Pickled cherry, gorgonzola and rocket salad

Cherry season is relatively short compared to other summer fruits but pickling is a great way to savour them right through to autumn (you’ll need to pickle the cherries a week ahead in a sterilised 500g jar). Tangy cherries, salty gorgonzola, peppery rocket and a sweet, fruity dressing made from the pickling vinegar mean this isn’t your standard side salad – this is the main event.

20 MINUTES + PICKLING | SERVES 4 | EASY | LC GF

rice vinegar 150ml

caster sugar 40g

fresh bay leaves 2

cherries 200g, pitted

extra-virgin olive oil 4 tbsp

cherry jam 2 tsp

wholegrain mustard 2 tsp rocket 100g red radicchio or chicory 1, torn

fennel ½ a small bulb, finely sliced

gorgonzola 100g, cut into wedges

Put the vinegar in a pan with 100ml of water, the sugar, bay leaves and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer. Tip the cherries into a recently sterilised 500g jar. While the jar is still hot, pour in the hot vinegar mixture. Seal and leave to pickle in a cool, dark place for a week before opening. The cherries will keep in the fridge for two months once opened.

2 To make the dressing, put 2 tbsp of the pickling vinegar from the jar into a medium bowl and whisk in the olive oil, jam, mustard and some salt and pepper until emulsified. Taste and add a dash more vinegar, mustard or olive oil to taste. Add the rocket, radicchio and fennel, and toss to coat in the dressing. Tip onto a large serving platter or plates, and top with a few spoonfuls of the drained pickled cherries, the gorgonzola and a drizzle of the remaining dressing.

PER SERVING 251 kcals | fat 18.5G saturates 6.4G | carbs 12.5G | sugars 9.2G | fibre 2.5G | protein 7.3G | salt 0.8G

Choose soft, fragrant thyme with slightly fuzzy leaves over woody, tougher sprigs for this cake– a pot of planting thyme rather than a prepackaged bunch is usually ideal. Peaches add lots of moisture, which is soaked up by the ground almonds, but it means the cake requires a little longer in the oven – it works beautifully as a dessert, too, as the peaches retain their floral aroma. They’re a perfect match to the thyme and lemon.

1 HOUR 30 MINUTES + COOLING | SERVES 10 | EASY

salted butter 200g, softened, plus extra for the tin

peaches 3-4 ripe, stoned and cut into wedges

soft light brown sugar 100g, plus 2 tbsp

thyme 1 tsp of leaves

golden caster sugar 100g

eggs (we used Clarence Court Burford Browns) 4

vanilla extract 1 tsp

self-raising flour 100g

ground almonds 100g

baking powder 1 tsp

lemon 1, zested

LEMON THYME SYRUP

golden caster sugar 50g

thyme 2 sprigs, leaves picked

lemon peel 1 strip

TO SERVE

double cream 300ml

icing sugar ½-1 tbsp

lemon ½, zested

thyme 2 sprigs, leaves picked

1 Butter and line a 20cm cake tin (not springform). Toss the peaches with 2 tbsp of the brown sugar and the thyme leaves. Tip into the base of the tin and arrange in a neat layer. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

2 Beat the butter with the caster sugar and remaining 100g of brown sugar until fluffy, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Fold in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, a pinch of salt and the lemon zest. Spoon this over the peaches, then smooth the top, being careful not to disturb the layer of peaches underneath. Bake for 1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

3 For the syrup, heat the sugar with 3 tbsp of water, the thyme and lemon peel in a small pan until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool, then brush some of the syrup over the top of the cake so some of it is absorbed by the sponge. Whip the cream with the sugar to soft peaks. Serve wedges of the cake with the whipped cream, scattered with the lemon zest and a few thyme leaves. The cake will keep for three days in an airtight container.

PER SERVING 405 kcals | fat 24.1G saturates 11.4G | carbs 39.5G | sugars 31.5G fibre 1.2G | protein 6.7G | salt 0.7G