This is supposed to be our week of chilling. Just us girls, not going anywhere, pottering at home, sitting in the sun, reading by the pool…except no sun. It is still raining and even I, queen of the lounge lizards, am beginning to feel a little cabin feverish. I put a hand up to my clammy brow. Do I have a temperature? No, it’s just the tumble dryer working overtime that’s making things so hot. I open the window to let in some cool air and let in a flood instead. No longer hot, I fling a cushion down onto the floor to mop up the rain before it soaks into the carpet. Oops, shouldn’t have done that, now the cushion is wet. Never mind. I add it to the load already in the dryer.

• I washed and dried a bowl of fresh mixed cherry and golden tomatoes
• I deseeded and added chunks of red and yellow bell peppers. (I never cook with green as they go bitter and cause wind.)
• The ratio of tomatoes to peppers was 2:1
• I tossed them in some extra virgin olive oil – new season for it’s fresh grassy taste
• I seasoned them with a mix of szechuan pepper, maldon sea salt and smoked paprika, all ground together in my mortar & pestle, and slow roasted them for about 45 minutes at 160*C
• I blitzed them up in my blender ( you can pull off and discard the skins and the tomato seeds if you like before doing this- although it seems quite a lot of work just for a few less bits in the finished product)
• I added hot, seasoned chicken stock (use veg stock if you prefer) until the soup was a nice pouring consistency (but not too thin) and I heated through.
• This is a light summery soup and does not need additional long cooking for the flavours to meld. They should be perfectly delightful as they are
• I served this with a drizzle of cream (just for contrast) and some green & purple basil pesto. This can be stirred in at the diner’s leisure and seasoning and depth to the soup

• For the winter version of this soup add whole garlic cloves and chunks of red onion to the roasting veggies and cook for a little longer, until caramelised. Peel the garlic before blending and simmer soup for about 30 minutes to let the flavours become acquainted. For added richness you can include cream, but make sure it does not come to the boil or it will curdle. Serve with pesto and Parmesan croutons made out of the same bread.

Basil Pesto

This is just a rich sauce made from fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil. You can vary the ratio of ingredients to your own personal taste, or leave out the garlic or the pine nuts. As it is not generally a cooked sauce I would always use extra virgin olive oil. Pesto is generally made with green basil, but here I have made it with purple or Opal basil as well, merely because we have so much of it in the garden. It has a slightly less obvious, lighter taste than traditional basil pesto. Here follows a basic recipe which you are welcome to use as a platform for customizing your own.

• 2 large handfuls of fresh washed basil leaves
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• seasoning

Blend all these ingredients and add seasoning to taste. Keep refrigerated in a sealed jar with a layer of olive oil over the top of the pesto. Stir spoonfuls into hot pasta, salad dressings or soups, or use on bruschetta and pizzas

Rosemary and Anchovy Flat bread

• Rinse six salted anchovy fillets and allow to sit in a cup of cold water for 5 minutes.
• Finely chop the needles from a stick of fresh rosemary
• Mix:
  1 litre of plain (cake) flour
  1 t (5ml) sea salt
  Mix and stand to activate:
  1 t (5 ml) sugar
  2 t (10ml) instant active dry yeast
  1/2 cup warm water
• Once activated mix the yeast into the flour and slowly add 2 cups of hot water
• Keep mixing until all the lumps are out. You will have a wet, sticky dough.
• Add a liberal slug of olive oil (not ex.virgin – it will be too heavy) and mix in
• Drain the anchovies and pat dry. Finely chop them and knead into the dough, together with the rosemary
• Scrape your hands off with the back of a butter knife or a plastic dough scraper.
  Cover the dough and leave to rise for 20 minutes
• Oil some round sandwich tins or oven proof cast iron pans with olive oil.
• Oil your hands very well or you will have no control over the stubborn, sticky dough.
• Collect a good handful of dough and pinch off with your free hand.
• Using the oil as an emollient smooth the dough into a ball by stretching and tucking the edges underneath, towards the middle, much like you would form a bread roll.
• When you have a smooth mound put it into your oiled tin / pan and squash down with your fingertips. repeat with remaining dough.
• Put a few sprigs of rosemary on top of the bread and pat the whole surface gently with oiled hands. This will give it a lovely golden crust.
• Allow to prove for 10/15 minutes and then bake in a preheated oven @ 180*C for 30-45 minutes. The flat loaves should be golden and sound hollow when tapped.

This bread is best eaten the same day or used as bruschetta on the second

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