Courgette, fennel, roasted garlic and ricotta salad

Having moved from London to Yorkshire four years ago, I’m discovering what rural cooking and sourcing ingredients really means. With farmers working in all directions, our area is dotted with weekly markets and there’s a staggering coastline with fish shacks to drool over. Our nearest shop is several miles away, so we have to travel farther to find what’s worth eating. We are now growing some of our own vegetables, motivated by being able to pick them fresh, and friends share their own homegrown produce with us. This is the time of year for a lovely late-summer feast.

It’s a yearly surprise how many courgettes appear from one plant. I love picking them when they’re small for salads and pastas, but this stage doesn’t last long. So when I miss them at this size, they get slow-cooked or preserved. Jarred courgettes last for weeks, drinking up olive oil and softening into silky ribbons.