​Shareable plates made for sunny days with friends.

Grilled lamb shoulder over garlicky tomatoes

This dish is impossibly easy to throw together, and lamb shoulder is a delightfully forgiving cut on the grill – zero experience required.

INGREDIENTS

1.25kg boneless lamb shoulder

12 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

60ml (¼ cup) olive oil, plus extra for cooking

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1kg very ripe tomatoes, sliced 2cm thick

4 green garlic stalks (garlic shoots), thinly sliced, or 2 garlic cloves, finely grated

2 tbsp lemon juice, white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar

flaky sea salt

lemony aioli, full-fat Greek-style yoghurt or labne, to serve (optional)

salsa verde, to serve (optional)

flatbreads, to serve (optional)

METHOD

1. Using a knife, separate the lamb shoulder where it naturally wants to separate, into three or four smaller pieces (almost like a few lamb steaks), to ensure even cooking on the grill.

2. Mix the anchovies and olive oil. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and smear the anchovy mixture over. Leave for at least 30 minutes, uncovered and refrigerated.

3. Heat a barbecue grill or chargrill pan to medium-high. (Alternatively, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large cast-iron frypan over medium-high heat.)

4. Grill the meat on the hottest part of the grill until deeply and evenly charred, 5-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of each piece, flipping frequently to avoid burning. (Or sear in the frypan until golden brown on all sides, 3-5 minutes each side.) Transfer the lamb to a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, place the tomatoes on a large serving platter and season with salt and pepper. Scatter with the garlic, sprinkle with the lemon juice and set aside.

6. Thinly slice the meat and place immediately atop the tomatoes, letting the juices mingle. Sprinkle with flaky salt.

Serves 6-8

Zucchini with basil, parmesan and toasted buckwheat

Zucchini is, admittedly, pretty boring. So what's it doing here? Turns out, if you dress it with enough lemon juice and salty fish sauce, and blanket it with parmesan, oniony chives, and very crunchy things like buckwheat, it's better than tolerable – it's amazing. This salad is best dressed when you're ready to serve so you don't lose texture and flavour.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp buckwheat kernels (also known as buckwheat groats) or pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

2 medium zucchini, very thinly sliced

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp fish sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 good hunk of parmesan cheese, for grating

olive oil, for drizzling

3 tbsp finely chopped chives

3 tbsp torn basil leaves

3 tbsp parsley, tender leaves and stems

METHOD

1. Toast the buckwheat in a small frypan over medium heat, tossing frequently until golden brown and starting to smell like popcorn, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. Toss the zucchini with the lemon juice and fish sauce in a large bowl, and season with salt and pepper.

3. Scatter the zucchini on a large serving platter or in a shallow bowl. Grate the parmesan over, drizzle with olive oil and top with the buckwheat and herbs.

Serves 4-6

This is an edited extract from Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman published by Hardie Grant Books ($45), photos Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott.