What to eat now and how to make it taste incredible - High Summer

Is this the best time of the year to eat local in Ireland or what? The market is rammed with produce grown a few miles away and there’s more to come (sweetcorn!!!). We still have lots of lovely greens like Collard, Tuscan kale, Spinach and Chard but Tomatoes, Courgettes, French beans and Basil have just entered the chat so all kinds of simple pastas are on the menu. 

Obviously, pesto is a winner but so too are garlicky beans or courgettes in lots of olive oil with chilli, ricotta and/or Parmesan. Dishes that take about 15 minutes to put together – perfect when you’ve been out all day enjoying the sunny or shady (but still quite warm) weather that we seem to have all the time at the moment.

A few anchovies, minced and melted down, over a gentle heat in lots of olive oil is one of my favourite ways to start so many summer sauces. Anchovies give an incredible umami bang for your buck that it’s always worth having some in the fridge. Break a head of Romanesco into florets and cook them down in lots of garlic, chilli and 3 or 4 chopped anchovy fillets for a great midweek easy does itself pasta dish. Or, cook them down with garlic and toss with panfried courgettes and a spritz of lemon.

McNally tomatoes are my current side for anything and everything, doused in an early harvest Picual (see link in bio to bring you straight to a selection of the best) and drizzled in Olis Sole’s divine balsamic and some basil or with Finca la Torre’s PX vinegar and a few torn anchovy fillets. Straight up with just olive oil and a little red wine vinegar is also perfect and a classic for a reason. For a very simple sauce, roughly chop and cook in olive oil for as long or as little as you like then toss with pasta and Parmesan or Pecorino.

Not feeling the Mediterranean vibes? 

Try the beans in an Asian dressing with ginger, soy, honey and maybe some miso. For oil in this kind of recipe I go for a lighter EVOO variety – arbequina is perfect as it allows the other ingredients to really come to the fore. Serve with a bowl of brown rice with some seaweed stirred through it, chopped scallions (not in the pic but totally in season at the moment) and toasted sesame seeds.

McNally tomatillos mean Mexican is on the menu. Think fish tacos with peach salsa and lots of greens with some chargrilled tomatillo salsa. Grill your tomatillos til black then remove most of the charred papery skin then blitz with lime juice, coriander (leaf and stems) and salt. So good and freezes beautifully. Also great with pan-fried Mackerel if you’ve any fishermen in the house.

And those Padron Peppers? Throw them on a red-hot pan in the tiniest drizzle of olive oil. Toss til starting to char then generously drizzle in a punchy EVOO – finca hojiblanca is perfect for this and some flakey salt. The perfect start to EVERY meal.