Recipes

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

I don’t know if I should apologise for this or boast about it. Either way, I feel you will thank me for it. The thing is, it’s embarrassingly easy to make and unembarrassingly easy to eat. Don’t be tempted to let the cheesecake come to room temperature before serving. It slices and tastes better with a bit of fridge-chill on it. And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Not only is this one of the easiest cakes to make, it happens — joyously — to be one of the most delicious. My household is totally addicted! Please don

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

There are certain days when only something soothing and comforting and topped with mash potato will do; on such days, this pie could make you weep with gratitude.

Nigella Lawson

A vital part of the Christmas Eve dinner in Norway, these pork ribs have the tenderest meat and the crunchiest crackling imaginable. You have to take a leap of faith when making them, as the idea of letting the rind get so wet in the course of cooking goes against every bit of advice you may have heard thus far about the importance of keeping it dry. This method is an absolute revelation. You need a big old slab of pork belly on the bone for this, which requires a visit to the butcher. And — this is essential — you will need to ask them to saw through the bones for you, as if about to divide the pork into three equal long strips, cutting through the bones and only a little way into the meat. What this gives you are a couple of narrow troughs, into which you press a paste of dill, garlic and juniper, which flavours the meat as it cooks, and which enable you, on serving, to cut the pork easily into chunky, crisp-topped, succulent slabs. Peeking out between the ribs in this photograph are roast quinces. And to make these — should you be able to lay hands on quince in the first place — you simply cut the quinces into quarters (or eighths if they’re big) and roast these in olive oil (or, indeed, any fat you like) for about 30 minutes a side in a 200°C/180°C Fan/400°F oven. To make my cooking life easier, I like to roast these a day or so ahead of time, and then I just reheat them by popping them (on a baking sheet) on a shelf below the pork for the last 15 minutes of its final blast in the oven, leaving them in there, too, with the oven turned off, while I cut up the ribs.

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

The Northern Europeans, and especially the Scandinavians, are wonderful bakers and eating these for breakfast or tea on a cold winter

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

This is as simple a stir-fry as you could get, but — in my book — all the better for it. And, of course, you can build on as you wish. While it’s wonderful as is for a side, do add more mushrooms and mangetouts if you need it to be a main. Or, indeed, add prawns, chicken, or whatever else you like. I have a couple of notes, before I let you get on and cook. First, if you’re unsure how mild the chillies you have actually are, maybe use two rather than the four stipulated below. Finally, yes, the portions are generous here, but it is so very good cold the next day, tossed with perhaps a few more drops of sesame oil and soy and some sesame seeds. To make these vegan-friendly, use egg-free noodles.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

I love proper Eastern European black bread, but I must confess that this loaf, although it tastes the part, is hardly traditional, let alone authentic. For one thing, it’s made following the no-knead method, and for another it contains stout — its ferrous tang partnered by black treacle and mellowed by dark muscovado sugar — which makes this recipe something of a louche aberration. But it’s so easy to make, and so wonderful to eat, I don’t think we can let that concern us. The only thing you must be prepared for is that you do need to start making it a full day before you want to eat it, not because it’s elaborate in any way, but just because it requires, all told, about a day

Nigella Lawson

This is perhaps one of the most useful puddings you can have in your repertoire. Not that it is the job of a pudding to be useful: a pudding exists merely to delight. Still, dinner does need to be made, even when there’s precious little time for it and that should be a delight, too. So here’s the deal: there is pitifully little work to be done to make this berry-dazzler of a tart, and enormous pleasure to be derived from its consumption.

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

If I don’t have a tub of this in my deep-freeze, I just don’t feel right about things. I have made many no-churn ice creams in my time, but this is the one I make (and eat) the most. And it’s so very, very easy to whip up: a can of Carnation Caramel (or a jar of dulche de leche), a pot of double cream, some sea salt and bourbon and you’re away. Though, actually, you can do without the bourbon or replace it with rum or, as I do at Christmas, with brandy. My tip: instead of brandy butter, have a scoop of this with your Christmas pudding this year; it’s a seasonal sensation. And I absolutely love this with my Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

This delicate pink ice cream tastes like fragrant, sherbety heaven.

Nigella Lawson

Flushed with the success of an earlier creation, the no-churn margarita ice cream, I bring you the no-churn piña colada ice cream. Rich coconut, sharp pineapple, smooth cream: we are in business! You don’t have to share my weakness for a kitsch tipple to enjoy this. Certainly, it helps — but the benefit is psychological not gastronomical. Note: I am afraid desiccated coconut just isn’t the same as the moist, sweetened American-style shredded coconut I, and you, need here. It is not available in the UK in shops, but you can get it online.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

This is a cinch to make, and easy-easy-easy to eat. If you want to serve it in glasses with rims dipped in sugar and salt, by all means do. But it is so good that, even as someone who is not a committed ice cream eater and no kind of drinker, I find I can spoon it straight into my mouth from the container it

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

In my view, there is no bad way to eat chestnuts, ever: my greatest — and exquisitely extravagant treat — is a marron glacé. Nothing, though, gives me quite the same frisson of intense, sugary delight as a can or jar of sweetened chestnut purée. Frankly, I wouldn’t complain about having to eat the sweet grainy purée from a spoon straight out of the can, but this ice cream is perhaps a more elegant showcase for it. If you have any marrons glacés (and this is a particularly good use for broken pieces) you could crumble some as you serve.