Seafood dishes that sizzle

My dishes this month are designed for sharing, and both celebrate the pleasure of cooking with the seasons and allowing the grill to do what it does best – bringing people together.

These recipes sit somewhere between the coast and the garden. They are built around ingredients that arrive at their best during the warmer months: ripe tomatoes heavy with juice, freshly picked herbs, shellfish and oily fish that seem made for charcoal and smoke.

At my restaurants, we always have a rice dish on the menu, which comes from the wood fired oven. I love the way the rice absorbs flavour unlike almost anything else, carrying smoke, stock, shellfish liquor and vegetables through every grain. The sardines follow a similar approach. Escabeche (or sousing) is one of those techniques that feels timeless because it allows versatility and offers a way of both preserving and introducing flavour. These dishes are versatile and some of the produce can be swapped with availability – the sardines could be replaced with mackerel and the mussels with other shellfish.

July is one of the most generous months of the year for produce, and the best summer cooking often involves doing less rather than more. Cooking over fire always requires some patience and asks you to keep focus on ingredients rather than recipes, watching how things change with heat, smoke and time. Tomatoes soften and sweeten, sardines blister and crisp, and mussels open when they’re ready. The ingredients are exposed, and quality becomes so important. They are simple dishes, but simplicity only works when the ingredients are good.

Tomato rice with charred mussels and saffron aioli

This is not quite a paella nor a risotto, but something looser and generous. 

Serves 4, ready in about an hour

ripe tomatoes 1kg

short-grain rice 300g

fresh mussels 1kg

onion 1, finely sliced

garlic 4 cloves

smoked paprika 1 tsp

white wine 150ml

olive oil

parsley a small bunch

lemon 1

For the saffron aioli:

egg yolks 2

garlic 1 clove

saffron a pinch

olive oil 200ml

lemon juice a squeeze

Blitz or grate the tomatoes into a rough pulp. Sweat the onion and garlic slowly in a wide pan with olive oil until soft and sweet, about 15-20 minutes. Add smoked paprika, then stir through the rice so it toasts lightly in the oil.

Add the tomato pulp and enough water to cover. Season and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the rice loosens and swells softer than paella and not quite risotto, 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the mussels over a hot grill or directly on to embers in a tray. Add the wine, cover loosely with foil and cook until they open. Let them catch slightly around the edges.

For the aioli, crush the saffron with a little hot water. Whisk with the egg yolks and garlic, then slowly add the oil until thickened. Finish with lemon juice and salt.

Fold some mussels and their liquor through the rice. Spoon into bowls, finish with the remaining shellfish, parsley and spoonfuls of aioli. Eat with green salad and grilled bread. 

Grilled sardine escabeche with tomatoes 

The fish is cooked hard over flame before it settles into the dressing. By the time it reaches the table, the sardines have absorbed the flavours around them while still tasting of themselves.

Serves 4, ready in about an hour

whole sardines 8, gutted

flour for dusting

shallots 2

garlic cloves 3

olive oil 150ml

chilli flakes ½ tsp

fennel seeds 1 tsp

coriander seeds ½ tsp

ripe summer tomatoes 500g, cut into rough pieces

chardonnay vinegar 100ml

fresh orange juice 50ml

sea salt a pinch

basil a handful

fennel herb a handful

parsley 1 tbsp, roughly chopped

Season and lightly flour the sardines. Grill over a very high heat until blistered and just cooked through. You want proper colour on the skin.

Finely slice the shallots and garlic, then cook in olive oil in a shallow pan until softened. Add the chilli flakes, fennel and coriander seeds, and tomatoes, then cook briefly so they slump but still hold some shape.

Add the vinegar and orange juice and simmer for a minute or two, then taste and balance with salt as needed.

Lay the sardines in the warm dressing and leave for at least 20 minutes. 

Finish with torn basil, fennel herb and parsley and plenty of olive oil. Serve warm or room temperature.