Vegetables
One of the delights of late summer and early autumn is the bounty of readily available and delightfully affordable produce. You can go crazy roasting Italian vegetables – simply slice, place in a pan, drizzle lightly with olive oil, throw in some fresh herbs and garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper, and you have the perfect base for a hearty salad.
While they’re still hot, remove from the baking dish, drizzle with your favourite dressing and scatter crumbled feta cheese or blue cheese over the warm veges. Courgettes, capsicums and eggplant make a stunning combination. Serve still warm or at room temperature but avoid making ahead of time and keeping in the fridge.
Veges can then be chopped smaller, if you like, and added to cooked pasta with a generous spoonful of cottage cheese or crème fraîche. Leftover roast vegetables make a great filling for a toasted sandwich. Just add that little bit of crumbled feta or blue cheese that looks forgotten in the fridge.
Stone fruit
For a delightful way to enjoy stone fruit, serve rose wine or a fruity pinot gris at lunch or dinner and, instead of dessert, place segments of peeled peach in the bottom of guests wine glasses. Top up with a little wine and leave to soak up the great flavours.
The Italians love this idea, bringing out huge jugs of wine with infused peaches (skin on) and suggesting guests stay longer to let the peaches absorb more flavour. The wine and fruit are later consumed with gusto. No wonder their long lunches are legendary!
More great serving tips:
• Add a cinnamon stick and a couple of star anise for the most wonderful flavour when making plum jam. Remove before bottling. Thanks to MasterChef Nadia Lim for this tip.
• Freeze homemade pesto in ice-block moulds and place in freezer bags for use in the cooler months.
• For pasta sauce, warm a punnet of cherry tomatoes with a glass of white wine in a pan. When it starts to simmer, add a dollop of lite crème fraîche. Stir well. Drain cooked pasta and add to sauce. Stir in a large handful of rocket or spinach and serve with fresh basil leaves and a generous handful of shaved parmesan cheese.
• Steam green beans, add a little fresh diced garlic and one part red wine vinegar to three parts olive oil. Season to taste.
• Grill summer fruit on the barbecue in a little foil with a splash of brandy and a little brown sugar, orange zest and juice.
• Top bruschetta with chopped, well-cooked broccolini or other warm greens tossed with minced garlic and olive oil.
