Dazz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz

The warm weather continues, even if officially we've reached the end of summer. The temperatures have seen me staying undercover during the hot parts of the day. The garden keeps producing tomatoes, peppers and courgettes and lots of weeds, while the cicadas are getting louder.

But not everything is going that well, as the high humidity has caused some problems with the microgreens in the form of mould and fungus attacking some varieties.

Diligence and increased air circulation have helped, as well as organic mould inhibitors – but really, a change to less humid weather is the best solution.

Meanwhile, the cicada noise and baking hot days take me back to the joys of eating cold, cooked vegetable dishes, drowning in olive oil, in the tavernas and restaurants in Greece.

Ladera, briam, skordalia – interesting names for vegetarian dishes that were so welcome after a swim in the ocean and a wander down the beach and a nice glass of wine.

Back in the real world, I gather up some courgettes, capsicums, large tomatoes and heirloom cherries, along with some fresh mint, basil and some red rascal potatoes – ready to create this week's dish.

Retreating from the midday heat is a great time to prepare and cook dinner, and slow-baking brings out the flavours of summer you can eat warm but also taste awesome cold.

Mediterranean ladera

Ingredients

6 large potatoes

8-10 courgettes

1 large red onion

2-3 gloves garlic, crushed

4-6 ripe, firm tomatoes

3-4 capsicums

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup chopped mint

½ cup chopped parsley

Freshly-ground black pepper

Sea salt flakes

Optional:

A few cherry tomatoes

Feta for garnish

Method

Slice all of the vegetables as thin as you can, and keep separate using a kitchen mandolin or slicer. Place the sliced potatoes and courgettes in different bowls. Add the chopped parsley and seasoning to the potatoes and half of the olive oil, which has the freshly-crushed garlic added to it; then mix well. Add the chopped mint to the courgettes, plus the seasoning and the rest of the olive oil.

In a large baking dish, arrange the slices, starting with the potatoes, then a layer of the courgettes followed by some sliced tomatoes, capsicums and onions. Spread these out more thinly than the potatoes or courgettes. Repeat the process, pressing down firmly with each layer so the oil soaks into every layer.

Bake at 150 degrees Celsius for four hours. Remove from the oven and test to see if all layers are cooked right through. Serve warm, or cold once its set. Garnish with semi-dried cherry tomatoes and crumbles of feta.