There’s absolutely no doubt that Yotam Ottolenghi makes exceedingly good salads, and his castelluccio lentils with tomatoes and gorgonzola is one of my absolute favourites. it’s reasonably easy to throw together and is jam-packed full of fresh herbs, salty cheese, nutty lentils and sweet oven roasted tomatoes. In a word, it’s delicious.

The recipe, calls for castelluccio lentils. I’ve made this salad so many times, and have always used a tin of puy lentils, I didn’t even realise that I should have been using something else. Whoops! And having made my own oven roasted tomatoes on a number of occasions, if I’m feeling a bit lazy, I skip this part of the recipe altogether and buy some sun-blushed tomatoes instead.there’s nothing wrong with a bit of cheating every now and again.

The first time I made this, I thought using dill, chives and parsley would perhaps be an overkill of herbs, but they compliment each other beautifully. to be quite honest, there’s nothing I don’t like about this dish, I could eat it over and over again and never tire of it.

I served it with a piece of salmon and new potatoes, but it makes a delicious side dish to most summer mealtimes, and the husband took leftovers and a couple of pittas for his lunch the next day.

The verdict from the cook: ‘Mmmm, I love this.’