Gildas are a beautifully crafted bit of food magic - one of many basque pintxos (a Spanish bar snack) consisting of an olive, an anchovy and a pickled chilli (guindillo) pepper on a skewer, designed to be eated in 1 mouthful, hitting salty, spicy and refreshing notes all at the same time.

Invented in San Sebastián in the 1940s, customers started combining these 3 snacks together and the gilda was born. Over the years, in various parts of northern Spain, I’ve experienced bars and restaurants putting their own spin on the gilda, sometimes combining pieces of cured meats and cheeses along with pickle or brined elements.

For anyone who loves brined and pickled foods, I’ve fleshed out this concept into a main meal by making it into a pasta dish.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

200-250g dried spaghetti - cooked to 3 mins under packet instructions (we will finish cooking the spaghetti in the sauce)

50ml extra virgin olive oil

3 tinned anchovies

5 garlic cloves - finely chopped

8 green olives - sliced

2-3 guindilla peppers (or pickled chillies) - sliced

2 jarred roasted peppers - chopped into 1cm dice

1 lemon - zested, juice reserved

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

50g parmsan - grated

Method:

Start by prepping the ingredients then get the pasta into some boiling salted water.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a large frying pan or casserole pan, add the anchovies and let them gently sizzle and melt into the oil. Add the garlic, keeping the pan on low and let that slowly infuse, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Once the garlic has softened and is incredibly fragrant, add the olives and both peppers with the zest of the lemon and the smoked paprika.

Let that sizzle and infuse together for a couple of minutes then take a ladle of pasta water and add to the pan to stop the frying.

Drag the pasta over when it’s a few minutes undercooked with some more pasta water.

Grate in the parmesan with another little bit of pasta water and give everything a good toss around the pan, allowing the pasta water to emulsify with the fats, creating a glossy saucy consistency.

Add a splash of the reserved lemon juice and taste for seasoning.

Time to serve up - pile into bowls making sure you include lots of the gilda mixture.

I made a few actual gildas on skewers to add to the top, to create the full experience. Enjoy!

This is a truly joyful pasta dish that you’ll make again and again.

We’re taking all of the flavours of ratatouille and roasting them really deeply and mixing through some warm rigatoni with lots of basil and a tangy sundried tomato vinaigrette.

This is a great one to batch up at the beginning of the week and enjoy for lunch, dinner or it works beautifully as a side dish alongside a weekend bbq spread!

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 4-5)

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The UK heatwave has been talk of the town this week! London has hit 34 degrees and, I’m not usually one to complain, but we’re firmly in the uncomfortable bracket of heat.

If you’re not having a bbq, you want minimal cooking meals so here are some dishes from the archives to inspire..

MINIMAL COOKING HEATWAVE DINNERS

Heatwave Noodle // Crispy Chicken Salad // Smashed Cucumber & Chicken Salad

Miso & Mirin Marinated Salmon // Green Goddess Salad // Steak Taco Salad

A delicious BBQ spread is a feeding ground for creativity; so many wonderful things you can make, share and eat al fresco. The meats tend to get all the attention, but I feel like it’s just as important to have some top notch sides to compliment.

This is where this recipe comes in. Utilising the BBQ for vegetables is a must; here, we’re charring whole peppers, asparagus and large wedges of broccoli, infusing that deep charred flavour onto them before tossing through some fresh, crunchy veggies, nutty brown rice and a sweet, mustardy dressing.

I served this with a butterflied breast of marinated chicken, some sliced halloumi and some coleslaw from the supermarket!

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 4 as a side)

1 whole head of broccoli - cut into 4 quarter wedges

1 whole pointed red pepper

4 spears of asparagus

4 spring onions

1/2 red onion - finely sliced

1/4 cucumber - finely diced

20g fresh dill - finely chopped

10g fresh mint - leaves picked - finely chopped

1 handful raisins

200g cooked brown rice

100g feta

For the dressing:

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp honey

100ml extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

Start by preparing the vegetables for the BBQ - toss the broccoli, peppers, asparagus and spring onions in olive oil and salt then char on the bbq (or under a hot grill) until blackened and blistered on all sides.

Remove and leave to cool slightly while you prepare the other ingredients; chop the onion, cucumber and herbs, and cook the brown rice. Soak the raisins in some hot water to soften.

Add the dressing ingredients into a bowl and mix well with a whisk until smooth and well combined.

In a large bowl, add everything in and toss together. Crumble in the feta and gently toss that through, being careful to keep some of the crumbles nice and chunky.

Enjoy!

This is heavily inspired by beef bulgogi, a dish of marinated beef, often served with rice.

