Antipasto skewer salad with garlic dressing

“This is a slightly different way of serving a salad. It looks pretty and is pretty good to eat as well. I like to use smaller skewers but you could, of course, use those longer wooden ones”

Makes 8 to 10 Ingredients

1 medium aubergine, sliced thinly

1-2 courgettes, sliced thickly 2 yellow peppers, roughly diced 2 red peppers, roughly diced 8 asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into thirds

Salt and pepper

1 tsp chopped rosemary

1 tsp chopped thyme

200g cherry tomatoes, optional 12 pitted Kalamata olives 200g mini mozzarella balls Rapeseed oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

1 red chilli

1 garlic clove, chopped ½ lemon, juice only 60ml rapeseed oil

Basil leaves, to garnish and serve

Method

1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4.

2 To roast the vegetables, place the yellow peppers, red peppers, courgette pieces and asparagus onto a roasting tray. Sprinkle over some oil. Add rosemary and thyme, salt and freshly ground black pepper, roasting for 20 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.

3 Meanwhile, heat some oil in a frying pan and add the aubergine slices, sauté until golden and turn over. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and when cooked place on kitchen paper and set aside. 4 To prepare the dressing, place the red chilli, garlic, lemon juice and oil into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a jar to serve. 5 To assemble, cut the aubergine slices in half. Please be reminded depending on the size of your skewers, you’ll need to thread extra cherry tomatoes, olives and mini mozzarella balls on together with the roasted vegetables and cooked aubergine. Arrange on a serving platter, garnish with basil leaves, spoon over a little of the dressing.