Marinated Mozzarella / Hot Nights❣️

A recipe, little things I love and a dream menu for your week ahead.

The end of June always feels nostalgic to me as it’s when I first moved to London. This weekend marks thirteen funny, wonderful, weird and wouldn’t-change-them if-I-could years that I’ve lived here. It was celebrated with fried egg and sausage sandwiches for breakfast from Auld Hag, gin and tonics, and lots of lounging before a wild start to the month, before (hopefully) life winds down for a while.

Well over a decade after leaving Australia and before that Singapore, it seems I have forgotten my childhood in the tropics because London’s ‘heatwave’ is making me feel like I might like to move to the Arctic for a little while. Cherries are eaten ice cold from the fridge and I’m already on my second Solero of the day. Therefore this week’s recipe is my go-to ‘I don’t want to cook with heat’ dish that I practically make three times a week when peaches are good.

Thirteen years doesn’t even feel like three to me as I sit here writing with Rod Stewart playing Glastonbury on my television, Joni my cat under my arm and my boyfriend outside watering the roses. July means summer nostalgia and all the good clichés of what makes one great will be at its finest, but I know that this thirteenth summer in London will feel like the most special yet.

All my love until next Sunday,

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Ten years ago, I worked in a very miserable office doing a particularly miserable job. I have very few fond memories from this year of my life in London, but one of them would be carving out an hour for myself on sunny days to sit on the office’s roof terrace to have lunch outside alone in the sunshine. It was a hot summer then, much like the one we’re having now it seems, and cold things that are quick to make are all I was crave when it’s like this.

I made a version of this salad back then for myself so that at least one hour of my day felt a bit brighter. It’s incredible doubled or tripled as a dinner party recipe, but serves two as a side or one for the most delightful lunch. It’s spicy, sweet, and so perfect for a ‘too hot’ day. The milky mozzarella marries with the hot pickled peppers and bright green parsley to create a dressing that would be good on anything, but especially good as a marinade for soft cheese and ripe fruit.

• A small handful of parsley

• A pinch of dried or fresh mint

• A pinch of fennel seeds

• 1 Guindilla chilli and a splash of vinegar from the jar

• A good glug of olive oil

• Sea salt to taste

• 1 ball of mozzarella

• 1 ripe peach, sliced

• 1 red pepper, finely chopped

Into a blender or food processor, add in the parsley, mint, fennel seeds, Guindilla pepper, vinegar and olive oil. Blitz until well combined before tasting for seasoning. You might fancy more vinegar, olive oil and add some salt as you want to add as much flavour as you can to the milky mozzarella through the dressing.

Pour the dressing into a bowl and add the mozzarella whole, and cover it with the green dressing. Let it marinate for 30 minutes or so at room temperature, or leave it overnight in the fridge in an airtight container. When you’re ready to serve it, toss the peach and pepper in some of the green dressing and serve alongside the whole mozzarella.

1. The always brilliant BAO turns ten this month and to celebrate, all of their bao buns are back to 2015 prices. I went on Tuesday for dinner, and a must-order is their frozen beer in this heat. 2. Ahead of a trip next weekend that includes visiting some of my all-time favourite restaurants in Europe, I’m so obsessed with this beautiful book on menu design that I got as a gift on Valentine’s Day this year. 3. For anyone else looking forward to summer travels, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, Baggu packing cubes are life-changing. 4. My garlic, ginger and chilli kitchen storage just got upgraded thanks to this gorgeous green bowl from cult Australian brand Dinosaur Designs. 5. I’m snacking on and cooking with these Guindilla chillies all day and night (+ making spicy martinis with them too).

A meal for a Sunday night when it’s too hot to even think about cooking.

Starter

Nigel Slater's Gazpacho and a drizzle of exceptional olive oil is all you need.

Main

These Prawn, Cucumber and Scotch Bonnet Buns sound sublime.

Dessert

A bowl of perfect cherries served on crushed ice and a little glass of your favourite amaro straight from the freezer.