I picked up some frozen udon recently and fancied that so I decided to side-step from a traditional bulgogi but still keep the classic Korean flavours; gochujang, sesame oil etc.

This will very much satisfy a takeaway craving, and is neither difficult nor time consuming.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

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Crisp, fresh, sweet and delicious, this slaw is best served with something deeply savoury like a piece miso marinaded chicken.

I love this recipe because it’ll keep well in the fridge - the salad ingredients are quiet hardy so won’t get soggy in the dressing too quickly, and the dressing prevents the apple and fennel from oxygenating (going brown).

So let’s get straight into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2 chicken breasts

1 tbsp white miso

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp light soy

1 lime - zested and half juiced

For the slaw:

1/2 hispi cabbage - finely sliced

1 small red onion - finely sliced

1 small fennel bulb - finely sliced (fronds reserved for garnish)

1 pink lady apple - finely sliced

10 leaves of fresh mint - left whole

For the salad dressing:

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp runny honey

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

To garnish:

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method:

Start by laying the chicken breasts, one at a time, between a piece of parchment then bash with a rolling pin to thin out.

Mix the miso, sesame oil, mirin, light soy, lime zest and juice and coat the flattened pieces of chicken in the marinade. Leave for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, prep the vegetable for the slaw and make the dressing by whisking all ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Toss the slaw ingredients together with the dressing and set aside.

Bring a frying pan to a high heat and fry the marinaded chicken pieces until golden brown on both sides (around 5 minutes) and cooked through.

Slice the chicken into strips then pile the slaw into bowls, top with the chicken and garnish with the reserved fennel fronds and toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!

This is the perfect weekend brunch or lunch for springtime - crispy, crunchy, zingy & fresh.

Making your own fish fingers, if you have time, is a great thing to do - so much more juicy and delicious. I like getting a chunky piece of cod loin and slicing them into whatever size I want.

I decided to create a slaw inspired by tartare sauce incorporating finely sliced cabbage and spring onions into all of the usual tartare suspects - capers, gherkins, lemon, mustard.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (makes 2 wraps)

250g piece of cod loin - cut into 2-3 fingers

50g plain flour (with a pinch of salt)

1 egg - beaten

50ml milk

50g panko breadcrumbs

250ml vegetable oil

1 tsp hot sauce

2 white tortilla wraps

For the tartare slaw:

1/2 sweetheart cabbage - finely sliced

2 spring onions - finely sliced

2 tbsp mayp

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 lemon - zested

1 tbsp baby capers - drained

3 gherkins - finely diced

5g flat leaf parsley - finely chopped

Salt and pepper

Method:

Start by breadcrumbing the giant cod fingers - firstly, dust in the seasoned flour, then coat in the beaten egg then coat in the panko breadcrumbs.

Bring the vegetable oil up to 170C then fry the cod fingers for 5-6 minutes until deeply golden brown, crispy and cooked through. You can check with a temperature probe - it should read around 60C.

Remove the fish fingers, let them drain on a wire rack then season with fine salt.

For the tartare slaw, take a large bowl and add the mayo, mustard, a splash of liquid from the gherkin jar, lemon zest and some seasoning then add the shredded cabbage, spring onion, capers, diced gherkins, herbs and a squeeze of lemon juice. Have a taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 10 seconds - this will make them more pliable and easy to wrap up.

Lay some of the slaw down then pop on the fish finger, drizzle in hot sauce then lay some more slaw on top.

To wrap up, fold each side inwards then wrap the back edge up and over and roll forward away from you.

Slice in half and enjoy!

Recently, I’ve much preferred cooking chicken dishes with either legs or breasts. As much as a whole roast chicken is a wonderful thing, you have to commit to either the white or brown meat as a priority, because they want different things.

Tender, juicy breasts would require fast, short cooking, whereas the leg meat on the bird wants slow, low temperature cooking to break down the muscle fibres and become soft.

This is the a method for slow roasted chicken legs - very little effort required with such a beautiful result. A simple seasoning of salt and olive oil, and enough time in the oven and you get crispy skin and fall-apart meat.

To go alongside the deep, rich, savouryness of the chicken, I’m making a bright, lively orzo dish with lots of lemon zest and briney green olives.

For an extra bit of flavour, I’m making a really simple flavoursome oil with zaatar, a powerhouse blend of herbs - a really good thing to have in your cupboard at all times!

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

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Meatballs from any minced meat is a recipe for a delicious dinner - easy to make, quick to cook and a vehicle for infinite flavour combos.

This dish is a great one to share amongst family or friends, arranged into a big bountiful platter for everyone to tuck into.

It also suits the warmer, sunny weather we’re being treated to in London - sunny food best eaten al fresco!

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the meatballs:

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I love tinned fish - they all have their place; tuna mayo on a jacket potato, delicious salty anchovies pounded into any sauce, and another common supermarket shelf item, tinned sardines.

In my opinion, they are best used in a pasta dish like this one. We’re going with puttanesca vibes which all work beautifully with the sardines - briney olives, sweet tomatoes and a zip of lemon zest works gorgeously against the tinned fish.

You could, of course, use tinned tuna in this dish, but it’s good to switch things up a bit, and sardines are a much more sustainable (and cost effective) option, and work just as well.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

200g dried linguine or spaghetti

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 banana shallot - finely sliced

4 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tin (around 130g) sardines in olive oil

8-10 cherry tomatoes - halved

100ml water or veg/chicken stock

10 pitted black olives - halved

2 tbsp baby capers - rinsed

Handful of basil leaves

10g flat leaf parsley - finely chopped

10g chives - finely sliced

1 lemon - zested

Salt & pepper to taste

Optional: grated parmesan to garnish

Method:

In a large frying pan, sweat the shallots and garlic in the oil, on a low gentle heat, for 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree, stir it through and fry for a few more minutes to cook off.

Add the sardines and their oil into the pan, break apart with a spatula then add the halved cherry tomatoes and water/stock to loosen. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down, adding more water as you go.

Cook your pasta in salted boiling water to 2 mins under the packet instructions (we’ll finish cooking the pasta in the sauce).

Add the olives, capers, lemon zest and herbs to the tomatoey sardine sauce followed by the cooked spaghetti and a couple of ladles of pasta water.

Give everything a really good toss together, not being shy about adding more pasta water to make sure you have a glossy sauce-like consistency.

Serve up generously into bowls with an optional sprinkle of parmesan (a contentious issue as a lot of people don’t like to mix cheese with seafood dishes, but I like it!) Enjoy!

This is one of those dishes that has restaurant vibe but is really easy to make at home. And not to mention, absolutely delicious.

This kind of technique is commonly used with pork, chicken or veal (for Italian Milanese or Austrian/German Schnitzel) but works well with this lean lamb cut.

It also utilises some of spring’s finest ingredients, using them in a fairly simple way.

FULL RECIPE:

Ingredients (Serves 2):

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I love the recipe title “flat ham pie” - something I learnt during my time at Leiths culinary school. In essence, two delicious layers of puff pastry filled with ham, cheese, herbs and mustard.

I then made a recipe video of it and posted it to instagram in 2023 and it went mega viral, currently with around 14 million views. Crazy times!

Over the years I’ve made variations of this - one was a “flat antipasti pie” with salami and roasted peppers, really nice.

You can take the method and get creative with your fillings, but I really do love the classic and I’ve made some tweaks and added a layer of kimchi - a lovely tangy, pickly flavour which works well with the ham and cheese.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

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This is a maximum wow factor, minimum effort kind of meal, and an ode to the infamous miso black cod served at Nobu & ROKA.

I’m using regular cod because it’s easy to get hold of and it’s neutral flavour profile takes on the rich, deep, sweetness of the marinade really well.

What I love about this recipe is that you can whisk together the marinade, coat the fish, leave it for 1-2 days then grill hard & fast to create a nice char, or even roast and torch the top.

It works really well if you’re feeding a crowd but maintains the elegance of a restaurant quality dish.

I’ve created a sort of sesame slaw rice mixture to have alongside it - the sesame oil providing and deep savoury note against the marinade with crunchy cabbage & mangetout providing texture against the softness of the cod.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the cod:

2 chunky pieces of cod fillet (around 150g per piece)

1 heaped tbsp white miso

1 heaped tbsp light brown sugar

2 heaped tbsp mirin

2 heaped tbsp sake or shaoxing rice wine

1 tsp light soy sauce

For the slaw:

1/2 sweetheart (hispi) cabbage - finely sliced/shredded

50g mangetout

2 spring onions - finely sliced

1 heaped tbsp pickled ginger - roughly chopped

200g pouch of basmati rice - cook to packet instructions

For the slaw dressing:

1 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp honey

1 lime - zest & juice

Splash of water to loosen if needed

Chilli oil to garnish

Method:

Start 1-2 days before you want to eat this to give ample marination time. Whisk together the miso, sugar, mirin, sake and soy sauce until smooth. Lay out the fish onto a tray then pour over the marinade, rotating the fish to make sure it’s completely coated. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for up to 2 days.

