Serves 6

3 fresh red chillies

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3½ Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 small bunch fresh mint, leaves picked and finely chopped

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Prick the chillies with the tip of a sharp knife – this stops them popping or exploding when they are cooked. The best way to blacken the chillies is to hold them with a metal pair of tongs directly into a gas flame obviously if that isn’t possible pop them uder a hot grill. You want the skin to blacken and blister all over.  Place the chillies in a small bowl, cover with cling film and leave for 15 minutes. This way they will steam in their own heat and the skins will peel off very easily. First this stage I would recommend using gloves at this stage to peel the chillies, open them up and scrape out all the white seeds. Discard these, then finely chop the flesh of the chillies. Put in a mixing bowl, add the oil, lemon juice and mint, and mix well. Season to taste and serve.

You can omit the mint and add coriander or flat leaf parsley if desired.