Food & drink

This recipe has been a fan favourite for over a decade. Cut it into slices for the kids or into tiny squares as a treat with your cuppa. It also freezes well, so you can stash a few squares away for when no one is looking.

This hearty soup is a proper hug in a mug. The ricotta and Parmesan topping really fulfills the 'lasagne' promise, but if you don’t want to bother you can just top it with grated cheese and it’ll still be a winner. The super-cheesy garlicky toasties are a good addition to any tomatoey soup — or just eat them on their own!

This is not exactly the same as perhaps the most precious recipe in my repertoire, My Mother’s Praised Chicken, which found a home in my eighth book, Kitchen, but it owes a lot to it. A family favourite, it’s a simple one-pot dish which brings comfort and joy, and it is my pleasure to share that with you.

I have been making a banana bread with chocolate and tahini on repeat for a while now, and every time I’ve eaten it over the last year or so, I couldn’t help thinking that the particular combination of intense chocolatiness, sweet, texture-softening banana and the rich earthiness of tahini would make the perfect warm pudding.

Sausage rolls will always be über-cool, no matter what anyone says. They're always the first to be nabbed at morning tea, classily dressed-up with a generous splurt of store-bought tomato sauce... crispy, juicy little taste bombs. 

A fruity dish from Ottolenghi Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage.

A vegetarian recipe that is simply as good as any steak (with mash), if not better.

With red pesto-layered filo, Cheddar and cottage cheese.

With fragrant spices, tomatoes, cashew butter and yoghurt.

With cajun spice, mango, sweet cherry tomatoes and lime.

One of the rather pathetic realities of the fact that so many of the restaurants in France are disappointing these days is the almost tearful joy in finding one that’s everything you would have hoped for, often from your childhood or teenage memories. Such a place is Le Bistro du Paradou near Arles.

Sprouts (and the whole brassica family) go fantastically with Asian flavours. Out of season, use a mix of the rest of the brassicas – broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, spring greens etc. You could also make a spring version with asparagus and peas.

We ate many dishes similar to this while spending time in Italy and they were all different depending on the part of Tuscany that we were in. This is our version of a Tuscan chicken casserole and it’s very moreish and flavoursome. I love it in the winter and any leftovers get tossed through some pasta the next day.

With root veg, porcini mushrooms, marmite & crispy rosemary.

Try this free recipe from Country Women’s Association Preserves.

This is a great Nordic recipe — the tartness of the citrus cuts through what would otherwise be the overbearing sweetness of the shortbread. The flavours complement each other brilliantly . . . it’s definitely a combination made in Valhalla. We’ve decorated it with preserved lemon slices, which you can buy from any good gourmet or speciality food store.

Being a huge fan of cabinet food, we were looking for a good gluten-free, vegetarian alternative to potato cakes to serve for lunch straight out of the cabinet. 

One of Palestine’s national dishes, where chicken is cooked and served with layers of olive-oil-drenched flatbread.

A fish dish that can be on the table less than fifteen minutes after you’ve started making it.

A cheesecake recipe that is sweet, of course, but at the same time punchy and totally distinct.

The beauty of a frittata is that anything goes – really, it does! In this case, broccoli is the star, but let whatever is in your fridge take the lead. Always aim for some green as it’s often the green veg that most of us could do with more of.

I absolutely love the flavour and texture combination of this salad. Halloumi is not often used in my kitchen, but it is underrated, and magically adds the squeak to this dish.

These little meatballs have a great flavour to them and can also be served as a canapé with the yoghurt dressing – just serve on a platter with toothpicks and the dressing in a little dipping bowl to the side. The meatballs can also be frozen once rolled, so it’s great to make up plenty of them and have some in the freezer to call on for an easy week-night dinner.

This moreish slice is fabulous with a cup of tea to give you an energy boost mid-afternoon or as a decadent after-dinner treat.