Curried tomatoes, courgette fritters, beetroot salad – Nigel Slater’s season finale

Photographs by Jonathan Lovekin

My favourite salad of the season has been one where I slice the tomatoes more thickly than usual and spread them with a piquant paste of green olives, mild new season’s garlic and handfuls of basil. If ever you want a taste of the Med, this is it. I embellish it with a wobbly ball of burrata or an untidy mound of ricotta.

I have also been baking tomatoes this month, including one dish with a sauce of coconut milk and Thai red curry paste. There was plenty of sauce, so I handed spoons round for everyone. Rice would be suitable as an accompaniment, too. This is a good dish for those large, juicy tomatoes you might not want to serve as a salad – it seems to mark the change of season.

It is a good time for beetroots, while they are still small and sweet and not too earthy. They’re great for juicing but I also like them with a vinegary dressing, something quite sharp. If you have ever wondered what to do with those fruit vinegars, such as raspberry, then douse your still-warm slices of beetroot with them. They were made for one another.

The season’s onions, juicy and not too pungent, have been a life-saver. Thinly sliced and marinated with vinegar and a few slices of beetroot, they bring a welcome burst of sourness to anything rich and fruity. I keep a jar in the fridge for such occasions.

Another fridge staple is my pot of garlic mayo. It’s the ultimate dip for hot, salty chips, or for accompanying light-as-a-feather fritters of potato, aubergine and, best of all, courgettes.

You will need good tomatoes for this – ripe, sweet-tart and luscious.

The recipe makes more tapenade than you will need. It will keep, in a screw-top jar in the fridge, for a couple of weeks. It makes a fine spread for a crisp, chewy baguette when mixed with labneh or thick yoghurt. I spread it on a sheet of freshly baked puff pastry, then cover it with slices of smoked salmon to make a quick summer tart.

It will become a little firmer in the fridge, so take it out an hour or so before you intend to use it.

Serves 2, with some tapenade left over

anchovy fillets 20g
basil leaves 15g
parsley leaves 6g
green olives, stoned 150g
garlic 2 cloves
olive oil 90ml, plus a little extra
tomatoes 2, large (650g)
parsley leaves
whole basil leaves 6
green olives 8

Make the tapenade: wipe and pat dry the anchovy fillets to remove any excess oil or salt, then put them in the bowl of a food processor. Add the basil and parsley leaves, olives and garlic. Switch on the motor, adding the 90ml of olive oil as you go, and process for a few seconds until you have a coarse paste. (Take care not to process to a smooth purée.) Remove with a rubber spatula and set aside. Cut the tomatoes into thick slices (I like them about 1cm thick) and place three or four of them on each plate.

Place some of the tapenade on each tomato, then scatter over a few whole basil and parsley leaves, and the green olives. Trickle with olive oil and eat.

A juicy, fragrant and aromatic way to use up a late glut of tomatoes. As they bake, the tomatoes release quite a bit of juice, which would thin the sauce. I carefully pour this off, holding the tomatoes in place with a large spoon, and use it for stock or add it to a risotto. The pickled onion is an optional, but I think wonderful, accompaniment and will leave you with enough to use in other dishes.

Serves 3 (with rice)

tomatoes 6, medium
olive oil, for roasting
limes 2, to serve 

For the pickled onions
onion 1, medium
white wine vinegar 50ml
caster sugar 1 tsp
black peppercorns 8
coriander seeds ½ tsp
beetroot 1, small

For the curry sauce
onion 1, medium
olive oil 2 tbsp
garlic 3 cloves
ginger 50g piece
tomato paste 1 tsp
coconut milk 400ml
Thai red curry paste 4 tbsp
sugar (soft brown or palm) 2 tsp
Thai basil leaves a handful
coriander leaves 2 handfuls

Make the pickled onions first: peel the onion, slice it thinly and put it into a small, non-reactive (stainless steel or enamelled) saucepan. Pour in the vinegar, then add the caster sugar, peppercorns and coriander seeds and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Find a jar to which you have a lid. Peel and thinly slice the beetroot, then put a few slices in the jar. Add half of the onion and its liquor, then the rest of the sliced beetroot and the onion and its juices. Tighten the lid and leave aside for at least 4 hours, longer if you have time.

To make the curry sauce, peel and roughly chop the onion. Pour the oil into a medium-sized saucepan and warm over a moderate heat. Stir in the onion, then peel, thinly slice and add the garlic. Peel and grate the ginger, stir in, then leave to cook, with the occasional stir, for about 20 minutes.

Roast the tomatoes. Heat the oven to 200C fan/gas mark 7. Place the tomatoes, whole, in the roasting tin, trickle a little olive oil over them, then roast for about 30 minutes until soft and tender.

When the onion mixture is soft and starting to turn pale gold, stir in the tomato paste, pour in the coconut milk and stir in the Thai curry paste and sugar.

Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat.

Pour away any excess juices that are in the roasting tin. Pour in the coconut sauce, then return the tin to the oven and continue cooking for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and scatter some of the pickled onions and the Thai basil and coriander leaves over the sauce, pushing them below the surface so they warm gently.

Serve in shallow bowls with a knife and fork for the tomatoes and a spoon for the coconut sauce. Offer halved limes to squeeze over as you eat.

This is one of my favourite ways to treat beetroot, and makes an exceptional accompaniment to a brown rice and nut salad.

The deeply savoury soy sauce dressing goes some way to balancing out the earthy sweetness of the beetroot. You could roast the beets rather than cooking them in boiling water, if you prefer – in which case wrap them loosely and individually in foil, with just a little oil in each parcel. Depending on their size, they should take 30-60 minutes. Test the beetroot for tenderness with a metal skewer.

Serves 4 as a side dish

raw beetroot 500g
rice vinegar 100ml
runny honey 1 tbsp

For the dressing
hot red chillies 1-2
mint leaves 6g
spring onions 6
pumpkin seeds 3 tbsp
soy sauce 1 tbsp
olive oil 2 tbsp

Put a deep pot of water on to boil and salt it lightly. Wash the beetroot thoroughly, making sure not to tear the skin. Trim the leaves and stalks from the beetroot, taking care not to cut into the flesh.

Cook the beetroot in the boiling water, lowering the heat to a spirited simmer, for about 45 minutes, depending on their size. Cover with a lid, checking the water level from time to time and topping it up if necessary.

Check them for tenderness with a metal skewer – if the point goes deep into the beetroot without effort, they are done. Remove the beetroot from the water and peel away the skin. (You may want to use rubber gloves for this, as the juice is quite staining.)

Mix together the rice vinegar and honey. Cut the beetroot into thick wedges and, while they are still warm, toss in the dressing and set aside. The beetroot should stay in this marinade for at least a couple of hours, or for up to 24 hours if necessary.

Make the dressing: finely chop the mint, coriander and chilli, discarding the chilli seeds as you go. Finely chop and add the white and tender green part of the spring onions. (The very dark ends of the leaves can be a little too coarse to include.) Roughly chop the pumpkin seeds, then add the soy sauce and oil. Stir the herbs, chilli and spring onions into the soy mixture, then pour over the beetroot. Leave for 30 minutes or so, then serve.

It is worth making your own mayonnaise for this. You could use smoked or roasted garlic if you prefer, to herald an early autumnal note. There will be some left over, but it is a thoroughly useful thing to have in your fridge. You don’t have to use all three flours in the batter (you could use half self-raising and half cornflour instead), but I like the crispness the rice flour gives. These need to be eaten as soon as they come out of the pan, while they are still crisp.

Serves 2
courgettes 2, medium
lemon 1
cornflour for dipping

For the batter
self-raising flour 50g
rice flour 30g
cornflour 30g
sea salt 1 tsp
iced sparkling mineral water 175ml
vegetable or groundnut oil 1 litre, for deep frying

For the mayonnaise
egg yolks 2
sea salt a pinch
Dijon mustard 1 tbsp
garlic 1-2 cloves, grated or crushed to a paste
white wine vinegar 2 tsp
groundnut oil 125ml
olive oil 125ml

Make the mayonnaise: put the egg yolks into a mixing bowl, add the mustard, a pinch of sea salt flakes, the garlic paste and the vinegar. Mix with a wire whisk, then start introducing the oils, initially drop by drop, then increasing the flow to a trickle, whisking constantly until thick. Check the seasoning and correct with salt or lemon juice, then set aside in a cool place.

Slice the courgettes into thin rounds, about 5mm thick. Slice the lemon into thick wedges.

Scatter a little cornflour over a plate, in which to dip the courgette slices.

Warm the oil in a deep saucepan for deep frying the courgettes. (You can test it for the correct heat by lowering a drop of batter into the oil. If it bubbles and rises to the surface immediately, it is ready.)

While the oil is heating, make the batter. Put the flours into a mixing bowl with the salt. Pour in most of the mineral water and whisk briefly – a few lumps are fine – then dip a courgette slice into a little cornflour, then into the batter, and then, using tongs, into the hot oil. If the batter puffs a little around the courgette and stays in place, then the batter is thick enough. If you would like it a little thinner, add the remaining water. The ideal is for the batter to be so thin you can see the courgette through it.

Continue flouring, dipping and frying the courgettes, a few at time, making sure not to crowd the pan. As each courgette becomes lightly crisp, lift it out with a draining spoon or tongs and place in a single layer on kitchen paper.

Eat the fritters while they are hot, with some of the garlic mayonnaise and a little lemon to squeeze over.

@NigelSlater