For the pickled ginger slaw, blanch the mangetout for 10 seconds in boiling water then plunge into cold water. Prepare the other vegetable ingredients and mix the dressing ingredients until you achieve a smooth pourable consistency, using cold water to loosen if necessary. If the dressing is too thick, it will be a cloying texture amongst the vegetables.

Heat the rice to packet instructions then mix everything in a large mixing bowl.

Take the fish, remove the cling film and place under a grill on maximum temperature. You want to caramelise the top of each piece of fish. Cod cooks very quickly so it will be cooked through by the time you’ve achieved this in a hot grill.

Pile up the rice slaw mixture into bowls, drizzle over the chilli oil (as much as you like) and top with the blackened fish. Enjoy!

I love a versatile concept for a recipe. With this one, you can play around with the type of fish - monkfish is beautiful with spices if you can get hold of it - but cod, salmon or even prawns would work well.

You could also use an array of different beans or pulses in place of the chickpeas.

My favourite part of this dish is the use of curry leaves - an absolutely delicious thing to exist! As well as using them in the sauce, I’ve also taken inspiration from a “tadka” where spices are fried in ghee or oil and drizzled on top of the curry in Indian, Sri Lankan and Pakistani cuisines.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 fillets of monkfish loin (around 200g)

1 onion - finely sliced

4 garlic cloves - minced

1 inch piece of ginger - finely chopped

1 green chilli - finely sliced

10 fresh curry leaves

3 large plum tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

400ml coconut milk

For the topping:

2 tbsp ghee

1 red chilli - finely sliced

2 garlic cloves - finely sliced

8 curry leaves

Method:

Start by sweating the aromatics (onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli) in a splash of oil and a pinch of salt until softened, for around 10 minutes. Add the curry leaves into the pan and let them fry off until aromatic.

Add in the ground spices and the tomato paste and fry for a few minutes. Add the chopped plum tomatoes to the pan with a splash of water to stop the frying.

Pour in the tin of coconut milk and stir through.

Add the chickpeas to the pan, stir through and let that simmer for 15 minutes. Take the chunks of monkfish and dot them around the pan, nestling them into the sauce so that they are 80% submerged, then pop a lid onto the pan and let the fish poach in the sauce for 8-10 minutes, until cooked through.

For the topping, melt the ghee in a small saucepan then add the chilli and garlic. Let that fry, being careful that the garlic doesn’t brown too much. When it feels crispy, add the curry leaves into the pan - they may spit and pop to start with.

Serve with fluffy basmati rice, spoon over the curry and sprinkle over the crispy topping. Enjoy!

If you love cooking Sunday lunch, but want to expand your repertoire of things that have a Sunday feel, then you’re in the right place. Every Sunday I’ll be sharing a new recipe keeping the identity of a Sunday roast at the core, but exploring new flavours and combinations for you to try!

Today, I made a whole roasted cauliflower - a really underrated method of cooking cauliflower, partly because it’s delicious but also because it’s so very straightforward, with a lot of wow factor.

Cauliflower is a great vehicle for flavour so the sky’s the limit in terms of what you’d want to marinade it in. Today I’ve gone for a smoky mixture of gochujang (a Korean red pepper paste) with paprika.

It’s worth letting it take on some proper colour in the oven for that delicious char.

It’s a fantastic vegetable centrepiece or works well as part of a Sunday roast spread, or alongside some bbq’s meats in the summer.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (makes 1 whole cauliflower, serving 4 generous wedges)

1 whole cauliflower, leaves removed

For the marinade:

1 heaped tbsp gochujang

1 inch piece of ginger - grated

3 cloves garlic - grated

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the sesame sauce:

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1-2 tbsp cold water

To garnish:

Chilli oil

Spring onions - finely sliced

Chives - finely sliced

Method:

Start by trimming your cauliflower so that the stalk is flat and it can sit upright without rolling over.

Blanch the cauliflower in some boiling salted water for 5 minutes to soften slightly.

Meanwhile, mix together the marinade ingredients until smooth.

Take the blanched cauliflower and pour the marinade all over, making sure to brush into all of the nooks and crannies.

Roast in a 180C fan oven for 40-45 minutes until cooked through and starting to char in places.

Mix the sesame sauce ingredients together until you have a smooth pourable consistency .

On a platter, lay a bed of the sauce then pop the roasted cauli on top. Drizzle an extra sesame sauce on top with the chilli oil and chopped spring onions and chives.

Slice and serve with a drizzle of the sesame sauce

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Looks may be deceiving but you don’t need to be a skilled baker to make this.

