Chocolate Pear Pudding
This is a cross between Pears Belle Helene and Eve's Pudding, but the only important thing to remember is that this is easy, quick, very comforting and seems to please absolutely everyone. It's not ha…
Storecupboard Recipes
Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
Although I first came up with this recipe because I had someone coming for supper who — genuinely — couldn't eat wheat or dairy, it is so meltingly good, I now make it all the time for those whose lif…
Chocolate Olive Oil Mousse
I first came across a version of this voluptuously soft, rich chocolate mousse at Morito, one of my favourite places to eat in London. Then — as these things tend to happen — I started finding it ever…
Marshmallow Crispy Squares
You'd think this was designed to keep the children happy, and while that's OK with me, it is the adults who seem to find this particuarly irresistible. If I can find a tub of edible disco glitter in o…
Chocolate Rice Krispie Squares
I do love to plant this chocolate bed of Rice Krispies with flowers! Sugarcraft shops, and some supermarkets, sell sugar or crystallised flowers; and the foil tray I use measures 32 x 20cm, but you co…
Cauliflower, Garlic and Turmeric Soup
Packed full of vegetables and phytonutrients, it is undeniably true that this soup is both soothing and bolstering as well as easy and gratifying to eat. Baking the garlic gives a lot of depth while t…
Spinach and Coconut Soup
This is an almost instant, super soothing supper made easily from store cupboard ingredients. I have stipulated two tablespoons of Thai green curry paste, but do be prepared to add more if you like a…
Lentils with Tamarind and Dates
I love this dal-inspired combination of earthy lentils, sour tamarind and sweet dates. It's so full of tang and flavour that you really need eat nothing else with it, save some flatbread or naan, thou…
Soda Bread Buns With Fennel Seeds And Cranberries
I recommend eating one of these for breakfast with lots of unsalted butter, which gives all the sweetness I need, but if you want a sweeter bun, add 50ml runny honey along with the yogurt and egg. Lik…
Sweet Potato, Ginger And Orange Soup
I have this regularly for supper, and I tend to make life easier for myself by always having a stash of baked sweet potatoes in the fridge. If you don't, I advise baking the potatoes the night before,…
Split Pea Soup With Chilli, Ginger And Lime
This is one of those thick, wintry soups made spiky and fresh with chilli, ginger and lime. It has the hit of a hot and sour soup, but the nubbliness of the split peas gives those clear, piercing flav…
Butternut and Chick Pea Soup With Bulgur Wheat
This is a comforting, deeply flavoured meal of a soup. I love an Italian minestrone, and I wanted to make a soup that drew on that, but within a different flavour range. So here the sweetness of onion…
Drunken Noodles
The general explanation given why Thai drunken noodles are so called is that they have enough chilli in them to shake you out of even the worst hangover. This is my simplified version. I've cut to the…
Strapatsada
This is a Greek recipe — actually, strictly speaking, it's Italian, or of Italian derivation: strapazzare meaning, in the context of eggs, "to scramble". And really that's what this is: eggs scrambled…
Penne Alla Vodka
As with all dishes that find their way into a country's repertoire, even oddball ones like this, there are many versions of this recipe: some add chilli flakes, some cubes of bacon: I prefer it with n…
Beef and Beans With Pasta
This comes from the children’s food chapter of How to Eat, but it should certainly not be confined to the Kids’ Menu. It is a de-stressingly easy, fabulous tasting, one-pot meal that provides instant…
Minestrone in Minutes
This is child's play to make, and I use the term advisedly, since my son came up with it when he was ten years old, and we have made versions of it ever since. Use any beans or pulses you want, in wha…
Spaghetti With Lemon, Garlic and Breadcrumbs
I always relish an opportunity to use up ingredients that are past their best. The thing to do is make breadcrumbs with stale bread whenever it's to hand. Stash the breadcrumbs in airtight bags in the…
Sensational, best pasta sauce I've had.By Uisgesea
Spelt Spaghetti With Olives and Anchovies
The amount of pesto-like sauce you're making here is so scant that you really do need a stick blender, a relatively inexpensive and (for me) indispensable piece of gadgetry, unless you have a processo…
Spaghetti With Tuna, Lemon and Rocket
I am (or certainly used to be) one of the few people I know who does not like canned tuna, and so I surprised myself by the fact that I love this instant pasta sauce made with the stuff. Maybe it's th…
Sausages With Beans and Peppers
This recipe uses Italian sausages, and I specify them advisedly; being 100% meat and loosely packed, they cook much faster than the densely-woven, finer-textured English sausage. If you are making thi…
