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5 of the Best Summer Dinner Recipes
What does summer taste like to you? A perfectly ripe tomato, vibrant salads, lemon-drenched seafood or maybe an al fresco grazing board. Whatever it may be, when it comes to recipe hunting to satisfy your hankering, the choice can be overwhelming. Fear not, we’ve rounded up our top five summer recipes with the cookware to match from none other than food writers Emily Ezekiel and Liz O’Keefe.
Emily Ezekiel’s earliest memory of food is a bacon sandwich, made by her grandad. “He’d microwave a slice of crusty white bread for 10 seconds, smother it in a spicy sweet sauce, and top with crispy bacon fried in butter and olive oil,” she remembers. Her three recipes below (photographed by Issy Croker) are delicious examples of her less-is-more approach to cooking – and perfect for enjoying with this summer.
Liz O’Keefe proves you needn’t travel to the Mediterranean for intoxicating vine-ripened goodness with two tomato recipes. Using Isle of Wight tomatoes from our Fresh Market Hall – grown under optimum conditions for the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity – the recipes make the most of British tomato season. Serve in a sun-dappled garden with a glass of fine wine or a refreshing cocktail.
Spring Crab Salad with Broad Beans and Shaved Vegetables
“To me, this salad is spring on a plate”, Emily Ezekiel shares. “You can use the same method but swap out any of the veg for whatever you have – maybe cucumber, carrots or sugar snap peas?”
Serves 4 as a starter
150g sourdough, torn
50g green almonds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 lemon, juice and zest (plus extra zest for serving)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100g broad beans (in pods)
1 bunch of asparagus
1 head of fennel
200g dressed crab
For the dressing
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 chilli, finely chopped
1 lemon, juice and zest
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch of chervil
Heritage Tomato Mezze
This simple but effective tomato mezze is easy to create and can be eaten hot or chilled. Top tip: make extra and use it again as a sauce for gnocchi or fresh pasta, or served with poached fish or pan-fried chicken breast. Hosting? Serve alongside a thirst-quenching iced elderflower and basil green tea.
Serves 6
1kg heritage tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 head of garlic, halved horizontally
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 tbsp honey
12 cherry tomatoes on the vine
300g part-baked crusty bread
1 tsp pink peppercorns, crushed
2 tbsp chopped dill, plus extra sprigs
2 tbsp chopped coriander, plus extra sprigs
200g soft cheese
1 tbsp chopped mint
2 bunches of asparagus, trimmed
2 coeur de boeuf tomatoes, quartered
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Sicilian-Style Lamb and Heirloom Tomato Stew
Emily Ezekiel tells us “I’m sure there will be many Italians furious with my attachment to this, but I have fond memories of sipping cold wine and eating a dish like this on a warm Sicilianesque evening in Syracuse. The stuff of dreams...”
Serves 4-6 as a main
3 tbsp light olive oil
1kg lamb shoulder, deboned and cut into 3cm chunks
6 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
4 sticks of celery, finely diced
2 heads of fennel, finely diced
300ml dry white wine (preferably Sicilian)
1.2kg heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped
1⁄2 a bunch of oregano leaves
1⁄2 a bunch of rosemary
3 bay leaves
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
To serve
600g of papardelle
Pecorino to serve
Tomato Salad Filo Tart
This tomato dish is a salad bowl in a pie crust, perfect for those sometimes-cool-and-sometimes-hot summer days (hello barbecue centrepiece – find more garden party food ideas here). It pairs excellently with our Harrods Chianti Classico.
Serves 4
80g unsalted butter or vegan alternative, melted (plus extra for greasing)
1/2 red onion, sliced
14 x 25cm square sheets filo pastry
2 purple beef tomatoes, sliced
550g heritage tomatoes, roughly chopped
50g seasonal lettuce leaves
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1/2 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 tbsp mint sprigs
Sri-Lankan Style Fish and Tomato Curry with a Coconut Sambal
This take on a Sri Lankan fish curry is utterly delicious. Ezekiel Ezekiel suggests using monkfish but says “any other white meaty fish (make sure it’s sustainably sourced) will work fine, too.”
Serves 4 as a main
600g monkfish, skinned and deboned
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 limes, zest and juice
For the sambal
100g desiccated coconut
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 shallot, finely diced
2 limes, zest (of 1) and juice
For the sauce
3 onions
4 cloves of garlic
7cm piece of ginger
3 green chillies (fewer if you don’t like the heat)
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 large handful of fresh curry leaves
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind paste
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