Lemons baked with tomatoes and goat’s cheese

1.Prick lemons in several places with a skewer. Place in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and cook gently, partially covered with a lid, for 20 minutes or until lemons are very tender when pierced with a skewer (they’ll bob about a bit to start with but eventually settle). Drain and cool.

2.Preheat oven to 210°C fan forced.

3.Trim a sliver off each end of the lemons, just enough so they will sit flat, taking care not to cut into the flesh. Cut in half through the waist. Use a teaspoon and small, sharp knife (or scissors) to cut the membrane from the skin. Extract pulp and membrane, leaving skin intact. Put membranes and pulp in a sieve over a bowl. Press gently to extract 2 tablespoon lemon pulp. Discard the rest and rinse the sieve clean.

4.Cut tomatoes in half through the waist, carefully scoop out seeds and pulp and transfer to the cleaned sieve set over another bowl. Press to extract tomato juice. Add 2 tablespoons tomato juice to lemon pulp. Nestle a tomato half in each lemon half. Season with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

5.Transfer lemons to a shallow ovenproof dish lined with baking paper. Put a small round of goat’s cheese in each. Drizzle with a little lemon oil. Season with black pepper and a little sea salt. Bake for about 15 minutes until cheese is lightly browned. Cool for a few minutes before serving (the tomato stays very hot).

6.Make a dressing by seasoning lemon-and-tomato pulp with ½ tsp sea salt and caster sugar to sweeten. Mix in 1 tablespoon lemon oil. Arrange a few rocket leaves on each plate and top with a baked lemon. Drizzle rocket with a little dressing and serve with crusty bread. Serve extra dressing separately.