These hot red roasted little morsels, and their cooler tangy sauce go well with all kinds of white fish, or chicken – especially Chicken Schnitzels Splendid with Seeds.

They’re also good, off the vine, as an intriguing, but simple tapas, served with fresh, hot crusty bread.

The lemon-thyme yoghurt sauce goes well with all sorts of vegetables – with Juicy Smoked Spanish Sweet and Sour Red Peppers, for instance, with roast aubergine, or with green beans.

Recipe for roasted baby plum tomatoes with lemon-thyme yoghurt

Serves 2 (as an accompaniment)

Ingredients

• 250g/9 oz baby plum tomatoes
• 3 tbps olive oil
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp light brown sugar
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with ½ tsp salt
• a few sprigs of thyme – and ideally the odd flower for garnish
• 2 tsps dried oregano
• zest of half a lemon
• 240 ml/1 cup thick Greek yoghurt
• pinch of Urfa pepper flakes

Method

1. Take the yoghurt out of the fridge.
2. Preheat the oven to 210°C.
3. Put the tomatoes in a small roasting tin or a round, ovenproof dish.
4. Add about two tablespoons of olive oil, the sugar, cumin seeds, about half the thyme, the dried oregano, the garlic, and the Urfa pepper flakes. You can mix in a separate bowl first, but it will be more washing up!
5. Muddle gently to cover the tomatoes with the oily mixture.
6. Put in the oven for about 20 minutes.
7. Meanwhile mix the yoghurt with the leaves of all but two of the sprigs of thyme, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Garnish with the remaining sprigs and the lemon zest.
8. Serve the hot tomatoes direct from the oven, together with the thyme yoghurt.