The end of summer is one of my favourite times of year. In Portugal, midsummer is super-hot and we often wait a couple of months, until the sun sets earlier and the breeze is cooler, for beach parties with family and friends.
These dishes take me back to those laid-back gatherings. They were always about cooking simple food that can be whipped up outside over a barbecue or camping stove. It’s easy to make simple food really special with a few tricks – it’s all about what you add, and how and when you add it, to really intensify the flavours. Mark summer’s passing with a final fling – and if the weather doesn’t play ball, these dishes will help bring that summery feeling indoors.
Chicory, pear and almond salad (serves 4)
This salad is largely about the dressing, which really lifts the ingredients. It is a delicate balance, with sweetness from the tomatoes and acidity from sherry vinegar counteracting the bitterness of the chicory leaves.
4 heads of endive, split in half and broken into leaves
2 conference pears, sliced very thinly with a sharp knife or mandolin
Handful of almond flakes, toasted
1 head of fennel, cut in half and shaved/sliced thinly from the head down, so you get lots of fine pieces (save the fronds for the garnish)
For the dressing
1 orange, peeled and cut into segments
3 heritage/vine-ripe super-sweet large tomatoes, quartered
Half a clove of garlic, chopped very finely and mixed with a teaspoon of ground Maldon salt
Half a red pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 small slice white country bread (stale is best)
4 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey
Splash of lemon juice
Blitz all the dressing ingredients until you have a creamy but sharp vegetable puree.
Toss all the salad components with the dressing and season with salt.
Place on a plate and garnish with fennel fronds.
Grilled chicken thighs with Alentejo-style piso (serves 4)
This is an easy chicken dish that uses one of my favourite condiments, the famous piso (a coriander pesto) from the Alentejo region. It works brilliantly with chicken and roast potatoes, but you could also serve it with a green salad. If you want to serve it as little petiscos (Portuguese tapas), you can buy boneless chicken thighs and cut in half after cooking.
8 chicken thighs on the bone (free range/corn fed/organic)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
8 bay leaves
250ml white wine
2 tbsp Maldon salt
2 tsp ground white pepper
2 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
4 sticks cinnamon, toasted
Stems from half a bunch of coriander, chopped
Mix together all the ingredients except the chicken, then use it to marinade the thighs. Place in a container and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least eight hours.
Remove any chunks of garlic, bay leaves or cinnamon sticks before grilling on the barbecue (if you are cooking indoors, use a pan). Heat the oven to 160C/325F/gas mark three. Sear the skin side on a high heat in the pan or on the barbecue for 2-4 minutes, until the skin turns golden brown, then gently cook in the oven for 12 minutes, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 70C/158F.
For the piso
½ clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp Maldon salt
½ bunch coriander stems and whole bunch coriander leaves, all chopped together
2 shavings lemon zest, finely chopped or zested
1 small green chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
1 tsp ground white pepper
8 tbsp good-quality extra virgin olive oil (add more to taste)
Crush and grind all the ingredients into a paste using a mortar and pestle, or use a blender on pulse, so it is not blended too finely.
Serve with roasted potatoes, spooning generous amounts of the piso over the whole dish, then add a squeeze of lemon juice and pinch of Maldon salt.
Prawns with chourico, garlic and olive oil (serves 4)
The Portuguese have always had a love affair with prawns and I still say, hands down, the best in Europe come from our coast. Here, they are done with three of my other favourite ingredients – olive oil, garlic and chourico (like the Spanish chorizo) – gently cooked in careful steps to build complex layers and very tasty, rustic flavours. I always like to use head-on prawns, since we love sucking the juices from the heads. There is nothing more decadent at a summer party than dipping crusty bread into the flavourful oil that is created during this cooking process.
1kg of 16-20 raw, head-on prawns, deveined, shells removed but the head and tip of the tail left intact
200g soft chourico, removed from the casing and diced small
6 cloves garlic, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp plus 200ml good-quality extra virgin olive oil
Maldon salt, to taste
1 tsp paprika
Half a bunch parsley, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Lightly season the prawns. In a large, heavy-bottomed, shallow pan (that can be used to serve as well), gently cook the chourico, garlic shavings and the chilli flakes over a low heat with two tablespoons of olive oil.
As the mixture becomes fragrant, add the paprika, toast for another minute until this also becomes fragrant, then add the seasoned prawns, being careful not to damage them. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and increase the heat.
As soon as the prawns start changing colour, turn them. As soon as they turn opaque, remove the pan from the heat and transfer to the table – you don’t want to overcook them.
Sprinkle with the chopped parsley, Maldon salt to taste and the lemon juice.
Serve right away with some nicely toasted, crunchy bread and a cold Portuguese beer.
