing bigger than you would want on your fork. Remove the roasting beetroots and carrots from the oven, add the courgettes and squash, the springs of rosemary and thyme, then return to the oven for about 25-30 minutes, turning the vegetables over carefully when necessary.
To make the herb sauce: Peel the garlic and finely grate to a paste. Chop the mint leaves and then the coriander stems and leaves, then stir into the yoghurt with the garlic paste. Season with salt and, if you wish, a little pepper.
Check the vegetables for doneness and adjust the cooking time accordingly. When the vegetables are ready, lift them out onto a serving dish. Put the roasting tin over a moderate heat and pour in the red wine vinegar. Let the vinegar bubble with the roasting juices, while you stir with a wooden spatula, gently dissolving the caramelised sugars. Pour over the roasted vegetables on the serving dish.
Trickle the yoghurt dressing over (or if you refer, pass it round in a small bowl).
Ingredients
new potatoes
400g
summer carrots
350g
beetroot, raw
500g
banana shallots
4
olive oil
4 tbsp
chilli flakes
0.5 tsp
cumin seeds
1 tsp
ground coriander
2 tsp
garlic
3 cloves
courgettes
400g
summer squash
250g
thyme
8 bushy sprigs
rosemary
4 sprigs
red wine vinegar
2 tbsp
garlic
2 cloves
mint leaves
10g
coriander
15g
natural yoghurt
350ml
Method
Put a medium sized pan of salted water on to boil for the potatoes. Scrub them, cut them in half then add them to the boiling water and let them cook for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
Peel the shallots and halve them lengthways. (If you are using onions, cut them into thick wedges.)
Trim the carrots and cut them in half lengthways. Scrub and trim the beetroots, then cut them in half and then into thick wedges. Put the shallots, carrots and beetroots in a large, deep roasting tin, pour in the olive oil, season with salt and ground black pepper, the cumin and coriander. Peel and thinly slice the garlic then add to the vegetables. Drain the potatoes and add to the roasting tin, toss everything together, then roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Cut the courgettes and summer squash into large pieces, though nothing bigger than you would want on your fork. Remove the roasting beetroots and carrots from the oven, add the courgettes and squash, the springs of rosemary and thyme, then return to the oven for about 25-30 minutes, turning the vegetables over carefully when necessary.
To make the herb sauce: Peel the garlic and finely grate to a paste. Chop the mint leaves and then the coriander stems and leaves, then stir into the yoghurt with the garlic paste. Season with salt and, if you wish, a little pepper.
Check the vegetables for doneness and adjust the cooking time accordingly. When the vegetables are ready, lift them out onto a serving dish. Put the roasting tin over a moderate heat and pour in the red wine vinegar. Let the vinegar bubble with the roasting juices, while you stir with a wooden spatula, gently dissolving the caramelised sugars. Pour over the roasted vegetables on the serving dish.
Trickle the yoghurt dressing over (or if you refer, pass it round in a small bowl).
Serves
3
| Time50 mins
caster sugar
100g
water
200ml
large, fragrant rose (unsprayed)
1
apricots
9
pistachios
2 tbsp
rose petals
a handful
egg yolks
5
caster sugar
50g
vanilla paste or extract
0.5 tsp
sweet or dry marsala
35ml
double cream
125ml
Serves
3
| Time50 mins
Method
Make the syrup: bring the sugar and water to the boil in a small pan, remove from the heat and drop in the rose petals. Set aside and leave to cool.
Pour enough water into a medium sized saucepan to come roughly a third of the way up the sides of the pan. Find a heat proof glass or china mixing bowl that will rest comfortably in the pan without touching the water. Place the pan over a moderate heat and bring the water to the boil.
Put the egg yolks and sugar into the mixing bowl, then add the vanilla paste or extract and beat to a creamy paste with a balloon whisk. Mix in the Marsala, then continue whisking until the mixture is thick and has swelled to three times its volume. You can expect this to take a good while, at least 10 minutes. When it is ready, and the mixture is thick, light and creamy, remove from the heat and leave to cool.
In a cold bowl, whip the cream until thick enough to sit in soft folds – it should barely keep its shape – then fold gently into the cool custard, then leave it to chill in the fridge.
Get an overhead (oven) grill hot. Cut the apricots in half and tease out their stones. Place them, hollow side up, in a single layer on a baking sheet or grill pan. Strain the syrup to remove the rose petals, they have done their work, then spoon it generously over the apricots. Slide the tin under the grill and leave until the fruit is soft and starting to colour here and there.
Roughly chop the pistachios. Spoon some of the custard into three shallow bowls. Lift the fruit from the tin and divide and place on the custard. Scatter with pistachios and, if you wish, a few rose petals, dried or fresh.
Ingredients
caster sugar
100g
water
200ml
large, fragrant rose (unsprayed)
1
apricots
9
pistachios
2 tbsp
rose petals
a handful
egg yolks
5
caster sugar
50g
vanilla paste or extract
0.5 tsp
sweet or dry marsala
35ml
double cream
125ml
Method
Make the syrup: bring the sugar and water to the boil in a small pan, remove from the heat and drop in the rose petals. Set aside and leave to cool.
Pour enough water into a medium sized saucepan to come roughly a third of the way up the sides of the pan. Find a heat proof glass or china mixing bowl that will rest comfortably in the pan without touching the water. Place the pan over a moderate heat and bring the water to the boil.
Put the egg yolks and sugar into the mixing bowl, then add the vanilla paste or extract and beat to a creamy paste with a balloon whisk. Mix in the Marsala, then continue whisking until the mixture is thick and has swelled to three times its volume. You can expect this to take a good while, at least 10 minutes. When it is ready, and the mixture is thick, light and creamy, remove from the heat and leave to cool.
In a cold bowl, whip the cream until thick enough to sit in soft folds – it should barely keep its shape – then fold gently into the cool custard, then leave it to chill in the fridge.
Get an overhead (oven) grill hot. Cut the apricots in half and tease out their stones. Place them, hollow side up, in a single layer on a baking sheet or grill pan. Strain the syrup to remove the rose petals, they have done their work, then spoon it generously over the apricots. Slide the tin under the grill and leave until the fruit is soft and starting to colour here and there.
Roughly chop the pistachios. Spoon some of the custard into three shallow bowls. Lift the fruit from the tin and divide and place on the custard. Scatter with pistachios and, if you wish, a few rose petals, dried or fresh.