Kathryn says: “If you’re just learning how to combine sweet and savoury produce, this is a great place to start. Switch out the nectarines for another stone fruit (e.g., apricots or peaches), and trade the coriander and basil for any combination of chives, parsley, and fresh mint (if you’re using mint, try combining it with parsley if you don’t want it to become overpowering). Tomato and corn are simultaneously sweet and savoury, so they make a nice bridge for other flavours.”

Ingredients

• 225g crusty baguette
• Cooking spray or olive oil
• 2 ears corn
• 300g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3 nectarines, cut into 1⁄2 in (13 mm) slices
• 1 seeded, ribbed, and minced jalapeño
• 10g chopped fresh cilantro
• 10g chopped fresh basil
• 70g extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, crushed through a press
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1⁄4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 tsp salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 165°C.

Cut the bread into 2 cm cubes and spread out on a baking sheet. Spray lightly with cooking spray or drizzle with a little olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes, just until dried out and lightly browned. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Heat your grill to high. Place the corn cobs directly on the grates and let cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side, just until their surface is about 50 percent charred. Once they are cool enough to handle, slice the corn off the cobs. (Alternatively, blanch them for 1 minute in boiling water, or simply rinse the cobs well and use the kernels raw if they’re super fresh.) You’ll end up with about 210g.

Place the corn, tomatoes, nectarines, and jalapeño in the bowl with the bread and top with the cilantro and basil, reserving some produce and herbs for garnish. Set aside.

Combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, mustard, black pepper, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Whisk together until completely combined.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together until evenly coated. Garnish with any reserved herbs and veggies, let it sit for about 5 minutes, and then serve.

Kathryn says: “This galette should remind you a bit of strawberry rhubarb pie, with a sweet-tart flavour profile, but it’s got a lot of extra depth from those more complex and moody blackberries – think European currant-flavoured hard candies, or maybe even blue-raspberry Jolly Ranchers.”

Ingredients

• 1 batch Cream Cheese Butter Pie Dough (see below)
• 400g whole blackberries
• 50g granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp sumac, plus more for serving
• 1⁄4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp water
• Flour, for dusting
• Egg wash (1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water)
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

For the cream cheese butter pie dough:

• 175g all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 115g cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1⁄4 tsp salt
• 115g cold cream cheese, cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp very cold water

Method

To make the pie dough: Place the flour, butter, and salt in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse about ten times and stop once the butter has blended into the flour with lots of pea-size lumps left. Add the cream cheese and pulse a few more times, just until the cream cheese has blended in but the mixture is still quite lumpy. Sprinkle the water over the surface and pulse a few more times, just until the mixture can be squeezed together into a ball.

Shape the dough into a ball by squeezing it together, flatten the ball into a disk, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Gently tap and roll the sides of the disk on the counter to help them become less jagged. Once they’re smooth and no longer have big cracks, place the disk 2at on the counter and gently press and pat the top to make sure it’s nice and flat. As you gently press down on the top, the plastic wrap compresses the sides and ensures that any jagged edges are smoothed out. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. If you chill it completely, let it sit at room temperature for 30 to 50 minutes, just until it’s pliable but still chilled.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 205°C and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium mixing bowl, fold together the blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, sumac, salt, and water.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to just under 6mm thick and about 30.5 cm across. Rotate occasionally as you work but try not to handle the dough too much and try to keep the edges from cracking too deeply.

Once it’s rolled out, gently wrap the dough around your rolling pin to transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Place the filling in the very centre of the rolled-out dough and be sure to scrape the bowl with a spatula so you don’t miss anything. Arrange in an even layer, leaving a 5 cm border around the edges. Fold the edges over in a rustic overlapping pattern so that the middle stays open and brush the crust’s surface all over with egg wash.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the whole thing is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Let cool before slicing (at least 15 minutes, ideally 1 hour). Serve plain or with vanilla ice cream, if desired, and a little pinch of sumac.

Note

You can make the pastry by hand with a pastry cutter or just the tips of your fingers. Squeeze the bits of butter in the flour so that they break down into smaller bits and mix together with the flour. Use a fork to mash in the cream cheese, then sprinkle the water and bring it all together with your hands.

Kathryn says: “This take on courgette bread is the closest thing to eating an actual slice of summer. The sweet corn and blueberries work wonderfully together, a bit like a berry-studded cakey cornbread. Eating a slice of this loaf cake almost re-creates the experience of sitting in a veggie garden in July and enjoying a snack, with the smell of fresh tomatoes and courgette wafting over. Double the batch and freeze half for winter to bring back good memories of lazy summer days.”

Ingredients

• 230g packed grated and wrung-out courgette, from about 1 large courgette
• 105g neutral oil, such as canola or avocado
• 2 large eggs
• 130g granulated sugar
• 130g all-purpose flour
• 105g polenta or cornmeal
• 3⁄4 tsp salt
• 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
• 1⁄4 tsp baking soda
• 115g blueberries (fresh or frozen), plus more for topping
• 80g corn kernels, plus more for topping

Method

Butter an 8 by 4 in [20 by 10 cm] loaf pan, line it with a parchment sling (see Note on page 257), and preheat the oven to 180°C.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the courgette, oil, eggs, and sugar until completely incorporated. Set aside. 

In another medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and fold together until there are only a couple of remaining dry 2our streaks. Add the blueberries and corn and gently fold to combine. Do not overmix.

Scoop the batter into the loaf pan, sprinkle a small handful of blueberries and corn over the batter to decorate the top, and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes before serving.

A Dish For All Seasons: 125+ Recipe Variations for Delicious Meals All Year Round by Kathryn Pauline (£21.99, Chronicle Books) is out September 1.