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Its summer and, for once, we really have had some summer weather. I find that I am less motivated to cook when it is warm so simple, throw it all in one pan, recipes are very appealing...oh wait...simple, throw it all in one pan, recipes are very appealing to me all year round!

Nigel Slater is noted for the simplicity of his recipes, he cleverly combines a few key ingredients to create delicious dishes you want to make again and again. The August chapter of The Kitchen Diaries II features a number of ingredients that are not quite ready yet in Scotland, but tomatoes are at their peak and I can hardly keep up with my pots of herbs as they are loving the warm weather.

Nigel suggests chicken thighs for this recipe, but I bought a whole chicken and jointed it, I also used some green olives rather than the black ones in the recipe as I had half a jar left over from another dish.

Its a great recipe, just brown the chicken and throw in the tomatoes, garlic and olives and thyme. put it in the oven and leave it to cook. I did cover it with foil after about 10 minutes because the olives were drying out, the chicken was lovely and moist and the we mopped up the juices with some mediterranean bread.

Enter Dish of the Month in August for a chance to #WIN a copy of Nigel Slaters Real Fast Food. This is a classic Nigel Slater book suitable for beginners and experienced cooks. This giveaway is run in good faith and only open to those resident in the UK. The winner will be picked at random using the random number generator. Sue, from A little Heaven on a Plate, and I will be excluded from the draw.

If you would like to take part, then please:

• Make a Dish of the Month from ANY recipe by Nigel Slater
• Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen or A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate
• Use the Dish of the Month logo in your post
• If you use twitter, tweet your post with @serialcrafter or @Heavenona_plate and #DishoftheMonth and we will re-tweet it to our followers.

Rules:

• If you own The kitchen diaries II please do not publish the recipes on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
• If you are using recipes from the BBC Food website, please link to the recipe on BBC Food rather than publishing the recipe. Likewise recipes on the Guardian Lifestyle website.
• One entry per blog.
• Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

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Its another really not very glamourous dish, but we enjoyed it very much. I will never say no to cheese, Im afraid.

6 to 8 servings
2 hours 20 minutes - not including boiling the beans


Boil the Beans:
450 grams (1 pound) white pea (navy) beans

Rinse and pick over the beans. Put them in a large pot with plenty of water to cover them. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat and cover them; soak them overnight. The next day bring them to a boil again and simmer them until tender.

Bake the Beans:
1 large carrot
2 medium onions
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
3 cups tomato sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon rubbed basil
1 tablespoon rubbed oregano
250 grams (1/2 pound) old cheddar cheese
2 cups water from cooking the beans

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Peel and grate the carrot. Peel and chop the onions. Heat the oil in a large skillet, and cook the onion and carrot until soft. Mix the drained beans, the carrots and onions, the tomato sauce and the seasonings in a large baking dish. Grate the cheese and mix in about two-thirds of it. Gently mix in 2 cups of water left from cooking the beans.

Bake the beans, uncovered, at 350°F for about an hour to an hour and a quarter. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and return to the oven for another 30 to 45 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and browing around the edges.





Last year at this time I made Rohkostsalat.

Heres another great recipe from one of my favorite Chefs, Lidia Bastianich.  This one comes from her newest cookbook, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy and can be found here on her website.  I was lucky enough to catch her making this one on tv and I made it the next day.  It seems like the temperature and cooking time needed to be a little higher and longer than the recipe states.  I wanted my tomatoes to have a nice brown color on the breadcrumbs.  It may just have been my oven but after about 15-20 minutes I raised the temperature to 400 and baked until they were golden. Lidia suggests topping the pasta with ricotta salata or ricotta.  I think the ricotta salata would be great but I didnt have any. The dish was still fantastic and I think a firm cheese like the ricotta salata would be even better.



Pasta with Baked Cherry Tomatoes

Serves 6



3 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
⅓ cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta pot
¼ teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste
1 pound spaghetti, gemelli, or penne
10 plump garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
½ cup pecorino, freshly grated, plus more for passing
4 ounces ricotta, or ricotta salata

Directions:

Arrange a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees.

Toss the cherry-tomato halves in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sprinkle over tomatoes the bread crumbs, salt, and peperoncino; toss well to coat the tomatoes evenly. Pour the tomatoes onto the parchment-lined sheet, and spread them apart in a single layer. Bake until the tomatoes are shriveled and lightly caramelized (but not dried out), about 25 minutes in all.

Meanwhile, fill the large pot with salted water, and heat to a rolling boil. When the tomatoes are nearly done, drop the pasta into the pot, stir, and return the water to a boil.

As soon as the pasta is cooking, pour the remaining olive oil into the big skillet, set it over medium- high heat, and scatter in the sliced garlic. Cook for a minute or two, until it is sizzling and lightly colored, then ladle in about 2 cups of the pasta cooking water, and bring to a vigorous boil, stirring up the garlic. Let half the water evaporate, then lower the heat, stir in the chopped parsley, and keep the sauce barely simmering.

As soon as the tomatoes are done, remove them from the oven.

When the pasta is al dente, lift it from the water, drain for a moment, and drop it into the skillet, still over low heat. Toss pasta quickly with the garlic-and- parsley sauce in the pan, then slide the baked tomatoes on top of the pasta. Scatter the basil shreds all over, and toss everything together well, until the pasta is evenly dressed and the tomatoes are distributed throughout. Turn off the heat, sprinkle on the grated cheese, and toss once more.

Mound the pasta in a warmed serving bowl. Shred the ricotta all over the top of the pasta, and serve immediately.

This is such an easy method for making eggs, that you can not even call it a recipe. It would be great for any breakfast buffet...even for a crowd. It is delicious and requires only a couple ingredients. I hope you try it.

Put an un-greased cupcake or muffin pan into a pre-heated 400F oven (to let it get good and hot). When the pan is very hot, increase your oven temperature to 450F and remove the pan. Working quickly, spray the pan with a little vegetable spray and line each muffin cup with a slice of thin sliced deli ham (see note). Crack an egg into each ham lined cup and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Bake in the 450F oven for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are set.