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As we roll into the laziest, haziest month of the year, here is my annual August nudge for you.

Now is the time to let your hair turn to straw from sea water. Now is the time to pull out your favourite book and turn down its sun-dried pages yet again. Now is the time to play cards, with a glass of something cold, in the last light of the day. Now is the time to go barefoot. Now is the time to create a “read later” folder in your inbox. Now is the time to eat tomatoes on toast, over and over again.

Tomatoes and olive oil are, of course, very good friends but the red gems of summer have an affinity with butter too. Think of Marcella Hazan’s sauce. Think of a tomato tart. Think of butter chicken.

In the context of toast, butter feels just right to me. Especially when that butter is pepped up with anchovies, garlic and lemon. One to repeat, over and over again.

Baguette is my preferred bread for these as the crust to crumb ratio allows you to spoon over as much of the garlicky, lemony anchovy butter as possible (crucial!) while maintaining structure (also crucial!).

For two hungry eaters, three moderate eaters, or as light bites for four:

50g unsalted butter
4 tbsp olive oil
Small tin of anchovies
1 garlic clove
1 unwaxed lemon
1 small baguette or roughly half a larger one*
3-4 vine tomatoes, depending on size
Small bunch of chives

* I find baguette shapes and sizes vary quite considerably from shop to shop, bakery to bakery. If you are left with some baguette, either save the rest for tomorrow’s toast or blitz into breadcrumbs and freeze for meatballs, gratins, crispy pasta toppings and so on.

Gently heat the butter and olive oil in a small pan. Once the butter has melted, add the anchovies and use the end of a wooden spoon to encourage them to break up and almost dissolve into the butter mixture. Finely grate in the garlic and the zest of the lemon, stir, then remove from the heat. Squeeze in the juice of half the lemon and season with lots of coarsely ground black pepper.

Slice the baguette in half through its side and into whatever lengths you like. Toast until golden (I do this using my oven grill because baguette slices are too thick for my toaster - do whatever works for you!). Thinly slice the tomatoes and finely chop the chives.

Pop the toasts onto a large plate or platter and spoon over most of the anchovy butter. Lay the tomato slices on top, each one overlapping slightly like roof tiles. Season the tomatoes with flaky salt and black pepper. Sprinkle with chives and spoon over the last of the anchovy butter.

may I suggest a menu for August

It goes like this. Prosciutto, melon and soft herbs as a fresh, simple start. Then on to one of my very favourite things to cook and eat - parmigiana. Courgette, almond and boiled lemon salad, as well as vinegar leaves, to punctuate bites of parmigiana. And finally, salted date chocolate shards and stone fruit to graze on as drinks are topped up, game rules are explained, cards are dealt, or things are winding down - however you would like your late afternoon/evening to unfold.

The post includes a shopping list, and details on what and when things can be made ahead, if that’s helpful to you.

~ Braised tomatoes, chickpeas & chard

~ Courgette, chive & cheddar soda bread

~ Courgette, bean & tuna salad