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Cime di rapa

with roast peppers, chickpeas and oregano-baked feta

Serves 2 as a lunch or starter, or 4 as a side

This is a lovely veggie lunch in its own right, or a satisfying summer side to go with a barbecue. Cime di rapa is one of my all-time favourite greens – it has wonderfully sweet and tender leaves and a satisfying bitterness. Translating from Italian as ‘turnip tops’, it is also known as broccoli rabe or rapini, and is great in pasta dishes, on pizza or as a blanched side (dressed with plenty of lovely extra-virgin olive oil) for roasted or barbecued meats or fish.

400g mixed tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

50ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

pinch of dried chilli flakes

2 sprigs of rosemary

1 × 400g tin chickpeas, drained

2 romano peppers (or red bell peppers)

200g block of feta

1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves or 1 tsp dried oregano

pinch of coriander seeds

bunch of cime di rapa (or chard or cavolo nero), bases trimmed and leaves separated from stalks

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7, or if you have one, fire up the wood oven.

2 Place the tomatoes in a roasting tray with the garlic, drizzle over half the olive oil and sprinkle with the chilli flakes, then season well with salt and pepper. Throw the rosemary in the tray and shake everything together, then roast in the oven for 15–20 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened and are starting to char and caramelise. Add the drained chickpeas, toss to combine, then return to the oven for another 10 minutes, until the chickpeas are roasted and are starting to crisp up.

3 In the meantime, char the peppers over a gas flame, on a barbecue or under the grill, until black and soft all over. Remove from the flame, place in a bowl and cover the bowl with cling film. Allow to cool then wipe away the blackened skin with kitchen paper (don’t worry if you can’t get it all off). Remove the seeds and cut the peppers lengthways into long, thin strips.

4 Put the feta on a piece of foil and drizzle over the rest of the olive oil. Scatter over the oregano and coriander seeds and wrap the foil around the feta. Place in the oven or on the embers of the barbecue and cook for 10 minutes, or until starting to turn golden and tender.

5 Bring a large saucepan of well salted water to the boil. Blanche the cime di rapa stalks in the water for a couple of minutes, then add the leaves, cooking both the leaves and stalks for a further minute, then drain. Remove the tomatoes and chickpeas from the oven, add the red peppers and cime di rapa and toss through. Remove the rosemary sprigs and serve with the baked feta on top and some extra olive oil drizzled over.