Grilled aubergine with bocconcini

Bocconcini (baby buffalo mozzarella) is available from good delicatessens and many large food stores.

serves 2 as a starter or part of a light lunch

aubergine - a large one

bocconcini - 12

extra virgin olive oil

basil leaves - a handful

Cut the aubergine into long, thin slices. You should get about six from a large fruit. Get a grill or griddle pan hot. Grill the aubergine slices till soft and lightly coloured (4 or 5 minutes on each side) then place on a baking sheet.

Tear the basil leaves and mix them with a couple of tablespoons of the oil then season with salt and pepper. Brush the slices of cooked aubergine with the seasoned oil. Slice each mozzarella in half and place the halves on the aubergine slices. Let the cheese melt under a hot grill and serve immediately, before the cheese has a chance to colour.

Grilled chicken with basil butter

Unless you are a dab-hand with the boning knife, ask the butcher to bone the chicken legs for you. It is wise to ask him the day before.

serves 2

unsalted butter - 60g

basil leaves - a handful

half a lemon

chicken legs - 2, boned

extra virgin olive oil

lime or lemon to serve

Mash the butter in a small bowl, then fold in the torn basil leaves and a little salt and pepper. Set aside to chill. If you are boning the chicken legs yourself, turn the chicken skin-side down and cut into the flesh following the line of each of the two leg bones. Tease the bone out through the slit in the flesh, cutting round it with the knife to loosen it. Peel and cut the skin away from the bone, to give a flat, squarish piece of meat.

Tap the meat out lightly with a heavy object such as meat cleaver or rolling pin. Season with salt and black pepper then oil lightly. Cook the chicken over a hot grill, turning it once during cooking. The skinside will smoke quite heavily, so keep the heat quite low. Once the meat is cooked right the way through, transfer to a warm plate and add a spoonful of basil butter to each one. Serve with lime or lemon.

Grilled tomatoes with toasted polenta

Listen, I know people get terribly sniff y about quick-cook polenta, so if you want to do it the hard way, fine. Here, I have taken the quick method using an organic polenta flour. It may not be the council of perfection but it's fine for a quick midweek lunch.

water - 1 litre

medium tomatoes - 10

thyme - a few sprigs

extra virgin olive oil

To make the polenta: put the water on to boil and salt it generously. Tip in the polenta flour into the water and stir, taking care that it doesn't bubble up and splash. Let it simmer, stirring so it does not stick, for 5 minutes, then remove it from the heat and leave for a further 10. Tip out in to a lightly oiled cake tin and leave to cool.

Cut the tomatoes in half. Put them cut-side up in a baking dish or roasting tin and season them with salt, black pepper, thyme and olive oil, then cook them under a pre-heated grill until they are soft and juicy and just starting to colour around the edges.

Get a griddle pan or grill hot. Turn the polenta out of its tin. It should just slide out. Cut eight slices from the loaf, brush them with a very little olive oil and grill them on both sides until they are nicely toasted and neatly crisscrossed with black.

Divide the polenta between four plates, top with the grilled tomatoes and shake over a few drizzles of olive oil.

Red snapper with pea purée (pictured on contents page)

Use whatever fi sh takes your fancy here.

serves 2

green beans - 250g

shelled peas - 250g

olive oil

red snapper fillets or other

flavoursome fish - 450g

lemon to serve

Slice the beans very finely. Blanch them in boiling, lightly salted water. Drain and chill under running water.

Cook the peas in boiling, salted water. Drain. then blitz in a food processor with enough olive oil to make a smooth purée the consistency of mashed potato. You will probably need 2 or 3 tablespoons.

Season the fish and cook either under an overhead grill, or over the coals until a flake of fish can be pulled easily from the bone. The outside should be lightly golden.

Divide the beans between two plates, add a spoonful or two of purée and crown with a piece of fish. Serve with lemon.

Scallop salad with mango and chilli

The best places for sour mangoes are Chinese and (especially) Thai grocers.

serves 2

sour mango - 1

lime - 1

fresh mint - a handful

coriander - a small bunch

celery - 1 large rib

hot, red chillies - 2

nampla (fish sauce) 1 tbs

scallops - 6

fresh ginger - 1 tsp, finely grated

groundnut or vegetable oil - 2 tbs

Peel the mango and cut the flesh away from the stone. Cut into thin strips, like long, thick matchsticks and squeeze over the juice of the lime. Remove the leaves from the mint, tearing them up only if they are very large, and do the same with the coriander. Add both to the mango.

Slice the celery thinly widthways. Finely slice the chillies, removing the seeds if you wish. I must say that for this salad I don't, but then I like it to be quite hot. Toss the celery, chillies and fish sauce gently with the mango. Set aside in the fridge to chill.

Slice the scallops in half horizontally. Stir the ginger into the groundnut oil with a grinding of salt and black pepper. Get the grill hot. Toss the scallops in the oil and leave them for 15 minutes or so.

Divide the salad between two plates or shallow bowls. It is best to do this fi rst as the scallops will be ready in seconds. Put the scallops on the grill, leave for 30 seconds or so till they have very lightly coloured, turn them over and let them colour briefl y. Place the scallops on the salad and eat immediately.