There’s no fruit I associate more with summer holidays than tomatoes: cherry tomatoes chopped and piled high on rusk biscuits in Crete; tomato and pomegranate salads in a kebab restaurant outside Istanbul’s spice bazaar; reaching for a single tomato off the vine on the Italian Riviera. Perfectly ripe tomatoes are, for this chunk of the year at least, my breakfast, lunch and supper.
The actual holidays may be long gone, but those sun-sweetened tomatoes are still with us, so make the most of them while you can. And go all-out colour-wise, too, before things turn take a turn for the grey – there are so many to choose from. I love a clash of orange Sungold cherry tomatoes, red large-ridged Brandywines, green tomatoes and striped tomatoes, but whatever you choose make sure you use the ripest you can find. And, once you get them home, never store them in fridge: even the shortest snap of cold will dull their flavour and sever all ties to memories of the sun.
Tomato and plum salad with nori and sesame salt
You can get everything chopped and prepped an hour or two ahead, but don’t put this together until just before serving. Double (or quadruple!) the amount of nori and sesame salt, if you like: it’s a great alternative seasoning for all sorts of day-to-day cooking. Serves six.
800g mixed ripe tomatoes (beef, plum, tiger, green, yellow and cherry), large ones cut into 1cm-wide wedges, cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
3 ripe dark plums, stoned and cut into 1cm-wide wedges
6 spring onions, finely sliced on an angle
15g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1¼ tsp fish sauce
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp groundnut oil
3cm piece ginger, peeled and julienned
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
¼ tsp finely grated orange zest
Flaky sea salt
½ sheet of nori seaweed
2 tsp black sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp white sesame seeds, toasted
½ tsp chilli flakes
Put the tomatoes and plums in a large bowl with the spring onions and coriander.
In a medium bowl, whisk the fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and groundnut oil, stir in the ginger, garlic, orange zest and half a teaspoon of salt and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
Heat a medium frying pan on a high flame, then dry-fry the nori sheet for a minute, turning it over halfway through, until crisp and dry. Roughly break up the nori sheet, then blitz to a rough powder (a spice grinder is the best tool for this). Tip the nori powder into a small bowl, then mix in the sesame seeds, chilli flakes and half a teaspoon of salt.
To serve, pour the dressing over the tomatoes and plums, toss gently and transfer to a platter. Sprinkle over half the nori and sesame salt mix and put the rest in a small bowl to serve alongside, so your guests can add more, if they like.
Stuffed courgettes in tomato sauce
If you can, use Turkish courgettes here: they are stubbier and have softer skins than the ones we’re used to here and easier to stuff. If not, regular long green courgettes will do just fine, though you may need to cut them into thirds (rather than halves) to get pieces the right length. Save any courgette flesh for a soup or saute in olive oil with some freshly sliced garlic. This tastes much better a day or even two after it is made. Serves six.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
150g short grain rice
400g minced lamb
6 tomatoes, roughly chopped
30g parsley leaves, finely chopped
1½ tsp ground allspice
1 tbsp dried mint
Salt and black pepper
10 light green Turkish courgettes, ends trimmed, cut in half widthways into short segments about 7-8cm long
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
60ml passata
300ml chicken stock
Heat the oil in a medium saute pan on a medium-high flame, then fry the onion for seven to eight minutes, until soft and starting to caramelise. Spoon into a large bowl and mix with the rice, lamb, a third of the chopped tomatoes, the parsley, allspice, mint, a teaspoon and a quarter of salt and plenty of pepper. Refrigerate until needed.
Scoop out a deep, round well in each courgette piece, leaving a 0.5cm thick wall of flesh all around the edges and about 1cm at the base (I do this by first removing some flesh from the centre with a small, sharp knife, then using a blunt knife, twisting it like a pencil sharpener, to scoop out more flesh to leave a little “cup”). Gently push the lamb mixture into the cavities in the courgettes, then put them stuffing side up in a 25cm-diameter round cast-iron pot or pan that’s at least 10cm deep.
Put the remaining chopped tomato in a food processor with the garlic, passata, chicken stock, half a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, blitz smooth and pour all over the courgettes.
Bring the sauce to a boil, cover, turn down the heat to medium and leave for 45 minutes, until the courgettes and their stuffing are cooked. Remove the lid and cook for 25-30 minutes more, basting the courgettes once in a while, until the sauce is rich and has thickened a bit (if need be, take out the courgettes and reduce the sauce further). Serve hot, with the sauce poured on top.
Tagliatelle with mussels, clams, tomato and arak
Use pastis or ouzo instead of arak, if you prefer. Serves four.
6 unpeeled garlic cloves
1-2 red chillies (according to taste)
1kg cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp arak
45ml olive oil
Flaky sea salt
300ml dry white wine
500g clams, shells scrubbed clean (discard any that are open or have damaged shells)
1kg mussels, shells scrubbed clean of barnacles and beards (discard any that are open or have damaged shells)
400g tagliatelle
¼ tsp saffron threads, soaked for half an hour or so in 2 tablespoons of boiling water
20g basil leaves
Put a ridged griddle pan on a high heat and ventilate the kitchen. Grill the garlic and chillies for five minutes, turning regularly, until charred and blistered all over, then set aside. Grill half the tomatoes for five minutes, until the skin is charred and splitting, then tip into the bowl of a food processor while you repeat with the remaining tomatoes. Peel off and discard the skins and seeds from the chillies and garlic, and add to the tomatoes. Add the arak, the oil and two teaspoons of salt to the mix, then blitz smooth. Pour the puree into a large saute pan for which you have a lid, and put on a high heat.
Once the sauce starts to bubble, turn down the heat to medium, partially cover the pan (to stop the sauce spitting too much) and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick and rich.
Put a large saucepan for which you have a lid on a high heat, add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the clams and mussels, cover and leave to cook for three minutes, until all the shells have opened. Scoop out the shellfish with a slotted spoon, transfer to a large bowl and take three-quarters of them out of their shells. Put the clam and mussel meat in the sauce, add two tablespoons of the cooking liquor (strain it first, in case it’s a little sandy) and then the remaining mussels and clams still in their shells.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil and cook the tagliatelle until al dente. Drain, return the pasta to the pot and pour over the saffron water. Toss gently, so the pasta is stained with streaks of gold.
Meanwhile, warm through the tomato and shellfish sauce and stir in half the basil (use the small leaves whole, but rip larger ones). Divide the pasta between four shallow bowls, top with sauce, garnish with the remaining basil and serve.
