Lunches and Sides – Page 9 – Cardamom and Dill

Cetara Marinated Plum Tomatoes with Cipolla Rossa di Tropea DOP

Positioned high above the glittering Tyrrhenian Sea along the staggeringly beautiful Amalfi coast, the small fishing village of Cetara is often missed as the hoards head out to the more popular towns of Ravello, Amalfi itself or Positano to the beaches lined with ice cream coloured umbrellas laid out in their perfectly judged rows. They’re all…

Tuscan Cannellini Bean and Cipolla Rossa di Tropea Salad

Here’s another lovely salad recipe designed to enjoy outside on sultry summer evenings such as we’re experiencing now. Whenever I come across the universally loved cipolla rossa di Tropea – sweet red onions from the Calabria region of Italy – I am in first in line to buy them. I love their incredible sweetness which makes them perfect for adding to frittatas,…

Saint-Raphaël Soft-boiled Egg, Shallot and Tarragon Tartine

“Egg dishes have a kind of elegance“ wrote Elizabeth David, “a freshness, an allure which sets them quite apart from any other kind of food so it becomes a great pleasure to be able to cook them properly and to serve them in just the right condition.” It’s exactly that quality that makes this simple tartine…

Provençal Potato Salad with Green Beans, Asparagus, Peas, Mint and Chervil

Imagine a French summer garden filled with tall cypress trees and blooms of the brightest hues with their faces turned to the sun. A weathered white dovecote is home to a pair of doves that coo above the thousands of geranium flowers – pink, white and red – that tumble over the edges of old…

Corfu Market Salad with Cumin-roasted Squash, Wild Rice and Black Beans with a Honey Mustard Dressing

I felt a little bit guilty about ordering a 500cl bottle of ice cold retsina at lunch time – errr, just after 12pm – following a hot hour of shopping at the farmer’s market in Corfu town last summer. Not for long though because it was such a pleasure to sit for another blissful hour…

Quartieri Spagnoli Aubergine Parmigiana, Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Deep in the heart of the Quartieri Spagnoli – the Spanish Quarter – in the centre of Naples sits a tiny family-run restaurant called Hosteria Toledo. It’s one of our favourites and our go-to place when we arrive in this glorious chaotic city. The family are justifiably proud of their long-held faith in the generous beauty…

Greek Spelt, Roasted Red Pepper and Chickpea Salad with an Oregano and Lemon Dressing

Picture yourself sitting at a table for six on chairs painted in a faded shade of Aegean blue, its white cotton cloth billowing in the warm breeze, the sea slowly lapping onto the beach just yards from your feet. Women, invariably dressed in black, sit alongside one another on a bench cracking pistachio shells as…

Greek Htipiti, a Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Dip

The late afternoon light gently caresses the once grand terraces that curl above Corfu Old Town. Lunch hour is long over and there is not a soul to be seen. The air is hot and still. The buildings shuttered against the sun. There is no sound save for the odd chirrup of a dusty sparrow…

Greek Tenderstem Broccoli Salad with Sun-soaked Tomatoes and a Greek Honey, Olive Oil and Lemon Dressing

Now we have so much more of time on our hands, we can be more mindful of our friends, family and neighbours which is lovely but cooking continues to be my solace and I’m taking my time. I’m reminding myself of happier times – when we could travel – by designing simple menus that remind…

Amalfi Orecchiette Primavera with Peas, Asparagus, Mascarpone and a Parsley and Lemon Sourdough Pangrattato

There’s a beautiful little restaurant high up in Amalfi where the tourists don’t care to venture. This is a good thing. Let them throng by the water’s edge in the packed overpriced ristorantes, trattorias, and osterie. Let them queue for mass produced gelato and garish bottles of limoncello. Let them sit elbow to elbow in…