Summer dishes

Here's a selection of summer dishes, starting with a cool tomato and fresh goats' cheese terrine, followed by a Middle eastern bean salad. The pièce de résistance is a cappon magro, a traditional summer fish salad from Liguria. The feast winds up with a luscious caramelized meringue torte filled with lemon curd and whipped cream.

• Cut a thick slice from each of the four sides of the tomatoes, leaving a square core in the middle
• Discard the cores
• Scoop out the seeds and discard; flatten the slices a bit with the palm of your hand
• Brush the tin with oil and lay a large piece of clingfilm in it
• Put a layer of tomatoes (rounded side downwards) in the bottom of the tin and season with salt and pepper – trim them if necessary and pack them in snugly to make a complete layer
• Lay some basil leaves on top of the tomatoes and pack slices of goats cheese on top of the basil
• Continue with more tomatoes, cheese, basil and seasonings, ending with a layer of tomato slices, rounded sides upwards
• Bring the clingfilm up and over the tomatoes, press down firmly and place a sheet of foil and a can of something heavy on top
• Refrigerate the terrine for at least 24 hours and up to 2 days
• Turn out the terrine and slice quite thickly with a very sharp knife or electric carving knife
• Lay the slices on plates and drizzle olive oil and Balsamic vinegar around (not on top, or the Balsamic stains the goats’ cheese
• Garnish with extra basil leaves and serve with a little nest of salad (mixed leaves, rocket etc.)
• Variation: use cooked, sliced beetroot instead of tomatoes, and dill instead of basil

• Heat the oven to 200oC or light the barbecue
• Cut the top off the garlic head, sprinkle with oil, wrap in foil and roast/grill for ca. 30 minutes or until soft
• Separate the garlic cloves; use 3 for the dressing and serve the rest with meat or fish (or refrigerate – it will keep for a few days in the fridge)
• Squeeze the flesh out of the 3 reserved garlic cloves and put in a small bowl or jug; add salt, pepper, oil and vinegar and blend till smooth using a hand-blender (or fork)
• Drain the beans (rinse if using canned beans) and put them in a large bowl
• Add the garlic dressing, onion, capers, mint, salt and pepper to taste, toss to mix well
• Fold in the halved tomatoes without crushing them too much
• Line a serving dish with vine leaves or lettuce leaves 
• Arrange the bean and tomato salad on top and sprinkle with rucola

A wonderful festive dish for a summer party. The list of ingredients looks daunting and there are lots of component parts, but the whole thing can – in fact should – be done a day or so in advance for the flavours to ripen. 

• Remove crusts from bread slices and discard; toast or dry out slices in a cool oven until crispy
• Rub the peeled garlic clove all over both sides of the bread
• Sprinkle with vinegar and arrange in a large serving dish – the bread should completely cover the bottom
• Put 1 litre water into a wide, shallow pan, add the halved onion, bay leaf, thyme, parsley stalks, vinegar, peppercorns and salt to taste
• Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes
• Poach the fish fillets until just opaque – 2-3 minutes
• Pull the pan off the heat and leave fish to cool in the stock
• Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, add the new potatoes and cook for 10 minutes
• Add the carrots and cook 5 minutes more, then the cauliflower florets and trimmed French beans and cook 5 minutes more – all vegetables should be barely tender
• Drain the vegetables and slice or cut in manageable pieces
• Put in a bowl and dress with the olive oil and lemon juice
• Put all sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend till smooth – it should be a pouring consistency – if too thick, loosen with a little water
• Assembly: spread a thin layer of sauce on the bread base, then build up layers of fish, peeled prawns and vegetables into a nice dome, adding more sauce as you go
• Finish with the quartered hard-boiled eggs, olives and decorate with reserved unpeeled prawns

• Draw 2 circles each 28 cm in diameter on separate sheets of baking paper and place paper on baking sheets
• Heat the oven to 120oC
• For the caramel, put the sugar and water in a small pan, heat gently till the sugar dissolves (do NOT stir)
• Raise the heat and boil steadily to a rich golden caramel
• Immediately drizzle the caramel onto one of the paper discs in criss-crossed lines
• Beat the egg whites with salt at high speed until thick and creamy
• Reduce the speed of the beaters and add the sugar in a steady stream
• Mix together the Maizena and vinegar and add this too
• Divide the mixture between the two circles traced on the baking paper, pushing it out to the edges with a spatula or dough scraper
• Bake the meringues for about 40 minutes or until just set but not coloured (they are done when they will lift easily off the paper)
• Whip the cream stiffly and fold in the lemon curd
• Remove meringues from oven, peel away the paper from the un-caramelized one and place on a serving plate
• Spread with lemon curd and cream, invert the caramelised meringue on top and peel away the second paper (provided the caramel is still a little warm the paper should come away easily)
• Refrigerate the torte for several hours or overnight
• Garnish with wild strawberries or redcurrant sprays, and mint leaves