Recipes

Nigella Lawson

There is a particular bolstering comfort you get from the cosy familiarity of cauliflower blanketed in cheese sauce and blistered in the oven. I must tell you that this brilliant way of preparing the cauliflower so that it both retains bite and stops the sauce becoming watery or grainy is pinched from Nick Jones (of Soho House fame), as is his smell-reducing use of bay leaves. I most commonly make this with Red Leicester cheese, but Cheddar is more orthodox; feel free to use any combination of hard cheeses you favour. Also, if you want a truly scorched top — as I have a weakness for — do blitz the dish under the grill (broiler in the US) for a few minutes at the end.

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

While nothing quite beats my beloved Coriander/Cilantro and Jalapeño Salsa for ease, this Red-Hot Roast Salsa is scarcely difficult to make: you put everything — garlic cloves, red onions, chillies and bell peppers — on a baking sheet (or shallow baking tray, and it is essential it’s shallow) and leave it to roast in a hot oven until softened and charred, at which point you take a stick blender to it. It’s the char that makes all the difference, and I can’t have enough of this sweet, smoky and spicy salsa. Well, spicy is perhaps to underplay it: chillies, even of the same type, really do differ a lot in strength, so it can be difficult to calibrate the heat exactly but, with the number of chillies I use, this is either really fiery or really, really fiery. You can reduce the amount of chillies of course, but I like this to blow my head off. While I first made this as a dip for tortilla chips, I must also recommend dolloping it alongside fried halloumi. Indeed, it makes — for fire-eaters — a wonderful all-round condiment, an incendiary ketchup to be splodged on whenever you’re seeking flame and flavour.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Summer

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

The sweetness of a long-braised red cabbage is perfectly punctuated by the cheek-squeaky sharpness of cranberries. And, if you let this stand a little before serving, they — most desirably — help to thicken the juices the cabbage gives off as it cooks. Indeed, I always make red cabbage ahead of time: think of it as a vegetable stew, which is better, as all stews are, when the flavours are left to mellow and merge with one another. If you are following suit, then you can cook the cabbage for slightly less than its full time, as it will continue to cook on reheating. Even a small red cabbage seems to make enough to feed an army, but I can

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Summer

I am convinced that it is when raw that beetroot is at its best, and this recipe offers the most persuasive evidence; I promise you that it is loved even by those who were traumatised by putridly sweet and vinegary school beetroot. The dill and mustard seed here resonate with Scandinavian flavours, but if you can

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Summer

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Bites

This is a fruity and fragrant summer trifle.

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

When I am feeling fragile and in need of cosiness and comfort, my favourite supper is a helping of minced meat with some grated cheese on top, eaten by greedy, grateful spoonful out of a cereal bowl. I have dispensed with much of usual, necessary chopping: I use cubes of pancetta and a little caramelized onion out of a jar. This is everything you could hope for, sweetly salving and as undemanding to make as it is rewarding to eat. If you can’t get hold of caramelized onions, there’s nothing to stop you cooking an onion in some butter or olive oil very slowly so that they caramelize — similarly, you can dispense with the garlic oil and simply grate or mince a garlic clove or two over the cooked onions — but of course it will then no longer be the rapid ragù of the title.

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Bites

Nigella Lawson

Bitter leaves, salty cheese, sweet waxy chestnuts: this is a winter salad that I can

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Summer