New Zealand apricots

I stashed quite a few apricots in my freezer last summer (the Central Otago beauties) and I am wondering if you have any ideas on how I could use them to best advantage. I used them instead of dried apricots in my couscous last week and it worked well — they were more mushy but melded with the couscous nicely, turning it a lively colour and it was sweet and fragrant.

How lucky to still have Central Otago apricots — I remember them well from my youth, like some magical wonder when they appeared in the Castlecliff vege shop, and can almost taste them now, packed full of sun-ripened sweet, intense flavour and aroma. I’m a fan of the apricot — both the small and the large ones, so long as they’re really ripe and softening. While I like a firm peach, I find a firm apricot less appealing. Did you freeze them whole or halve them first before freezing them? The whole ones will be slightly harder to use as you’ll need to defrost them before removing the stone, which can cause them to collapse, but these are great for making chutneys, jams and crumbles. What you can do with them now will depend on how ripe they were when you froze them.

Have you ever used apricots in a risotto? At this time of year you could make a chicken stock-based risotto with apricots and asparagus. Hopefully that doesn’t sound too odd. Apricot and asparagus risotto Have your chicken stock simmering away and add the fibrous ends of asparagus — which you can snap off from the edible spears. Dice boneless and skinless chicken thighs and brown them in olive oil or butter. Sweat down white-fleshed onion without colouring too much and add your rice and chicken, then cook as you would, adding stock as it is absorbed and stirring frequently. After 10 minutes cooking add thinly sliced asparagus (although keep the top 2cm of the spears whole). When the rice is almost fully cooked, but still with a little bit of bite, add a few diced apricots, a good dollop of mascarpone, generous amounts of grated parmesan or pecorino cheese and a handful of shredded parsley. The apricots add the fruity sweetness you’d expect, but they also work really well with the chicken (a classic combo) and the freshness of the asparagus. Once you’ve added everything, taste for seasoning, gently stir then leave with the heat turned off and lid on for 5 minutes. Stir again before serving. Apricot shakshuka I’ve successfully made an apricot shakshuka as well — that wonderfully spicy North African dish of, basically, a tomato stew baked with eggs. If you know the dish, then next time you’re making it, add some large chunks