Kitchen therapy with Rosie Birkett

Nectarines shine in this bountiful salad that makes the most of seasonal stone fruit

Stone fruit is one of the biggest thrills of the summer for me, and the minute the very first ripe apricots, nectarines and peaches show up in their blush-cheeked splendour at the greengrocer, I start to load up, buying in bulk and filling bowls dotted about the kitchen. And as much as I love the abundance and beauty of these summer specimens, it’s not just for show. We get through kilos and kilos in summer. Our daughter finishes almost every meal at this time of year with a destoned, juicy fleshed fruit, and my heart swells to watch her savouring the sweet pleasure of peak season fruit at every meal, the sweet syrup spilling down her chin. More often than not I’ll join her, standing over the sink (because unlike her I don’t own a bib), and in the unlikely event that some fruit might go over in the bowl, it’ll get puréed for bellinis, jammed to eke out the season, or melted down into syrups for soft drinks and cakes.

As well as being wonderful for sweet dishes, ripe stone fruit is amazing in salads and snacky lunches. I am a long-standing lover of peachy panzanellas, ricotta and stone fruit bruschettas, and this recipe draws on one of my favourite synergies – that of nectarines and halloumi. The salty, squeaky cheese just works so beautifully alongside the sweet acidity and soft flesh of the fruit, and the heat of red chilli melded with maple is used to glaze the cheese, which is then grilled until yielding and caramelised, bringing everything together.

This way of scoring halloumi before grilling it was something I learned from the wonderful Greek Cypriot food writer Georgina Hayden, whose recipe for grilled halloumi with caramelised figs is also a firm favourite in our house in late summer. In this recipe my chilli- and maple-glazed halloumi is tumbled on top of a nutty, tabbouleh-esque herby quinoa salad, which is finished with a lemony olive oil dressing. If that doesn’t say ‘peak summer’ to you, I don’t know what does.

Nectarine and chilli maple halloumi quinoa salad

SERVES 4 | PREP 15 MINS | COOK 10 MINS | EASY

DRESSING

1 shallot or small red onion, finely diced

1/2 a lemon, zested and juiced

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

QUINOA SALAD

3 ripe nectarines

250g cooked quinoa (I like the dual or tricolour) small bunch of mint, leaves only, roughly chopped handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

30g roasted blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped

50g rocket

CHILLI MAPLE HALLOUMI

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp dried chilli flakes (I use pul biber)

2 x 200g halloumi

1 Put the shallot into a bowl and season with a good pinch of sea salt, then pour over the lemon juice and zest, and whisk in the olive oil. Taste and season. Destone and slice the nectarines, then combine the cooked quinoa with most of the herbs, most of the nuts, the rocket and nectarine, and dress with the dressing.

2 Whisk together the olive oil, maple syrup and chilli flakes, then use a sharp knife to deeply score the tops of the halloumi in a cross-hatch pattern roughly 2cm deep, being careful not to go all the way through. Put them on foil in a roasting tray and brush them generously with the chilli maple oil. Heat the grill to its highest setting and grill for 6-8 mins or until deeply caramelised and softened, basting occasionally with a little more maple oil.

3 When the halloumi is done, tip any grill juices into the salad and toss, then cut up the halloumi into equal-sized pieces. Divide the quinoa salad between plates and top with the halloumi. Scatter over extra hazelnuts and herbs.

PER SERVING 599 kcals | fat 40.8G saturates 18.7G | carbs 25.9G | sugars 14.2G fibre 4.6G | protein 29.6G | salt 3G

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Warm laminated milk bread

MAKES 1 LOAF | PREP 1 HR 30 MINS PLUS TWO DAYS OVERNIGHT CHILLING AND PROVING COOK 15 MINS | MORE EFFORT

500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

10g honey

10g salt

7g fresh yeast, crumbled

350g whole milk, cold

120g unsalted butter, cold, plus 20g softened, and extra to serve

1 beaten egg, for brushing

1 Tip all of the ingredients, except the butter and egg, into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, and mix slowly for 4 mins on speed 1. Turn up the mixer to speed 2 and knead for 4 mins. Reduce the speed back to speed 1 and add the softened butter, kneading for 4 mins. Turn the speed back up again and knead for another 4 mins – by now you should have a smooth dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still a little sticky. Cover and chill overnight.

2 The next day, squash any air from the dough by pushing your fist into it, then tip out onto a lightly floured worksurface and roll into a long rectangle (about 20cm x 30cm) using a rolling pin.

3 Roll out the cold butter between two sheets of baking paper into a flat rectangle that’s just under half the size of the dough. Sit the butter rectangle on the bottom half of the dough rectangle, making sure there is a 1cm border around the edge of the butter. Fold the other half of the dough over the butter to enclose it and seal the edges. Carefully, and with even pressure, roll the dough out into a rectangle again, with one of the short ends facing you. Fold the top half of the dough down to the centre and bring the bottom up to meet it, then fold the dough in half along the join so you have four layers of dough. Wrap and chill for 1 hr.

4 Take out the dough, put it back in front of you as if you’d just folded it, then turn it by 90 degrees. Roll it out into a rectangle again, and fold the top third down. Bring the bottom third up over the top, wrap and chill for 1 hr.

5 Roll the dough out until it is 6mm thick, then cut into long 4cm-wide strips (you might have to trim the edges straight, keeping the offcuts) and roll up into spirals. Arrange the spiral rolls side by side in loaf tins, or put one in each hole of a muffin tin (you can bake the offcuts in a muffin tin, too). Or roll the strips up from both ends in opposite directions to make an S-shape (as in picture). Arrange two rolls in a buttered 12-13cm shallow cake tin (you will end up with four batches but you can also make a bigger loaf by using a larger cake tin). Cover and chill overnight.

6 The next day, take the rolls out of the fridge and leave to prove until doubled in size (this may take a couple of hours). Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 4. Brush the tops of the rolls with the beaten egg and bake for 10-20 mins or until the rolls are puffed up and golden on top – keep an eye on the timing, as it will depend on which tin you have used. Cool for 5 mins in the tin before lifting out and serving with more butter.

PER SERVING (10) 315 kcals | fat 13.5G saturates 8.3G | carbs 40.9G | sugars 2.6G fibre 2G | protein 6.5G | salt 1G

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