Apple, greengage & pumpkin-seed salad

Summer

Do you know what happens when you dress apples in lots of lemon juice? It brings out a secret flavour in them, a beautiful flavour that I can never quite place. It’s somewhere between roses and cicely, I think, but I can’t be sure. Greengages are small plums. They’re juicy and sweet and work really well with the crunch of the apple. I’ve added toasted pumpkin seeds to this recipe, and fresh tarragon – a brilliant herb to use with apples.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 dessert apples
juice of ½ lemon
8 ripe greengages, or other ripe plums
1 large tarragon sprig, leaves picked
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons runny honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
pinch of salt

Method

Using a sharp paring knife or a mandoline, slice the apples into rounds as thinly as you can – ideally about 1–2mm (1⁄32–1⁄16in) thick. Remove the pips from the slices as necessary (you don’t need to remove the core – it’s totally edible).

Divide the apple slices equally between two large plates, then drizzle over half the lemon juice.

Slice the greengages or plums into 1–3mm (1⁄32–1⁄8in) slices and scatter them over the apple. Tear over the tarragon leaves, sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds, and drizzle over the honey and olive oil. Trickle a little of the remaining lemon juice over each plate and finish off with a tiny pinch of salt.

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