Recipes

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

There is no doubt about it, anything with chestnuts in it, even if they come vacuum-packed or canned and are perennially available, is so right for this time of year. The chestnuts are present, in the form of a gritty, grainy sweetened purée: some to add to the biscuit base; some to fold through the plain cheesecake filling before baking; and yet more — well, it is Christmas — to drip in a thick syrup over the cake when served. And yet, you know, the chestnuttiness is not blaring: there is something undeniably festive about this, but not in a full-on, party hat kind of a way. As with all cheesecakes, you need to bake this the day before you want to serve it.

Nigella Lawson

Ease and aesthetics leans me now more towards those mixed bags of many-coloured designer salad leaves.

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

This is not the trad baked cheesecake that requires patience and lots of spare time. No, this is fresh, quick, simple and — best of all — irresistibly scrumptious! Even in the spirit of retro-accuracy, please do not be tempted to open a jar of cherry pie filling over the cake. I use some French cherry concoction that seems to be pretty universally available and has no added sugar, but anything labelled "conserve" as opposed to "jam" should be safe. And, if you feel like it, when cherries are in season, strew the top with a couple of handfuls of beautiful fruit.

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

I have a nostalgic fondness for this yellow slab punctuated by waxy halves of scarlet cherries — the cake we called station cake at home — but this is best with those dark and glossy natural-coloured glace cherries.

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

Nigella Lawson

I have mentioned my cookie-cutter collection elsewhere, and knowing of children

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

This is the perfect end to a midweek dinner or any impromptu eating occasion when prep time is scant to non-existent. Not that you need the excuse of guests to make this speedy pud! You simply chop strawberries, crush digestive biscuits and whip cream cheese and cream, then layer up quickly in some waiting glasses. Like this, they can stand for about an hour, so you can make them up just before you sit down for supper. If you want to make this in advance — and it’s a versatile recipe that doesn’t need to be made last minute — simply leave the glasses in the fridge, layered up with the digestive crumbs and cream cheese mixture and cover with clingfilm, topping with the strawberries on serving.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Summer

This started off as something of a culinary conceit: I wanted to recreate the flavour of cheesecake in ice-cream form. I don

Nigella Lawson

This is a new variant of an old and easy party favourite. The dough is mixed up in the processor and rolls out easily. It may crack a bit for the first roll-out, but just resquidge together and roll out again like Play-Doh. Unlike other pastries, you don’t have to be afraid of handling it. I keep rolling and re-rolling to the bitter end. You can use any cutter, but I’m a sucker for stars. And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

This is the picnic food of fondest imagination, although I’m not much of a picnic-person, so to ensure they get the number of outings they deserve and I need, I’ve always made them for more conventional indoor eating! I love them as much cold as warm, which is why I’ve suggested you make eight. The trick, if trick it be, is to use spring onions, which have all the flavour but none of the BO-ey breath of the usual onion, as in cheese & onion, component. It also cuts down on cooking time. I use Yorkshire pudding tins, with their wide, shallow indentations, for these, but if you wanted to use individual flan tins, of course you could. And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

Make a vat of this, and supply nothing other than fruit afterwards or, at most, a little palate-tickling sorbet.

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

The cheese blintz is a wonderful thing: a pancake cooked on one side only, filled with a mixture of curd cheese, lemon zest, vanilla and egg yolk, folded into a parcel and then fried in butter before being splodged with some cold sour cream and perhaps some sharp fruit sauce. This is the traditional way, as eaten by generations of central Europeans. My version is not so different. I’ve added some cream cheese to the curd, to make for a less grainy filling, and I’ve baked the pancakes rather than fry them. I could pretend this is to make the pudding more compatible with modern eating habits but it would scarcely be the truth. The reason is that it is a lot simpler. I love these with the sour cream alone, but the blueberry sauce takes this pudding to another realm and, what’s more, it’s a doddle to make. If you’re using frozen blueberries, by the way, don’t thaw them before cooking them.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

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 kitchen and have a good, quiet, relaxing and mindless 20 minutes staring into the middle distance and stirring. I heartily recommend it.