When I find myself with an abundance of radishes, I love to ferment them. There’s something so magical about the transformation—they take on a tangy, more delicate flavour that elevates salads, rice bowls, and vegetable stir-fries. I think they taste even better fermented than they do raw.

Recently, though, I discovered the joys of roasting them. Now I can’t stop adding them to everything I can think of. They’re perfect alongside a comforting roast dinner, tossed into a creamy pasta dish, or simply scattered on top of creamy, garlicky kefir labneh with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds (like in this little side dish), where their natural sweetness and subtle smokiness shine through.

SERVES 2 AS A STARTER

INGREDIENTS:

• 150ml kefir labneh (a thick greek yoghurt would also make a nice substitute)
• 2 x cloves of garlic
• 150g radishes
• Olive oil
• Handful of black sesame seeds
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• Squeeze of lemon

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Chop the radishes in half and toss in bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Place the radishes on a baking tray and then into the oven.
4. After 10 minutes or so, turn the radishes over.
5. Check on the radishes after another 5 minutes and if they are nice and crispy looking remove from the oven, if not leave for 5 minutes or so.
6. When the radishes are starting to brown, remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
7. Finely chop or crush the garlic cloves into the labneh and mix well with a squeeze of lemon, drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Taste, and add more oil, salt or pepper if needed.
8. Using the back of a spoon, spread the kefir onto a pretty saucer with a slight dip in the middle for the radishes to sit in.
9. Place the radishes on top of the labneh.
10. Sprinkle with back sesame seeds, salt pepper and add another drizzle of olive oil and another squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve alongside a main meal with a salad, or with with chunky slices of crusty sourdough bread.

I first stumbled upon this perfect pairing of roasted radishes and labneh one summer in Provence, when I went a little overboard at the local supermarché and found myself with an abundance of radishes.

The mosquitos that year were merciless – no matter what I did, they found me, even through layers of clothing and the strongest citronella. I started to wonder if my blood was simply too sweet, a byproduct of the local cantaloupe I was devouring daily. Every corner of Provence seemed to have a stand piled high with these fragrant, sun-ripened melon treasures.

Having recently listened to a gut health doctor explain how bitter foods would help reduce sugar cravings, I decided I needed to eat more radishes in a bid to stop me eating melon all day long, make my blood less desirable and hopefully stop me being such a mosquito magnet.

With two Kilner jars full of radishes fermenting away, I still had more to use. The thought crossed my mind: Can you roast radishes? I tapped into google and well yes, you can, and they are very, very delicious.

Some of the spicy bitterness fresh radishes have disappears in the roasting process and (if you’re cooking the pink magenta ones), they emerge from the oven a beautiful deep purple colour, almost looking like grapes.

At the same time, my kefir was thriving in the Provence heat, multiplying vigorously everyday. I strained a big batch to make labneh and added a whole head of crushed garlic cloves for an extra layer of flavour – and, hopefully, another defence against the mosquitoes.