Last week we had a surplus of small, soft, tomatoes and a couple of older peppers. So I used them with some onion and garlic to make what amounted to vegetable jam, only without any added sugar. It is dead easy.

Quarter any normal size tomatoes, and skin them if you can be bothered. Chop the pepper into 2cm pieces. Sweat a chopped onion and some garlic (as much as you like) in a tablespoon of olive oil until going translucent. Add the tomatoes and pepper. (You could add any other veg, like courgette, fennel, aubergine. I’d avoid mushrooms as they’ll make the mixture a less appetising dark colour.) Season with fresh ground black pepper, add some chopped herbs and half a glass of cooking brandy. Leave to simmer gently until the tomatoes are breaking down and everything is reducing – probably about 30 minutes. When cooked, allow to cool before putting it in the fridge.

This will keep 2-3 days in the fridge; or you could eat it hot, like ratatouille.

I used ours to make a tart. Drain any excess liquid from the tomato mix. Put the mix in a blind-baked tart case and dot with dollops of Boursin cheese (or any cheese of your choice). Ours made a 20cm square flan tin and used just over half a Boursin. Bake for 20-30 minutes in an oven at about 200°C until golden; cover with foil if necessary as the Boursin tends to blacken easily. The tart is best enjoyed warm or cold, with some green salad and a glass of light white wine.