The recipe
Weigh 250g of greengages, remove their stems and cut each fruit in half. Tweak out the stone and place the fruit, cut side up, on a foil-lined grill pan or baking sheet. Sugar the fruit generously with 2 tbsp of caster sugar. Get an oven grill hot, then place the fruit under the grill and cook for 7-10 minutes until soft and lightly caramelised.
Put 50g of jumbo oats and 100g of porridge oats in a shallow pan and toast over a moderate heat until their colour is golden and they smell warm and nutty. Shake the pan from time to time so they toast evenly.
Tip the oats into a mixing bowl and pour 300ml of apple juice over them. Leave the oats to soften and swell for 20 minutes. Roughly chop 4 tbsp of shelled pistachios, and stir 3 of them into the oats, reserving the last.
Stir 250g of strained yoghurt into the oats with a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of maple syrup depending on how sweet you like your oats. Leave the bottle on the table for everyone to help themselves to more.
Spoon the greengages on to the oats and trickle any juices from the grill pan over the fruit. Serves 4
It is a good idea to soak the oats the night before, leaving them to soften overnight.
Plums of most varieties will work here, but they should be ripe. If not, then poach them in a little honey and vanilla instead of cooking under the grill.
A scattering of toasted flaked almonds adds an extra crunch here, instead of, or as well as, the pistachios. The pistachios are fine as they are, but flaked almonds always need toasting in a dry pan or under the grill to bring out their flavour.
To veganise this, use a coconut-based dairy product instead of the yoghurt.
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