Recipes

Gurdeep Loyal

One of the leitmotifs of my cooking is fennel seeds – a signature ingredient used in both Punjabi and Italian cuisines – in almost everything. I adore the punchy lemony-anise hit they bring to any dish, sweet and savoury. For this reason my usually sparse refrigerator is rarely without Italian fennel sausages – grilled whole to a blackened char for the ultimate sarnies, or split open to sizzle in a pan for dreamy fennel sausage ragus. The spicy-savouriness of gochujang is the perfect note to add to this aniseedy chord, amped up further by the taste-magnifying effects of vodka. With flavours this loud, only very gigantic pasta – like satisfyingly huge paccheri – will do. The bigger the better!

Felicity Cloake · The A-Z Of Eating

At the very real risk of sounding like Miss Marple, I can think of few better companions for a winter’s afternoon than a box of Fortnum & Mason violet and rose creams and a good book. I’m a big fan of the delicate perfume of violets in particular, which marries beautifully with sweet almonds in this nutty take on the classic sweet — don’t be tempted to leave out the salt, it really makes them.

Amber Guinness · Winter in the Highlands

My friend Niccolò introduced me to this dish. It’s his favourite soup, and he loves it so much he buys jars of it from his old neighbouring farm in Chianti and eats it straight from the jar. I love how this dish brings together two quintessentially Tuscan ingredients, chestnuts and chickpeas, both of which have been grown around us at Arniano for thousands of years since the time of the ancient Etruscans. Traditional recipes call for soaking dried chickpeas and roasting the chestnuts, but for ease, I use ready-cooked chestnuts and tinned chickpeas, though of course you can soak and cook the chickpeas. If you do, retain the soaking water for the soup and substitute it for half the stock. If you would like the dish to be even more substantial, add a couple of handfuls of pasta, such as filini, ditalini, broken-up spaghetti or, if you can get it, gramigna – small curled pasta tubes that are traditional in this soup but hard to find.

Eric Lanlard · Chocolat

I know this cake has got a bit of a kitsch reputation but when done properly it is extremely delicious and light, and will take you on a trip down memory lane.

Eric Lanlard · Tart It Up!

This rich exotic pie is full of delicious flavours. The fluffy vanilla cream topping is a great contrast to the filling.

Henry Harris · The Racine Effect

This is the best comfort dish on earth. As a child, cauliflower cheese held this title, but I can still remember Simon making this at Hilaire and wanting to take it away and eat it in a quiet corner. When braised well, the flavour of chicory concentrates and retains a gentle bitterness, which contrasts beautifully with a Comté-heavy mornay sauce. A good Rhône white and a salad and all the boxes are ticked.

Emily Elsen and Melissa Elsen · The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

In anticipation of making the pie, please make the crust first, crimp and freeze so that the crust is fully ready to be used according to the first step of the recipe.

Emiko Davies · Tortellini At Midnight

My mother-in-law Angela’s family’s version of this southern Italian classic was always a rather simple but satisfying one: tomato sauce flavoured with garlic and basil, layered with cheese (scamorza was always their favourite, but you can also use mozzarella) and, of course, ziti: long, thick tubes of pasta that my daughter likes to pretend are drumsticks – they’re very effective when beating on pots. But the way you’ll often find it alla Pugliese is with the hearty additions of lots of little polpettine (hazel-nutsized meatballs), or sometimes even slices of hard-boiled egg, sausage, prosciutto or mortadella. I like to stick to the family’s simple version with tomato, basil and scamorza for a weeknight meal, but Marco prefers it with the addition of pork and fennel sausages, crumbled then rolled into small pieces, like quick meatballs. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

Emiko Davies · Cinnamon and Salt

This is an ancient recipe — possibly the most ancient of the Venetian dessert repertoire — that has a special role for the Epiphany, on 6th January, and the start of Venice’s Carnival season. As old traditions went, young singles on this day had to eat a slice of pinza in seven different houses to guarantee getting married within the year. As it is a homely dish, and one that makes good use of leftovers or whatever you have on hand, you can find pinza made with all kinds of grains as the base — polenta is very common, but also buckwheat, regular flour or stale bread. I have a soft spot for bread puddings, and this is my favourite version, closely followed by the polenta one. Like the Pan del doge di Zaira, you’ll find it studded with dried fruit (usually figs and sultanas), which sometimes may have been the only sweet contribution in this pudding, and nuts of all kinds, some sort of liquid, be it milk with a splash of white wine, grappa or Alkermes, but also an array of spices such as

Emiko Davies · Florentine

Cenci literally means ‘rags’, which describes the crimp-edged, twisted shapes of this deep-fried pastry that appears in Florentine bakery shop windows during the wintery month of Carnevale (Carnival). Many Tuscans get that nostalgic look in their eye when they eat cenci, as it’s a reminder of dressing up in masks and costumes as a child and biting into these warm, crunchy pastries.

Ella Risbridger · Midnight Chicken (& Other Recipes Worth Living For)

I do not have many principles, as a cook, but chief among those I do have is this: I will go to the wall for pre-prepared ingredients. Cooking is not a contest or a virtue test, and it is not only for those with plenty of time. Cooking is for everyone, or it should be. And anything — anything — that makes that more likely (pre-chopped vegetables, ready-rolled pastry, a stock cube or pot) is to be applauded, wholeheartedly. You can’t always do everything, and you should know that even people who make a living from cooking do not always start from scratch. Prepping is work, and it takes physical strength sometimes, and mental strength sometimes, and energy always, and if it’s easier on you to buy pre-prepared ingredients, do it. Consider this permission, if you need it. You do whatever you need to look after yourself. This does not make you any less of a cook. This does not make the success of your meal any less your success. Carl Sagan once said that you couldn’t make an apple pie fro

Charlotte Druckman · Kitchen Remix

Sadly, for many home cooks, outdoor grilling and the charred burgers it enables are an impossible dream. But I had a thought: could you simulate that smoky, blackened experience with scorch-skinned eggplant? Anyone who has prepared baba ghanoush, the Levantine dip made from that vegetable, knows how to singe its purple skin over a burner (or under a broiler). I took my flame darkened aubergine and mixed it into my ground beef. Then I buried cooling, salty feta in each patty. Derived from spicy Southeast Asian sambals, parsnip relish is an upgrade from ketchup; it can jazz up any burger, hot dog, or deli sandwich, and accompany meat or fish that has been grilled — or pan-seared or roasted. Because who needs a grill anyway?

Edson Diaz-Fuentes · Ciudad De Mexico

I originally created this salad dressing for fresh tomatillos, but it is also delicious with tomatoes, especially in the summer when ripe multi-coloured heirloom tomatoes appear in the markets. The dressing is a simple mixture of balsamic vinegar, agave syrup and cacao nibs. If you leave it to infuse for a few days, the cacao nibs release their complex flavour, like a vintage liqueur.

Edd Kimber · Say It With Cake

This cake is a monster – it has six layers and uses a lot of butter, but do keep in mind that it will serve a lot of people, and it will make a spectacular cake for a birthday or any other occasion. The beauty of this cake is that, apart from being rather large, it looks quite innocent from the outside, because the white frosting hides the multicoloured rainbow inside. Imagine people’s reactions when it is first cut into – it’s well worth the effort.

Edd Kimber · One Tin Bakes Easy

The phrase ‘good things come to those who wait’ does not apply to these bars. In fact, it should really be ‘good things come to those who can’t be bothered to bake’. A spin on classic refrigerator cakes, the base is a mixture of coconut oil, white chocolate and speculoos spread, mixed together with speculoos cookies, salted pretzels and salted peanuts, a real feast of sweet and salty treats. To gild the lily, the topping is a little extra chocolate. A little goes a long way with these bars, so I like to cut them into small pieces.

Edd Kimber · One Tin Bakes

The combination of chocolate and peppermint is heavenly and this recipe, inspired by the Aussie mint slice, is a great way to show it off. Technically a refrigerator/icebox cake, it is incredibly easy to make, even if it has a couple of different elements to prepare.

Ed Smith · Crave

Cross-fertilization of cuisines might not be to everyone’s taste, but this tangle of classic Italian chilli, lemon and garlic spaghetti with pangrattato, power-splurged by Southeast Asian Sriracha, does work well. Indeed the addition of a pre-made, moreish hot sauce is an incredibly efficient way of layering pasta and breadcrumbs, not just with heat, but a sweet, garlicky, sticky tang that neither fresh nor dried chillies can add on their own. It’s an excellent way to quickly quench a heat craving. As a relatively important aside: your Sriracha could be hotter than mine (I use Flying Goose or Tabasco versions), and indeed our tolerance to chilli may well differ too. So give these quantities a go, but maybe make a note as to whether you need more or less fire the next time.

Durkhanai Ayubi · Parwana

Bolani are moreish hand-rolled flatbreads, stuffed with various fillings, then pan-fried golden brown and crisp. Bolani are typically made with family and friends, and eaten straight off the tawah, a traditional flat iron frying pan, as they cook, while more are made hot and fresh, until everyone has had their fill. Bolani are eaten by tearing off strips and dipping them into a relish, such as chutney morcheh sorkh, plain thick yoghurt or jaan-e-ama yoghurt dip. Afghans also like to eat this savoury treat with a cup of sweet tea. It’s important to have your chosen fillings prepared before rolling out the dough and a good time to do this is while the dough is resting.

Edd Kimber · Chocolate Baking

A marble cake with a bonus marble glaze, as beautiful in flavour as it is in appearance. The cake itself is very straightforward, a one-bowl batter that is then split in two so that cocoa powder can be added to half. Once baked, it needs nothing more than melted chocolate, mixed with a little oil, poured randomly over to create an almost zebra-like effect.

Donal Skehan · Home Cooked

If you like your sweet treats gooey and chocolatey, then this is the bake for you. A rich chocolate pudding oozing with a layer of salted caramel and a crunchy topping of peanut brittle - what more could you ask for?

Domini Kemp · Dinner

This German dish of roasted pork knuckle, or ham hock, is especially popular in Bavaria. It's usually served with heaps of cabbage and potatoes or some sort of dumpling, which is nice and delicious, but this is a more 'crispy' approach, served on toasted sourdough with a pungent chutney to cut through the rich, fatty, salty meat. Otherwise, you can just use the meat to go with a lovely lentil salad instead.

Diana Henry · How To Eat A Peach

It might seem a hassle to roast the fennel and tomatoes separately, but it does make things easier when you come to assemble this, as each element stays intact and keeps its shape. You can use flat-leaf parsley or mint leaves instead of coriander in the dressing, or extend the dish by adding salad leaves (rocket, watercress or baby spinach) if you like, though then you’ll need to make a bit more dressing. You can make all the elements ahead of time. Serve with saffron couscous, it’s a great contrast in both colour and texture.

Diana Henry · Simple

A useful, no-hassle, chuck-everything-in-together dish, you don’t even need to brown the chicken (though make sure you sprinkle the skin with sea salt flakes, to help it crisp up). Find a dish that has about the right dimensions, to ensure that it works well. Don’t be afraid of assertive seasoning – rice dishes such as this need it – and don’t skip the step where you wash the rice, or it will end up sticky. A bowl of Greek yogurt is good on the side.

Diana Henry · A Change of Appetite

Rice bowls are common dishes in Japan. Generally they have warm, simmered ingredients spooned over the top, such as braised beef. They are called donburi, which is both the name of the bowl in which they are served and also of the dish. This is a modern interpretation and a perfect recipe if you are watching both weight and health, with its whole grain rice, vegetables and raw fish. And the flavour is satisfyingly strong, because of the dressing. It also seems, perhaps because it is a beautiful dish, very centring to eat. There’s nothing to cut or wrestle with. It’s just you, simple food, a bowl and some chopsticks. Make it spicy by adding chilli to the dressing, or serving wasabi on the side.