Our kitchen is overflowing with more and more colour every day! My baskets are getting filled with so many fresh and colourful fruits and vegetables. Tutti i colori del mondo! Summer has arrived for good and it has come bearing gifts, the most beautiful and delicious fruits and vegetables!

When you have your own veggie garden, you can’t help but get carried away and plant too many vegetable and fruit seeds, so you end up having so much more than you can actually consume. Having a large produce isn’t that big of a deal though, as giving super fresh products away to family and friends always brings me joy. Another fact that those of us who own a veggie garden know all too well is that when you pick your fresh and clean vegetables and fruits, you feel like it’s your duty to use them in your cooking almost right away so that they won’t lose their freshness and nutritional value! If you are like me and you enjoy taking pictures of them as well, then you also know how important it is for them to be extra fresh and vibrant!

When you go grocery shopping, you usually have a list of all the things that you need for your cooking and adjust the quantities accordingly. But having a veggie garden means that, quite often, it’s harvest time for so many of your products, green beans, zucchinis, zucchini blossoms, long peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers.. So many wonderful products, so little time!

It’s picking and sharing time for us at least twice every week, all year long! What a beautiful mess! Baskets are filled with fresh vegetables and given away to family and friends. The remaining products have to be cooked while they’re still fresh, but first I’ll have to decide which recipe I’m going to make and of course, I’ll play around with them in a fun food styling and food photography session!

My collection of cookbooks, all of my notebooks with handwritten recipes and the endless binders with recipes I’ve gathered throughout the years are always on standby, as I’m constantly on the hunt for different, new ideas that can be combined and create something a bit more original, a bit more me. The process of combining different ideas and turning them into something new, something closer to my own personal taste and vision, makes me feel very creative and I love it!

Colourful peppers, wonderful tomatoes and super fresh mini aubergines are overflowing my kitchen counter today.. What’s better than that? There are so many ways of combining these delicious vegetables but today, my mind is set on a recipe that I find perfect for summer. Baked vegetables au gratin! You might be wondering; and what exactly is Au Gratin? It’s a French technique in which the food is cooked in high heat, usually in the oven, until it forms a golden crust. The ingredients are usually covered with cheese or/and a sauce that helps the crust to form. Sounds amazing, right?

I believe that the secret to this dish’s success lies in the topping. I never use store-bought toast bread as I find that it just makes my vegetables tasteless and dry. I make my topping with my favourite ciabatta bread which will really make all the difference. The tastier the bread, the more delicious the final result. Adding some flavourful oil, garlic, parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper will upgrade your topping to the perfect treat. It’s so tasty and inviting, especially when combined with some wonderful, fresh vegetables.

It’s a really beautiful, delicious, colourful and healthy dish for your summer menus and the perfect companion for a glass of wine. If there is any left, which I find high unlikely, save it for the next day and you won’t be disappointed, it’ll be just as delicious!