Pasta With Mackerel, Marsala and Pine Nuts
This is a real hybrid of a recipe: I'm afraid it might even, in Anna Del Conte's parlance, be called "Britalian". But I defend it, because I strongly believe that its honest evolution needs no apology…
Eggs in Purgatory
You don't actually need to have a hangover to enjoy this for breakfast (or anytime), but there is something about this easy and quick dish of eggs cooked in a fiery tomato sauce that just hits the spo…
Tuna and Beans
This has always been the Italian antipasto, and though you are more likely to come across it as the traditional combination of tonno and cannellini, I love the flecked terracotta of borlotti beans, gi…
Pea and Pesto Soup
While you can make it with pesto from a jar, the difference when you use the "fresh" stuff in a tub that you can find in chiller cabinets in the supermarkets is astonishing. I think soup tastes better…
Tuscan Fries
This is revolutionary: you put the raw chipped potatoes into cold oil, then heat it up. It sounds crazy, but it works. You’d think it would make them unbearably greasy but in fact you end up with cris…
Wow! Easiest, most delicious crispy chips I've made ( or possibly had)!By 2blest40
Semi-Spanish Omelette
It is often decreed that the only ingredients (other than eggs of course) proper to a Spanish omelette are onions and potatoes, but I like a touch of red from some chopped peppers. I am sorry if this…
Red Pepper Hummus
This hummus can be dolloped onto crostini or toast, or eaten as a dip. And it even serves as a rather intriguing, brilliantly hued sauce for plain grilled meats.
Sweetcorn Chowder With Toasted Tortilla Chips
The tortilla chips I use here are those crisp, crunchy, corn-gritty triangles that I never need an excuse to eat, but if you are in search of one yourself, I heartily recommend this soup. Mind you, ev…
Great soup, so tasty and quick. My boys love it for lunch after a cold morning at football, I think it's going to be a weekly staple!By Jo74
Smoked Haddock and Cannellini Beans
This is one of my most regular standbys, and the speediest. You just heat up some smoked haddock in a frying pan/skillet with some water and aromatics, then get a couple of cans or a jar of beans, hea…
Sesame Peanut Noodles
I always make a large vat of these since they're lovely to pick at in the fridge. Plus, although they're easy to make, you do need quite a few ingredients — and this holds true whether you're making a…
Salade Nicoise
Everyone seems to have a very strong opinion as to what should or should not go into a Salade Nicoise, so let me tell you from the outset, I have no desire to join the fray. I put in what I have at ho…
Macaroni Cheese
This is the shortcut version: no cheese sauce, but a gorgeously huge amount of cheese, bound with egg and evaporated milk. Yum. And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the rec…
Cheddar Cheese Risotto
This might seem odd to Italians but it works beautifully: the starchy rice, the sharp Cheddar, both are the perfect counterpoint for each other. I make this on days when I need to escape to the kitche…
Salmon Fishcakes
Matzo meal is widely available at supermarkets, and well worth keeping in store. I use tinned salmon here because I think, strangely enough, that's how they taste best (if it's good enough for Marguer…
Pasta E Fagioli
This is that life-saving, thick, pasta-and-bean meal of a soup — pasta fazool — as sung about by Dean Martin in That's Amore. It's just the thing you want to eat when the rain's battering against the…
Masala Omelette
Feel free to add ingredients: grated ginger is good, as is chopped fresh mint or, indeed, dried. You can eat this, flat on the plate, with a knife and fork, or roll it up inside a chapatti that you've…
Elvis Presley's Fried Peanut-Butter and Banana Sandwich
This recipe, for want of a better word, comes from a rhinestone gem of a cookbook Are You Hungry Tonight?, a collection of Elvis Presley's favourite foodstuffs, which I bought on a visit to Graceland…
Pasta With Pancetta, Parsley and Peppers
I always have a stash of pancetta cubes in the fridge to spruce up whatever else I may have to hand, but here they rather take centre stage. If you want to use lardons instead, then do. They should be…
Panzanella
Panzanella, which sounds as though it should be the name of the beautiful heroine in a ballet or a fairy tale, is the word for a damp and tomatoey bread salad from Italy. Not only is it a good way of…
Crustless Pizza
I wouldn't want to go bandying around the name of this recipe in Naples, but this is what I call it. If it helps, think of it as a cheese toastie, only without the bread. Whatever, it makes a fast and…
Tomato Curry With Coconut Rice
Balance is everything in cooking: here, the acid brightness of the tomatoes is met with the sweetness of peas and the rich creaminess of the coconut rice, itself pricked with the sharpness of lime and…
Spaghetti With Marmite
