Nigel Slater’s kitchen diary: roast summer vegetables to savour hot or cold

Photographs by Jonathan Lovekin

Most summer vegetables can be roasted and eaten either hot or cold. I mix them, toss with olive oil and sometimes garlic, then roast until their edges are lightly caramelised.

Sometimes I leave them as they are, depending on what they are to accompany. On other occasions they get an appropriate dressing. The only steadfast rule is to give the recipe a backbone of onions, soft and golden, a solid base on which to build. The onions, supple enough to be crushable with a spoon, seem to bring the separate parts together. As well as this harmony, they also bring sweetness, which goes particularly well with spicy or citrus-based dressings.

I got the spice paste out this time, nothing especially hot, just a deep, aromatic warmth to flatter the vegetables that ranged from aubergine to young, slender carrots. I used a harissa paste – a warm mixture that includes cinnamon, cumin, rose and chilli – stirring it in when the vegetables were almost done.

Other roasts this week have been even simpler: baked cauliflower with a basil and anchovy salsa verde and another of baked courgettes with lemon thyme and a golden sultana couscous.

There were peas in their pods again at the greengrocer’s, still sweet and small, even though the season is pretty much at its end. I tossed them into a risotto, finished with lemon zest, finely chopped mint and grated salted ricotta. A last-minute addition of a spoonful of crème fraîche was probably unnecessary but lent a deliciously silky texture.

The peach season is at its height. Luscious as they can be when eaten from the hand, they have been welcome on the chopping board, too. Some were thickly sliced and tossed into a crab and watercress salad; others were halved, stoned and grilled with a spoonful of mascarpone in the hollow; others still were used with home-baked pistachio shortbread and blackberries.

Peaches are also a splendid addition to a summer curry. Quarter and stone them, then stir into the curry about 15 minutes before it is ready.

There always seems to be something ripening in the wicker baskets I keep on the kitchen windowsill. Right now, it is mostly peaches, apricots, avocados. Everything gets a gentle daily squeeze and a turn.

There is often a melon, too, small and striped in shades of softest green. I turn them daily, sniff them and rub my hands over the rough beige netting that covers their skin. The more pronounced the netting and the more heavily perfumed they are, the riper they will be.

A useful recipe of summer vegetables, warmly spiced, that works hot or cold. I store any leftovers in a plastic box in the fridge, where it can stay overnight, sitting comfortably in my bento box for lunch the following day. I have also been known to stuff the vegetables and their harissa dressing into a baguette.

With its mild heat from the harissa, this is just the sort of recipe I like to embellish with a last-minute stirring of thick yoghurt. Or else you could use crème fraîche, depending on what you have around.

Serves 4-6. Ready in 90 minutes.

onions 3, medium
aubergines 4, small (or 2 large)
olive oil 100ml
courgettes 2
tomatoes 500g
carrots 4, slim
preserved lemons 2
parsley a small bunch
mint leaves 20 medium
strained yoghurt 150ml (optional)

For the dressing:
olive oil 60ml
harissa paste 2 tbsp
ground cumin 2 tsp
garlic 3 cloves

Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Peel the onions, cut them in half from tip to root, then cut each half into three or four segments and put them in a large roasting tin.

Discard the stem and leaves from the aubergines, then cut each into four lengthways. Slice each into short pieces about 3cm long and add them to the onions. Pour over the olive oil and toss to coat evenly.

Bake the onions and aubergines for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the courgettes into short lengths and put them in a bowl. Quarter the tomatoes and toss them together with the courgettes. Cut each of the carrots in half lengthways.

Make the dressing: mix together the olive oil, harissa paste and ground cumin and season lightly with salt. Peel and grate the garlic to a paste, then stir into the dressing.

Add the courgettes, tomatoes and carrots to the dressing, mix well so everything is lightly covered with dressing. Remove the roasting tin from the oven, then stir in the dressed vegetables, make sure all is well mixed, then return to the oven for a further 45 minutes until they are sizzling and golden.

Cut the preserved lemons in half. Scoop out the squishy flesh with a teaspoon and discard, then finely chop the lemon shells. Finely chop the parsley and mint leaves and mix together with the lemon.

Scatter the lemon and herbs over the roasting vegetables, stir briefly, then bring to the table in its dish. I like to add a final stirring of thick, natural yoghurt as I serve.