Nigel Slater’s midweek treat: grilled apricots, summer fruit sauce

Apricot season is in full swing. Plums won’t be long, and both are just as good served hot from the oven or grill as they are straight from the tree. Grilling intensifies the flavour of fruits such as plums and apricots. Choose ripe fruits: if they are not quite ripe, then baking might be a better option.

First, make the sauce. Pull 350g of blackcurrants from their stems. Put them into a small stainless-steel saucepan with 3 tbsp of caster sugar and 100ml off water and bring to the boil. Once the currants start to burst and the juices turn deep purple, remove from the heat.

For 4 people, halve 12 apricots and remove the stones. Place the fruits, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Get an overhead (oven) grill hot. Scatter 4 tbsp of caster sugar over the fruits, then put them under the grill and leave for about 10 minutes until the sugar starts to melt. (Keep checking as they cook, some will be ready before others.)

Once the sugar has turned golden and the apricots are lightly browned on the edges, remove them for the grill and lift on to plates with a palette knife. Spoon the summer fruit sauce around them.

• The exact cooking time will depend on the ripeness of your fruit and the heat level of your grill.
• Cream would be good here, to serve on the side, or thick kefir.
• You can substitute peaches or nectarines for the apricots, increasing the cooking time as necessary. Make sure the fruit is really ripe before you start.

Photograph by Jonathan Lovekin