How To Entertain This Month With Alexandra Dudley
July always has me craving a Mediterranean summer and this month’s dinner party menu is an ode to those long holiday lunches that seem to blissfully roll on. Minimal time is required in the kitchen, meaning there’s more time to enjoy a spritz with your guests. A one-tray fish is baked with all the best flavours of Italy (tomatoes, olives, capers and lots of herbs). The joy of this is that everything is tossed together in one tray and in 25 minutes, dinner is ready. If you like, you can prep the fish earlier in the day and throw it into the oven as guests arrive. Then, it’s smashed crispy potatoes on the side under a zippy salsa verde. These are very good at room temperature too if you’d like to prep ahead. To finish, juicy brown sugar roast peaches (which are at their best right now) are served with some good vanilla ice-cream.
I love a spritz, especially when it’s really hot. This rosé spritz from Mirabeau and Fever-Tree has been my go-to recently. Delicious French rosé is blended with raspberry and orange blossom soda. It’s zesty and incredibly refreshing.
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Crispy Smashed Potatoes With Salsa Verde
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Boil the potatoes until soft, drain and allow to steam dry for five minutes.
Place the potatoes in a large oven proof tray, drizzle generously with olive oil, add the oregano and a good pinch of salt. Toss everything together using your hands, then using the base of a glass gently crush each potato to slightly break the skin. Take care not to over-crush them as ideally you want to keep them whole.
Sprinkle some more flakey sea salt over each of the potatoes. Cook for 30 minutes or until crispy and golden.
For the salsa verde, finely chop the herbs and capers and mix in a bowl with the garlic, lemon juice and enough olive oil until you reach a spoonable consistency.
Mediterranean Baked Fish
Preheat the oven to 220°C Fan.
Slice half the cherry tomatoes in half and puncture the others with a sharp knife. (This helps them not to split too much in the oven)
Place the fish into a large ovenproof deep roasting dish drizzle generously with olive oil then add the onions, tomatoes, olives, capers, oregano, and Thyme toss everything together with your hands making sure a substantial amount of the olives, tomatoes etc. is on top of the fish.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the fish has cooked through and the tomatoes are jammy.
Brown Sugar Baked Peaches
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Slice the peaches in half and remove the stones. Combine the melted butter, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and toss in the peaches to coat.
Arrange the peaches cut side up on a tray and bake for 35 minutes until soft and golden.
Serve with vanilla ice-cream and some pecans.
For more from Alexandra, follow her @AlexandraDudley or visit AlexandraDudley.com
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