A change of pace

When the weather gets warmer things seem to slow down. Everything becomes more lazy and languid, and that's exactly how I begin to approach our evening meals.

I no longer want meals where I have to stand and prep veg for ages, instead I like to spend time with N in the garden, sitting in the early evening sunshine with a chilled glass of wine. We sit, read the paper and enjoy the comfortable silence between us. It's only when this calm is broken by growling stomachs that dinner occurs to me, and I want something simple, quick and satisfying.

I swear that we both must have some Italian in our blood, because we rely on Italian food for almost all our meals in some regard (except when we're eating curry!) and in summer this is even more pronounced. We eat hot fresh bread with salads, or simply with roasted tomatoes and a slice of cheese.One thing I don't do nearly enough is bruschetta. It's such a simple and delicious dish, and yet for some reason it rarely crosses my mind. This week however, with some sourdough getting a little past it's best in the cupboard and a punnet of ripe cherry tomatoes in the fridge, it was the first thing I fancied.

I simply toasted the bread on one side under the grill. While this was happening I roughly chopped the cherry tomatoes and mixed them in a bowl with some chili oil, a whole load of torn basil, a squirt of tomato puree and the tiniest dash of balsamic vinegar. I then piled this onto the untoasted side of the bread, grated some parmesan over the top and popped the whole thing back under the grill until it sizzled.

Served with a light salad of simply leaves and a very cold glass of Pinot Grigio it was the perfect thing for a light evening meal in the wanning sunshine.