It has come to that point in the year when I want food that is light, gently flavoured and peaceful. No loud notes or vivid colours on my plate, just mild, quietly seasoned food for a summer’s day. Tempting as it is to bring out the summer classics – bowls of chilled cucumber soup, or perhaps a crab salad, a plate of cold salmon with herb mayonnaise or a pork pie – I hate the idea of food standing still. There is too much fun to be had.
I made a soup this week, a broth of green peas and lettuce. Even though we ate it hot, it tasted clearly of the season. Green and light, it seemed only right to eat it in the garden. I introduced a fresh, acidic note with a rather generous amount of lemon, adding brightness to the roasted chicken broth. To make it more substantial I made toasts of ciabatta with olive oil and grated parmesan to dunk in it as we ate.
The same principle, of introducing something sharp or sour to what is essentially a mild dish, included making pickled vegetables to dress a ball of creamy burrata. Courgettes and thin-skinned kohlrabi brought a crunchiness to the soft, quivering cheese, the vegetables having been given a brief pickling in vinegar, lemon and horseradish. I could have used a firmer mozzarella or even feta, but burrata is the number one summer cheese for me.
Other ways I like to freshen up well-known summer classics include roasting a salmon with lemon and tarragon (tuck the herbs inside the belly of the fish with a slice of butter, squeeze the lemon over the fish and add the empty shells to the tin). I also like to add chopped radishes and even a little ripe chilli to a cold cucumber soup and let their heat liven it up.
At dessert level, it can be fun to update the old summer pudding recipe with a shot of sloe gin, or by adding a layer of lemon syllabub before the cream to a fruit trifle. In our house, even strawberries and cream get a new look with a splash of raspberry purée and peppery basil over the berries.
Lettuce soup with parmesan toasts
The flavour will stand or fall on the quality of the stock, so it is worth making your own. I use wings rather than a whole chicken and roast them before making the stock.
Serves 4
For the chicken stock:
chicken wings 8
water 1.5 litres
onion 1 medium-sized
thyme 8 sprigs
bay leaves 2
black peppercorns 6
For the soup:
chicken stock 1 litre (see above)
peas 300g, frozen is fine
lettuce 400g
mint 8 leaves
lemon half
For the toasts:
ciabatta 4 thick slices
olive oil
parmesan 3 tbsp grated
Make the roast chicken stock by putting the chicken wings into a roasting tin, pour over the oil then roast for 40 minutes or until golden brown and lightly crisp-skinned.
Transfer the roasted wings to a deep pot, pour some of the water into the roasting tin and stir to dislodge any juices stuck to the tin. Pour into the pot with the rest of the water, add the onion, peeled and cut in half, the thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer. Using a draining spoon remove any froth that comes to the surface and discard. If you leave it there it will make your stock cloudy. Let it simmer for an hour then strain through a fine sieve.
Bring the chicken stock to the boil. Add the peas and let them cook in the stock for four or five minutes, until tender. Lower the heat to a simmer then add the shredded lettuce. Tear up the mint leaves and stir them in, together with the juice of the half lemon and a seasoning of salt and black pepper.
Toast the bread on one side, using an overhead grill, then turn over and trickle with olive oil. Dust the surface with grated parmesan and toast until the parmesan has started to melt and turn golden. Ladle the soup into four warm bowls then float the toasts on top and serve.
Burrata with pickled vegetables
Perfect as a light main course.
Serves 2
red onions 2
lemon juice of 1
kohlrabi 500g
fresh horseradish 20g, fresh
yellow courgette 1
green courgette 1
white-wine vinegar
burrata 2
Peel the red onions and slice them thinly, to about the thickness of a 10p piece. Put them in a small bowl, together with the lemon juice. Set aside for a good 30 minutes.
Remove the leaves and stalks from the kohlrabi. You don’t need to peel it if the skin itself is thin and unblemished. Push the kohlrabi through a grater or food processor fitted with a coarse blade. You are after the same matchstick-thick texture as you would use in celeriac remoulade. Peel the horseradish and grate it very finely.
Coarsely grate the two courgettes. Put them in a bowl with the kohlrabi then add the vinegar and the grated horseradish and toss gently so the vegetables are covered with the vinegar. Uncoated bits will discolour.
Place the burrata on a serving dish, or one each on individual plates, and gently break it open. Drain the grated vegetables and the sliced onions and divide among the burrata. Trickle a small amount of olive oil over the burrata and vegetables and serve.
