Keep it bright and light and very easy
By Pascale Smets
I love Summer entertaining, partly because I love eating outdoors (I’m not one to be put off by a bit of light rain) but mostly because there’s so much fabulous seasonal produce at this time of year. I have a vegetable garden so I’m obliged (practically by law) to eat what’s in season.
At this time of year it’s all about fresh flavours and bright colours and dishes I can prepare in advance. I don’t know whether it’s my background in fashion but whenever I’m planning a meal I think about colours just as much as flavour and the dips listed below are as pretty as they are delicious and truly, really, really easy.
Perfect with flatbread or crudités before a barbecue or with the addition of things like a green salad and some barrel-aged feta, olives and quail’s eggs, they become a meal in themselves. If you make all 4 dips they will serve at least 8-10 as a first course or 6 as a main course.
Beetroot Borani
This is adapted from the Morito recipe. I’ve used less yoghurt than they specify and substituted the walnuts for pistachio as I prefer the look and taste of pistachios. At Morito they crumble feta on top which is great addition if you fancy it.
Ingredients
500g of beetroot
150g full-fat Greek yoghurt
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of crushed garlic
Small bunch of dill
A handful of shelled pistachios (optional)
Method
Boil or roast the beetroots whole till easily pierced with a skewer. (I have used ready cooked, vacuum packed beetroot in the past, not as good as roasted but still very nice). Remove the skin and cut into rough chunks. Grind in a blender with the olive oil, yoghurt, garlic and seasoning. Spoon into a dish and scatter dill fronds and pistachios.
Labneh
This is so ridiculously easy it hardly warrants the description ‘recipe’. That said, the ingredients are key and you do need to plan ahead. The yoghurt needs to be a FULL FAT Greek yoghurt like Fage, and the olive oil must be extra virgin – use your very best one here. Za’atar is a type of wild thyme but also the name of a Middle Eastern spice blend incorporating this type of thyme, sesame seeds, sumac and sometimes other ingredients too like cumin, oregano and marjoram. My favourite is an Ottolenghi one than can be bought online but Waitrose do a decent enough version.
Ingredients
500g full fat Greek yoghurt (I use Fage Total)
A very generous pinch of salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Za’atar
Method
Pour off any excess liquid from the top of your yoghurt and mix through the salt. Line a big sieve with muslin or kitchen towel, tip the seasoned yoghurt in, place the yoghurt filled sieve over a bowl in the fridge for 12-24 hours depending on how thick you like your labneh. THAT IS IT. The excess liquid will drip through leaving you with a thick yoghurt the consistency of cream cheese. Put your labneh in a bowl, drizzle over your poshest olive oil plus a generous sprinkling of Za’atar.
Spicy Carrot Dip
This is truly delicious and will sit in the fridge for up to a week, but will be eaten long before then. If you only chose one of the dips to make I’d say do this one. Once you’ve made it, it will form part of your permanent repertoire (guaranteed). I’ve been making this for at least 12 years. I know this because I brought it to my friend Gabriela’s 40th birthday party and that was 12 years ago.
Ingredients
500g carrots
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
1 big or 2 small cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or a pound coin-sized piece of fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon honey or agave syrup (unless you have very sweet carrots)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Peel and chop up your carrots then steam or boil until very tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and blitz in a food processor to a smooth consistency. Adjust your seasoning, you may prefer it with more garlic, chilli or acidity (lemon juice/vinegar). Garnish with a black olive.
Herby Pea Dip
Very easy, very tasty. I grow peas and when they are freshly picked and immediately eaten they’re superb but I don’t see the point of peas in pods that have sat around a supermarket for days – don’t bother – use frozen ones instead.
Ingredients
375g podded peas (frozen are fine)
4-5 spring onions
1 fat clove of garlic, sliced
Juice and zest of 1 small lemon
10-12 mint leaves
10-12 basil leaves
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra salt & pepper to taste.
Method
Boil your peas for a couple of minutes, meanwhile sauté your sliced spring onions and garlic in the olive oil till soft and translucent. Add the sautéed onion and garlic plus all other ingredients to your cooked drained peas and blitz briefly in the food processor, keeping some texture. If your peas are very sweet you may want to add an extra squeeze of lemon juice. Garnish with more sliced spring onions and some mint leaves.
Pascale’s Instagram address is pascaledepascale
Her new homeware store is Pascale, at New Street Market, 70a New Street, Woodbridge, IP12 1DX; pascalestore.co.uk