Summer romance: Simon Hopkinson's simple summer lunch recipes

My walks (and talks) along the Thames with my friend Rose, as I mentioned last week, often inform my choice of meal later that day. One recent debate on the subject of cucumber is a case in point. For me, this vegetable is the very essence of summer eating – as an accompaniment to a classic poached salmon (hot or cold), I'd be hard-pushed to improve on a little slice of cucumber sidling up to a pearly-pink sliver from a wild fish – but while discussing the matter I was reminded of the happy textural marriage of slippery curls of squid and crisp cucumber that I first tasted in a Thai salad in the mid-80s. Although the little plateful quite blew my head off, it was so deliciously fresh that I found it impossible to stop eating.

All recipes serve four.

Squid, cucumber, radish and cashew nuts with citrus-chilli dressing

This offering won't reduce the eater to the wilting, damp rag that was the uninitiated me at Chiang Mai on Frith Street circa 1985, but rather make you gently glow.

700g cleaned squid, cut into fine rings and the tentacles halved
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
1 cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthways and seeds removed
12 radishes, quartered
6 spring onions, trimmed and diagonally sliced
1 handful each fresh mint and coriander leaves
2 tbsp unsalted cashew nuts, dry toasted in a pan with a little salt, then crushed

For the dressing
2-3 large mild red chillies, chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
Juice of 2 limes
Juice of 1 small orange
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp syrup from a jar of stem ginger

Whizz all the dressing ingredients in a food processor until the chillies are very finely chopped, and set aside.

Put the squid in a saucepan and just cover with water. Add the salt and vinegar, bring slowly to a simmer, cook for two minutes, then drain and leave to cool. Arrange the cucumber, radishes, spring onions and herb leaves on a serving dish, then evenly distribute the squid over the top. Spoon on the dressing, mix gently with a fork, sprinkle over the cashew nuts and serve at once.

Tagliatelle with runner beans

The bright, almost grassy flavour of the runner bean is underemployed as a green vegetable to accompany a summer Sunday roast, but surely it could become much more than this. Which is how I came up with the idea for this dish – I like to imagine the hint of English mint would thrill all of Chiantishire.

400g runner beans, cut lengthways in a bean slicer (mine's a Krisk, which is all of £4.99 from John Lewis and Lakeland)
200g good-quality egg tagliatelle (the Cipriani brand is excellent)
1 handful each fresh basil and mint

For the pasta dressing
300ml whipping cream
150g light cream cheese
½ tsp Maldon salt
Freshly ground white pepper
25g butter
1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed to a paste with a little salt
Nutmeg
40g parmesan, plus extra for serving

Put all the dressing ingredients in a medium pan, slowly bring to a simmer, gently whisking to melt everything together, then set aside.

Put a large bowl of water in the sink and add two handfuls of ice cubes. Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, tip in the beans and cook until just tender. With a slotted spoon, lift out the beans and immerse in the iced water. Once cold, drain, keeping the cooking water, and tip the beans back into the bowl, and put the bowl in the sink.

Check there aren't any stray bits of cooked bean in the cooking water, then bring it back to a boil and cook the pasta until just al dente. With the colander over the bean bowl, drain the pasta – this reheats the beans – then carefully lift the now hot bean bowl from the sink, put the colander in its place and drain the beans back over the pasta. Tip back into the bowl, pour in the dressing and toss until the beans and pasta are well distributed. Scatter over the mint and serve with extra parmesan.

Blueberry crumble

I do not understand the modern taste for raw blueberries. I grew up in the north of England with their close cousin, the whimberry, which only really gives up its copious juices and glorious scent when cooked with sugar. Likewise, a blueberry crumble is a thing of beauty, with the deepest purple bubble of juice coming up and around the crusting edge.

100g cold, unsalted butter, cubed
75g golden caster sugar, plus a little extra for sprinkling
175g plain flour
Salt
500g blueberries
1 tbsp caster sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
25g cold, unsalted butter, sliced thin

Heat the oven to 180C/375F/gas mark 4. Put the cubed butter, caster sugar, flour and salt in a big bowl, and rub with the tips of the fingers until the mixture is a sandy texture rubbled with randomly sized tiny bits of butter. Put to one side.

Tip the blueberries into an oval, ovenproof dish, add a tablespoon of sugar and the lemon juice, and stir. Gently press the fruit down into an even-ish layer – don't leave many gaps, otherwise the crumble will trickle down into the fruit. Dot with sliced butter, then dot spoonfuls of crumble mix on top, allowing each one to settle before adding the next: the surface should resemble lumpy little sand dunes. Evenly sprinkle with sugar and bake for 40 minutes, until pale golden and crisp. Eat lukewarm – the correct temperature for all crumble – and serve with very cold double cream.