This is pretty much my standard ragu recipe whatever the meat I use. It is often prompted by the dregs of a bottle of red wine; a funny stimulus to start a recipe but there it is. This version, with spinach stirred in at the end, was piled over tagliatelle tossed with butter and a…

This hardly needs a recipe. Fresh mint is finely chopped, placed in a jug or small bowl, a little sugar added and then a splash of boiling water to melt the sugar and release the flavour. Add vinegar and it’s done. Serves: 4 Prep: 5 minutes generous handful of mint leaves scant ¼ tsp white…

A gloriously simple soup to make, everything chopped up and splashed with olive oil in an earthenware dish with foil lid. Cherry tomatoes, red onion and red pepper liquidized with chicken or vegetable stock. What could be easier? Season it as you like; I added a squeeze or orange and hint of its zest. Sliced…

New potatoes always make me greedy for more but I love leftovers. Apart from potato salads, I love roasting and frying them. The latter is particularly good with bacon, specially smoked bacon or pancetta, with finely chopped spring onions melted in right at the end. If you have flat leaf parsley to hand and a…

Creamy sweet-sour lemon posset is a favourite dinner party pudding because it’s easy to shop for, takes five minutes to make and will sit happily in the fridge for a couple of days. It sets almost instantly but should be served chilled. I’ve winged it with 45 minutes, although a couple of hours is better….

Moutabal is the aubergine equivalent of Lebanese hummus, rich with garlic, lemon and olive oil pounded with smoky grilled aubergine. It’s luscious and silky, giving its creamy richness to these simply seasoned, quickly made chicken kebabs. I matched it with squeaky al dente fine green beans from my extraordinarily prolific front garden plants and a…

My sister, who lives in Sydney, introduced me to this addictively delicious avocado dip scooped up with tortilla chips and loved by everyone who tries it. It is perfect bbq advance snack food, served on a platter for sharing but it works well as a starter on individual plates, giving fairer portion control. It really…

For many years my friend Tessa and I have spent a week together on Lemnos in Greece but this year as Tessa lives in Sydney, we can’t. Every day we would be driven by Andreas to Thanos and the highlight would be lunch at Harry’s. Sadly Harry is no longer with us but his brother…

Sad news about the Le Caprice closing. It was a favourite for years; I really loved that restaurant. During the Mark Hix years, I regularly ordered his tomato and basil galette. The pastry base for those little tarts was thin and elegant, topped with neat slices of peeled tomato scattered with a few basil leaves….

I’ve never been to Argentina but I know all about chimichurri, their garlicky, piquant, chilli-hot, herb vinaigrette used as marinade and relish with barbecued meat. It pops up a lot in Francis Mallmann’s books and I’ve now adopted his way of making it with fresh oregano (dried is fine, possibly better than fresh marjoram, a…