Earlier in the week, I took some of those sweet, soft artichokes, the sort that come preserved in oil, then I battered and deep fried them and served them with a salad of roasted peppers and crisp green beans. It was a salad of extraordinary textures – and the salty crunch of the hot batter shell around the artichokes. The golds and reds and greens were vibrant, and the flavours worked nicely together. Substantial enough as a main course, we followed it with a cake of chocolate and beetroot.
Another, equally big-flavoured salad this week was a mixture of cold, ripe tomatoes and warm beans that had been cooked with rosemary and garlic. I could have used fresh borlotti, but couldn't find enough. OrI could have cooked dried ones from scratch by soaking them overnight and baking them slowly with stock, olive oil, bay leaves and rosemary. Instead I took the short route, using canned beans and letting them cook with finely diced pancetta, celery and carrot. Either way will give you a salad of main-course proportions with hints of early autumn.
The autumn rustic salad, with its beans and tomatoes, peppers and garlic, works on so many levels. Its substantiality is perfect for this cooler weather, but you can bolster such recipes further with the clever use of bread. Piling any form of salad on to bruschetta to make it more filling is a no brainer, but you can add interest by choosing to brush the bread with a herb oil first. Blitz a handful of basil leaves with a little garlic and several glugs of olive oil in a blender until you have a thickish, green slush whose scent is deeply verdant and peppery. Use this to brush, generously, on your toasted bread. I sometimes even dunk it, so the crisp toast is saturated with herb and olive oil. Use that as a base for a tomato and bean-based salad or even the pepper and artichoke recipe above, though minus the garlic. Alternatively, tear up the toasted bread and toss it with the salads. Something big, robust and filling for an autumn evening.
Roast pepper and artichoke salad
I used long, thin red peppers for this. Bell peppers will be a perfectly good substitute. Serves 4.
Romano peppers 5
fine French beans 200g
garlic cloves 4
olive oil 6 tbsp
red-wine vinegar 1 tbsp
sherry vinegar 1 tbsp
For the fritters:
preserved (bottled) artichokes 250g
plain flour 100g
sunflower oil 2 tbsp
light beer 175ml
egg white 1
sunflower or groundnut oil for deep frying
Slice the red peppers in half lengthways, tug out and discard any white pith, core or seeds, then lay them in a roasting tin. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.
Peel the garlic, slice it finely and scatter it over the peppers. Pour over about 6 tbsp of olive oil (this sounds a lot, but it will become part of the dressing). Roast the peppers for about 30 minutes until the garlic is golden and the flesh of the peppers is soft and sweet.
Make the batter by sifting the flour into a bowl, then beat in 2 tbsp of sunflower oil, add the beer and whisk to a thinnish batter. Add a little salt and set aside.
Put a large pan of water on to boil, salt it lightly, then cook the beans in it for 3 or 4 minutes until lightly crisp. Drain in a colander and leave briefly under running cold water until cold. Set aside.
Pour the oil and juices from the roasted peppers into a small bowl. Season with salt and black pepper, then stir in both the red wine and sherry vinegars. Tear the peppers a little, toss with the beans then dress the mixture with the seasoned cooking juices.
Heat a deep pan of oil, groundnut or sunflower, in which to deep fry the artichokes. Beat the egg white until frothy and almost stiff then stir it into the rested batter. If the artichokes are whole, slice them in half, then dip each one in the batter and put straight into the hot oil. Divide the salad between four plates.
Fry the artichokes for 5 or 6 minutes until they are pale gold and crisp. Remove them from the oil and drain on kitchen paper for a few seconds before dividing them between the salads and sprinkling them with flakes of sea salt. Eat immediately, while the artichoke is still crisp and hot.
Tuscan bean salad
Cook the beans from scratch if you wish. Soak them overnight and boil in deep unsalted water, or soak, then bake them in stock and oil. Serves 4.
smoked pancetta 150g, in the piece
carrot 1 large one, small dice
celery 1 rib, small dice
spring onions 2
borlotti beans 400g
cannellini beans 400g
rosemary 4 sprigs
olive oil 8 tbsp
tomatoes 250g, assorted, diced
red-wine vinegar 2 tbsp
Cut the pancetta into cubes roughly 1cm in diameter, then fry in a shallow, nonstick frying pan over a moderate heat. Add a little olive oil if necessary. Dice the carrot and celery into pieces roughly the same size as the pancetta, chop the spring onions, then add to the pan and continue cooking until the vegetables have softened a little and the pancetta is starting to turn gold.
Drain the beans and run them briefly under cold water, then add them to the pan with the rosemary sprigs. Continue to cook, briefly, while you dice the tomatoes , removing the seeds if you wish.
Toss the beans and pancetta with the tomatoes and place in a serving dish. Pour the remaining olive oil into the pan, with the red-wine vinegar, a little salt and some black pepper and warm gently, scraping at any tasty looking bits on the pan and dissolving them into the dressing. Pour over the beans and tomatoes and serve warm.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk
