After my little rant about spring, I’m fully embracing summer in London. It’s warm, I’ve got a patio, and I’m getting used to the taste of cheap white wine. I’m not sure whether that’s something I should admit to. Anyway, here are the recipes from the first dinner in my garden in a while.
Of course, even in the sunny weather, I still find something to complain about. Whenever people start talking about a glut of something, I get jealous. It’s an obviously misguided jealousy, as I doubt anyone really wants a glut of anything. But the very word ‘glut’ makes me think of tomatoes. In the summer, everyone seems to be talking about a glut of tomatoes from their garden or allotment. They’re talking, and I’m thinking that I want a glut of tomatoes. I want to go out into the garden and think ‘well, what am I going to do with all these tomatoes?’
I cooked dinner for a good friend of mine who had just returned from a few months in Italy. If anyone should know about a glut of tomatoes, it’s him. He was probably fed up of the things, but my jealousy got the better of me, and I went out and found myself a glut of tomatoes. True, they came from a market, and true, I got overexcited and didn’t manage to use them all, but I can tell you it felt very good indeed.
So we had them in three dishes. I don’t know how often before I’ve made three separate dishes for a dinner for two, but I did, and they were all delicious. And red.
The tart is a variation on a Tarte Provençal. My picky friend doesn’t like olives though, and I thought, since I was forcing so many tomatoes on him, I could probably substitute them for the gooey saltiness of grana padano, but obviously, only as a favour to him. As you may be able to tell from the pictures, my tart is very rustic looking. I didn’t mean it to be. In fact, I was thinking about making it circular, but by that time I was feeling a bit rushed. The second dish was chicken legs cooked with tomatoes, basil and garlic, and we had a tomato-heavy simple salad as an accompaniment. We probably could have done with a simple green salad, but I had a glut of tomatoes to use up.
A (kind of) Tarte Provençal
For four
250g puff pastry
1 courgette, cubed
1 small aubergine, cubed
1 onion, peeled and chopped
8 sundried tomatoes
8 cherry tomatoes (or as many as you can fit on)
40g shaved parmesan or grana padano
a handful of basil leaves
a sprinkling of thyme
Preheat the oven to 180˚c
Saute the courgette, aubergine and onion in a little olive oil for ten to fifteen minutes. You want them to still be firm.
Roll out the pastry into any shape you fancy and prick all over with a fork.
Dress the basil leaves in a touch of olive oil.
Spread the cooked vegetables on the pastry, then season them with a little salt and pepper.
Follow with the cheese, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and basil. Sprinkle with the thyme and bake for 30mins.
Chicken Legs with Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic
For four
Four chicken legs
10-15 cherry tomatoes
a bulb of garlic, sepertated into cloves, but not peeled
a big handful of basil
a glass of white wine
Preheat the oven to 180˚c
Rub the chicken legs with salt and pepper before squeezing them into a pan. It’s good if they’re snug, but you don’t want to layer them.
Toss the tomatoes, garlic and basil into the pan, followed by a drizzle of olive oil, and the white wine.
Put in the oven for an hour and a half. I covered mine for the first fourty five minutes, took it out to check everything was doing alright, and left it uncovered for the rest of the time to get a crispy skin.
These would be really nice served with some potatoes too, or some haricot beans thrown in the pan to cook in the juices.
