July seems to be the month that summer takes a break. All the cloudy weather is very frustrating but at least there’s what I call the five o’clock phenomenon when the sun seems to make an appearance and shines like it’s been out all day. We have a couple of chairs at the back of our house where we can sit and soak it up and we’re lucky enough to be able to drop everything and do this.
The garden isn’t complaining, it didn’t like the cold nights at the beginning of the month but, once the temperature rose a little, the courgettes swung into action, loving the damp. We have picked all the summer fruits and are now wading through gazillions of French beans, beetroots and a colony of cauliflowers.
The cauliflowers weren’t really planned – I mean who wants twenty cauliflowers in July when the sun’s meant to be shining? I always think of cauli’s as a wintery veg but we don’t seem to be very good at the planning. Needless to say we have been valiantly munching our way through them, comforting cauliflower cheese and curries, crispy fritters and salads. At this point we have three more to go, one more curry planned and maybe we’ll find some unsuspecting visitor to take the last two away.
The tomatoes and cucumbers would really prefer more sunshine but they are slowly ripening. For me, homegrown tomatoes are the reason to garden, the flavour is priceless and this months’ recipe is a great way to highlight this.
Agro, meaning tart or sour and dolce meaning sweet combines to give us ‘agrodolce’ – a sweet sour sauce, which brightens up just about everything. It originates in Sicily with a little help from the Romans and Moors and has many permutations.
Agrodolce is very simple to make. The base is vinegar, sugar, maybe a little wine and usually onion and garlic. This gets cooked down with whatever you have chosen to add, in this case roasted red peppers and cherry tomatoes.
Roasted Pepper and Tomato agrodolce can be spooned over nearly anything, from grilled meat or fish, vegetables, salads, pasta or simply slapped on a slice of toast, which I can highly recommend. It’s guaranteed to make your food sing.
Roasted Pepper and Tomato Agrodolce
Ingredients:
• 3 red peppers,
• 400g cherry tomatoes
• 50mls olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 100mls white wine vinegar
• 2tbs sugar
• Salt
• 1tbs capers (optional)
• Basil or parsley to garnish
Preheat the oven to 200°c
Method:
Put the peppers directly onto the shelf. Spread them out so they’re not touching. Cook for 8-10 minutes, then rotate the peppers and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Repeat. Check them and turn, the peppers are ready when the skins begin to char and loosen.
When the peppers look ready carefully remove from the oven and put onto a plate or into a bowl. Cover with a tea towel or plastic bag whilst they cool – this makes them sweat and it will be easier to take the skins off. When cool enough to handle, peel the skin away and remove the seeds
Cut the peppers into 1cm strips and season with a little salt. Wash and dry the tomatoes. Use a small/medium sized frying pan – the tomatoes will ideally sit in one layer, and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and garlic, then cook on a medium heat until the tomatoes begin to collapse and the juices run. You might need to assist by gently squashing with a wooden spoon. Season with a little salt. Add the roasted peppers, then cook for a couple of minutes. Mix the vinegar and sugar together, then add to the pepper mix and cook until the mix is jammy. stir in the capers if you are using them. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Put into a bowl and allow to cool. Eat at room temperature.
