I love July! All the sweetest fruits come into season to enjoy; and one of my favourites are apricots. They are light and full of flavour, but can also be very versatile when used in cooking. Teamed with chicken and saffron rice or with a lamb tagine or mid-week curry; apricots highlight fragrance and flavours with a touch of sweetness so well. However, I am going to show you how to bake apricots that can be used as part of a breakfast or light lunch. These beauties are sticky and soft when baked and are truly a plate of sunshine to behold.
Ingredients:
1kg ripe apricots
2 oranges or 4 satsumas
1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp extract
1 sprig rosemary
2 tbsp caster sugar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Halve the apricots and remove the stones (they just pull apart with ease when ripe). Lay them all in a roasting or oven proof tray facing up. Split and scrape in the vanilla including the pod. Using a veg peeler zest off the oranges and add this into the tray, together with the juices. Pop in the rosemary (this adds a lovely fragrance), and sprinkle over the sugar.
Bake in the oven for around 20minutes, or until they are squidgy and syrupy.
Serve warm on yoghurt and granola for breakfast.
Serve on top of ice cream as a cheeky mid-week treat.
Serve over a rocket and watercress salad with mozzarella and toasted almonds.
Serve on rivita smeared with cream cheese or whipped feta.
However you choose to enjoy these sweet jewels please do tag me in @goodevanskitchen.
They keep in the fridge covered for up to 3 days.