Recipes

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

My grandmother used to make these for me when I was a child. But they’re not nursery food and it isn’t just nostalgia that makes me dredge them up. Pears are so rarely edible when raw. When they’re good, they’re wonderful, but I am beginning to think Ralph Waldo Emerson was being optimistic when he wrote, “There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat”: most pears go from hard to woolly without ever passing through the luscious ripe stage. Poaching pears is one way of dealing with all those hard unyielding fruits in the shops: somehow, however wooden they felt raw, poached they become infused with a juice-bursting plumpness. Indeed, when poaching, you actually don’t want the pears to be ripe. I have to say, though, that I have a real fondness for tinned pears here. I find their particular grainy softness comforting, and they make this a near-instant pud. If I’m just eating this with the family at home, I often go this route.

Nigella Lawson

This is a delicately perfumed confection: yes, a cake, but no ordinary cake; the fruit keeps it so tender and damp that it

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson

Peanut butter hummus doesn

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Bites

Nigella Lawson

My Peach Melba Pavlova is a dream of a dessert: crisp-edged meringue with a marshmallow centre, spread with softly whipped cream, covered with golden peach wedges and drizzled with a sauce of pureed raspberries, then custard. The custard is an unconventional touch, to be sure, but you have the yolks over from making the pavlova and just one taste of the completed creation will ensure you won’t regret the extra effort! I like to make the pavlova base and the custard a day ahead. Keep the pavlova in airtight container in a cool place as humidity is the enemy of meringue (if I’m not using my oven further, I wait till both pav and oven are cold, and stash the pav base in it, making sure I’ve left a Post-It Note on the oven to tell anyone, my forgetful self included, not to switch it on!) and, once the covered custard is cool, store it safely in the fridge.

Nigella Lawson

This is it — summer on a plate. Most days I take the view that cooking fruit rather loses the point of its delectable freshness, but this somehow intensifies it. Besides, most peaches are disappointingly hard or lacking in luscious peachiness, so poaching the fruit gives even lucklustre peaches the boost they need, restoring them to their rightful glory. And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Summer

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

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 made in a blender rather than a food processor, and it

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson