Roasted Herb and Sumac Tomatoes

The tomatoes I used in this dish were quite small so I used three to serve two people, however normally I would only use two tomatoes.

I used to roast tomatoes almost every time I served them, no matter what - in salads, with roasted meats, whatever. But more recently I have been serving them raw...but I think roasting may be about to come back into my repertoire.

Sumac is a deliciously tangy spice that matches beautifully with roasted tomatoes. If you have never tried it, you definitely should.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 large tomatoes (or 3 smaller ones)

1 teaspoon sumac

Freshly ground salt and pepper

Handful of parsley

Olive oil to drizzle

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Cut the tomatoes in half. Place in a roasting dish and top with sumac, salt and pepper, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until soft.

Garlic and Spice Lamb

Apologies to anyone checking this blog regularly for updates (fingers crossed there may be at least one of you...) I have been very slack lately. We had Mark's 30th last weekend, and that event seemed to take up the majority of my time and effort for the last few weeks. The party was fabulous though (more about that later when I post the party menu).

But I have been doing a bit of cooking and will with any luck over the next few days post my most recent recipes. I'm also doing a bit of entertaining in August so those menus will be posted. I'm very excited that next weekend I am cooking for my friend Rochelle and her sister Lani - I have some really interesting fresh pasta ideas for that menu.

And thank you to Renee who after cooking my last post 'Chicken, Cherry Tomato, Mint and Danish Feta Pasta' noticed that the picture shows pine nuts but the recipe does not. I have rectified this now.

A word of warning about this one - it is not for the faint hearted when it comes to garlic. I absolutely loved it, but it may not be for everyone. Of course, you can simply reduce the amount of garlic to suit your tastes, but as it is not cooked for long, it still remains quite pungent. To reduce the pungency you could roast the garlic before adding it to the spices.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

4 cloves garlic

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

2 lamb fillets

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the coriander, cumin, salt, pepper and garlic in a mortar and pestle. Bash the ingredients together and add the olive oil to form a paste.

Cook the lamb in a very hot pan until seared on one side. Turn the lamb over and spread the garlic and spice paste on the lamb. Place the lamb in the oven to finish cooking to your liking (normally about 4-6 minutes). Slice and serve with roasted tomatoes and potatoes - recipes to come.