Vegetables to grow in your garden and summer recipes to try with your harvest

If green is the dominant colour of the spring vegetable garden, the entire colour spectrum is on display in summer, when the longer days and warmer temperatures encourage vegetables to flourish.

The abundance of summer produce is the highlight of the growing year. Juicy ripe tomatoes, sweet peppers and tender aubergines are all integral ingredients in Italian home cooking, and they will not taste more delicious at any other time of year.

Vegetables from an Italian Garden showcases some of the most inventive ways of cooking summer vegetables with season-by-season recipes from the Silver Spoon Kitchen. Cold cucumber cream soup or fennel and pink grapefruit make refreshing dishes for dining al fresco. Peppers can be combined with eggs, olives, and capers, stuffed or used in risotto and young courgettes can be added to flans or made into pesto with almonds and mint, while their flowers are widely used in salads or stuffed and served as a first course.

For tips on growing your own vegetables follow the link to the Vegetables from an Italian Garden Harvest Chart.