SUMMER SQUASH

The warm weather is fading, but that won’t stop Sunday’s resident chef Sam Mannering from loading up his plate with a bit of green goodness – zucchini.

ZUCCHINI WITH PEAS, GARLIC, MINT, PECORINO AND WET POLENTA

You won’t believe how lazy this is. I make no apology though. Bit of raw-ish zucchini on some polenta? Absolute winner. Garlic for depth, pecorino for tang. Polenta because it’s starting to get cold, but also zucchini and mint because we can’t quite let go of summer just yet. Gosh, it’s delicious. Make the most of the last of the zucchinis, before they start to go out of season. And use a potato peeler to peel them into lovely long ribbons.

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES COOK TIME: 15 MINUTES SERVES: 4-5

• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• Olive oil

• 3 cups of good stock

• ½ cup instant polenta

• 1 cup baby peas

• 3 zucchini, peeled into ribbons

• Small handful of mint, chopped

• Zest from half a lemon, plus a little juice

• Sea salt and black pepper

• 1 tbsp of pine nuts, toasted

• Lots of pecorino or parmesan

1. In a large frying pan, over a moderate heat, gently sauté the garlic in olive oil until soft and fragrant.

2. In the meantime, heat up your stock in a saucepan. Once it gets to a merry bubble, whisk in your polenta. Bring the heat down and continue stirring until thick, smooth and no longer grainy. Taste and season, then set aside and keep warm.

3. Return your attention to the garlic. Bring up the heat a bit and add the peas and zucchini. Quickly warm through for a minute or two, moving everything around the pan, but only to warm. You still want the zucchini to be crisp.

4. Remove from the heat and add the mint, lemon zest and a good seasoning of salt and pepper.

5. Spread the warm polenta out on a serving dish, and top with the zucchini mixture. Scatter over the pine nuts, shave or grate over some pecorino and dress with a little olive oil, and a bit of lemon juice to taste. Serve immediately.

A GOOD OLD ZUCCHINI TART

Tart, quiche, pie – and I much prefer tart (for reasons more childish than anything else) – for me, this particular food group (I know I talk a lot of nonsense but I really do think a tart belongs to its own food group – discuss) is somewhat indispensable. I know that pastry gets a lot of bad rap these days, but so long as you are using something decent (Paneton, obviously), I say to hell with the calories. It always pays to have some in the freezer. And always remember, when tart making, to use all those little random nuggets of cheese in the fridge – bit-ettes of parmesan, that last corner of feta lurking in a packet, an oxidised hunk of cheddar or edam – don’t waste them. All are perfect when grated or crumbled into your egg and cream mix.

I use guanciale, which is cured pork cheek (becoming a lot more available now than it ever was), a lot more than bacon these days, because of the flavour. Render out the fat and then finish the zucchini in it – glorious.

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES COOK TIME: 45 MINUTES SERVES: 4

• 50g streaky bacon, guanciale or speck, diced

• 4 zucchini, cut into 1cm thick rounds

• Puff pastry (I use Paneton)

• 2 eggs

• ½ cup cream

• Salt and pepper

• Lots of cheese – grated parmesan, cheddar, edam, feta (see note)

• Handful of soft herbs to dress

Preheat the oven to 200°C on fan bake. Grease a tart tin and set aside.

1. In a frying pan over a moderate heat, add the bacon or guanciale and gently fry until very crisp, and all the fat has rendered out. Remove using a slotted spoon, leaving the fat behind in the pan, then add the zucchini rounds, in several batches, frying in the fat until golden brown on both sides. Allow to cool a little.

2. In the meantime, line the tart tin with pastry, prick the base with a fork and pop into the preheated oven quickly to parbake, until the pastry is firm but not coloured. Remove and allow to cool a bit.

3. Whisk the eggs and cream together with as much cheese as you dare – I used roughly two handfuls of grated parmesan and cheddar. Add a bit of salt and pepper, then fold in the cooled zucchini, any fat from the bottom of the pan, and the crisp bacon.

4. Spoon the zucchini mix into the pastry case, making sure it is evenly distributed. Shower over a little more cheese if you wish, then pop into the oven to bake until set – about 15-20 minutes should do it. Take care not to let it burn.

5. Once it is out of the oven and cooled, scatter a bit of soft herb over the top, and serve. This will keep for a day or so in the fridge.