grilled chilli dressing

method

Fantastic with crunchy root vegetable salads and strong-flavoured herbs.
Prick the chillies with the tip of a sharp knife – this stops them popping or exploding when they are cooked. Hold your chillies, one at a time, with a pair of metal tongs in a gas flame until they’re blackened and blistered all over. If you don’t have a gas hob, pop them under a hot grill instead. Place the chillies in a small bowl, cover with cling film and leave for 15 minutes. This way they will steam in their own heat and the skins will peel off very easily.

Peel the chillies, open them up and scrape out all the white seeds. Discard these, then finely chop the flesh of the chillies. Put in a mixing bowl, add the oil, lemon juice and mint, and mix well. Season to taste.

• from Cook With Jamie

serves:

ingredients

• 3 fresh red chillies
• 10 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• a small bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper