Summer recipes by Rowley Leigh

A simple seafood salad from chef Rowley Leigh 

'This is the quintessential taste of English summer,' says chef Rowley Leigh

 It is especially good with mature cheddar, but works with cold meats, too, and is a great way to use up unripe apricots.

These will vanish quite rapidly – especially with a good dip beside them

This picnic dish is best enjoyed with a cold sherry.

The simplest way to make the most of new season broad beans.

Made into a hollandaise, gooseberries will work well with all fine fish, especially John Dory, salmon and turbot, while the samphire gives a nice saline kick.

This is very simple to make and is a delicate and clean way to use the precocious early apricots – one of the first fruits of summer.

Rowley Leigh presents his take on a classic Italian dish.

Good peas are wonderful raw, but even a few starchier ones provide a nice bite in a salad. This is one occasion where you cannot get away with frozen.

This is my go-to for a picnic. The white peaches have the acidity to complement ripe, sweet tomatoes. It works just as well with flat ‘turban’ or ‘donut’ peaches, but they are a bit fiddly to peel and cut.

Rowley Leigh's parmesan custard is the perfect accompaniment to lovely asparagus and an exciting new way to serve this versatile vegetable.

Oily mackerel pairs so well with something sharp, and here rhubarb is used to great effect.

Inspired by the porchetta that is served from a van in many Italian markets, this is a pretty effortless way of achieving a melting texture to the meat under a crisp carapace of crackling.

Rowley Leigh presents a slightly lighter take on the classic clafoutis.