I came across this recipe in Anna Del Conte's memoirs, Risotto with Nettles. Now, there are so many recipes I could borrow from her, and many I have, but this is the one I have to show you here. She i…
Peanut Butter Hummus
Peanut butter hummus doesn't have an elegant ring to it, but elegant is exactly what this is. Rather than using tahini, which is in effect sesame butter, I use peanut butter. Although I think this ver…
Ligurian Pasta with Basil, Beans and Potatoes
My children, when little, wouldn't have cared if all I ever gave them was pasta with some bottled sauce poured over, and I don't deny that's sometimes indeed what they were given; but to please myself…
Chorizo and Chickpea Stew
This is a real feast of a store-cupboard standby. I do know that chorizo isn’t a kitchen-cupboard item, but it tends to have a long fridge-life, so I always have some to hand just in case. It’s full o…
This tastes so awesome!!By Rislbisl
South Indian Vegetable Curry
This is another way of making sure the odd handful of beans or other vegetable fragments can be eaten up when none of them individually can offer a meal in themselves. You can vary the vegetables acco…
Kale With Chorizo and Poached Egg
There is something so of-the-moment about this recipe, which is odd since it comes from a book published 20 years ago. I seem to remember also that I did a lot of wistful complaining in How To Eat abo…
Banana Bread
I haven't done a tremendous amount of fiddling with this, but I did once make it, for friends who are more chocolate-crazed than I am, by replacing 25g / 3 tablespoons of the flour with good cocoa pow…
Five stars for this. I try new banana bread recipes all the time as I’m still on the search for the ‘perfect’ recipe. Not sure if I’ll try any other recipes after finding this one. This is moist and tasty. Thank you.By Hschwennesen
Soba Noodles With Sesame Seeds
I love the Japanese way of eating cold noodles: I just lift a bowl to my face, fork furiously and slurp. If you want to make these part of a meal, then know that they go wonderfully well with salmon:…
Yellow Split Pea and Frankfurter Soup
This embracingly hearty meal of a soup always makes me feel grateful for the harsh winter weather. I used to make it for a cosy family New Year’s Day lunch, and still do happily, but it would be a sha…
Lokshen Pudding
Some people might not be convinced by the idea of a pasta pudding: but just remember how fabulously comforting rice pudding is and try not to be alarmed. You must try it. There's no one I've made it f…
Lentils Braised in Red Wine
I've used Beluga lentils here, partly because I love the name, but mostly because I am very keen on these tiny, black spheres which, when slicked with oil, look like caviar. But do use the paler grey-…
Green Bean and Lemon Casserole
Strictly speaking, I don't think of this as a casserole, but I know that this is the traditional nomenclature; and, besides, I do sometimes serve the beans in one so it seems silly to quibble.
Pasta With Onions and Anchovies
I know that people feel very strongly about anchovies, pro or anti. I'm fiercely pro, and if you are, too, you will love this. For those who are hesistantly rather than resoundingly anti, I say to you…
Emergency Brownies
This is for those times you urgently need a brownie, but don't want to make — or, rather, can't justify making — a whole batch. This recipe makes two (four if needs be) fudgy brownies to be snaffled s…
Salt and Vinegar Potatoes
While steaming then roasting potatoes may seem rather a fandango, one bite of these will convince you that it's utterly worth it; besides, it's not as if you have to do anything while they either stea…
Softly Spiced Mung Beans with Mint and Coriander Yogurt
These tiny, vibrantly khaki — if that's not too strange a concept — beans, thickened with red lentils, make for a dal-like stew that I turn to so often. It's mild and modest, but I love its earthy sim…
Parmesan French Toast
While obviously a contender for weekend brunch, this savoury take on French toast is, for me, a perfect early supper when I feel like something comforting and quick. It's also exactly what I need when…
Tomato and Fried Bread Hash
An excellent sop for excess alcohol, this is as good for a late supper as it is for breakfast. I like to have a bottle of Worcestershire sauce (already essential in the hash) on the table alongside, b…
Moroccan Vegetable Pot and Couscous with Pine Nuts and Dill
This warmly-spiced vegetable stew, sweet with parsnips and carrots and tangy with preserved lemons and dried apricots is the perfect winter warmer. I should probably change its name, as it is Moroccan…
Forgotten Cookies
These little cookies — described by one friend as tasting like a cookie within a cookie — are really a mixture between a meringue and a cookie. Hence they've become known at home, where they're immens…
Butternut and Sweet Potato Curry
This is a rambunctiously vibrant curry, both to look at and eat. It is rich, sweet and hearty, with tomatoes providing a balancing acidity and the curry paste bringing uncompromising fire. I like the…