An easy-to-remember sponge cake recipe (a good thing to have up your sleeve) topped with torched Italian meringue.

Italian meringue consists of whipped egg whites cooked by drizzling in and whisking through 121C degree sugar syrup. The syrup cooks the egg whites during the whisking process, meaning you can spoon or pipe it onto your dessert without needing to cook it again, thus being perfect for torching, creating a beautiful effect both visually and for a toasty flavour.

The recipe and quantities for the loaf cake is versatile and could take on other flavours, but I love a lemon drizzle, so how do we inject a good amount of lemon zing?

Firstly, I add some lemon zest into the cake batter before baking. You want to avoid using lemon juice at this stage - it would disrupt the liquid ratio of the batter and would lose it’s sharpness in the cooking process.

So how do we add that classic lemon acidity? A simple mixture of caster sugar and lemon juice, stirred well to dissolve the sugar, is poured over the warm sponge which I’ll prick with a skewer, to help it drink up the syrup. Not only does this help with flavour but it creates a glorious stickiness to the texture of the sponge.

So let’s get into the recipe!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (23-25cm loaf, approx 6-8 slices)

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If you love cooking Sunday lunch, but want to expand your repertoire of things that have a Sunday feel, then you’re in the right place. Every Sunday I’ll be sharing a new recipe keeping the identity of a Sunday roast at the core, but exploring new flavours and combinations for you to try!

We experienced some slightly warmer springtime days in London this week, and it got me thinking about lovely al fresco lunches.

A weekly ritual for me and my family is a Sunday roast, but they’re inherently wintery, so this is a really good option for a Sunday lunch which has the right feel about it, but much brighter, summery accompaniments.

The romesco is traditionally made with almonds, but I had peanuts in the cupboard and thought I’d give that a go and it worked really well - a slightly more toasty, nutty flavour was imparted. This is such a delicious sauce, it’s worth making ahead of time in a big batch so you can enjoy it with other meals, with eggs at breakfast or in any sandwich you’re having.

I also outline a foolproof method to achieve super juicy chicken breasts.

For a carb element, it had to be a potato, staying in theme with the Sunday roast vibe, but I’ve gone for a roasted new potato. It’s a really low maintenance option compared to traditional roasties, and works really well.

So let’s get into the recipe!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

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The glorious BLT!

The things I love about this sandwich are: the thin yet plentiful layers of crisp textures, the sweetness of tomato against the smoky saltiness of the bacon, and, my added touch, a herby basil mayo.

This isn’t fancy and it isn’t complicated but I wanted to urge you to make it fresh at home - I am not encouraging you to get any old BLT from the supermarket.

Warm fresh, crunchy bread (ideally a ciabatta), warm bacon from the oven with the cold salad bits adds another sensory aspect of the hot with the cold.

The only bacon for this is streaky, smoked bacon, baked in the oven. In my opinion, it’s the best way to cook bacon if you like a uniform crispness.

So let’s get into the recipe (even though it’s a bit of a non-recipe!)

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (makes 1 sandwich enough for 1 very hungry/hungover person, or 2 people)

1 ciabatta loaf - flashed in the oven for a few minutes then halved

8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

2 large beef tomatoes - finely sliced

4-6 iceburg lettuce leaves

10 whole basil leaves

2 tbsp mayonaise

25g softened salted butter (optional)

Method:

Lay the bacon rashers in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet then bake in the oven at 180C for 20-25 minutes until cooked to your desired doneness.

In a pestle and mortar, bash the basil leaves with a pinch of salt to help it break down into a paste. Mix through the mayo and set aside.

Halve the ciabatta, spread the butter onto each side. On the bottom half, spread a thick layer of the basil mayo, lay on the iceburg lettuce leaves, ripped to fit the bun, so that you have 3 or 4 layers. Lay on the tomato slices followed by a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Pile on the bacon rashers then spread any leftover mayo onto the top bun and pop the lid on.

Squish it down then slice in half. Tuck it!

Aglio e olio (garlic and oil) is a classic, simple Italian pasta dish, and one of my absolute favourites.

Stripped back and effortlessly delicious, it’s about using humble, cheap ingredients to create something elegant.

The “sauce” comes together by an emulsion being created via the olive oil and pasta water leaving us with a thickened, glossy saucy consistency.

It’s perfect on its own but it can act as a foundation dish for you to put your own spin on it. I love to have it as part of a summer feasting table with grilled prawns and various salads served alongside.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2):

50ml extra virgin olive oil

5 garlic cloves - finely sliced

1 red chilli - finely sliced (deseeded if you prefer it mild)

10g fresh parsley - leaves picked and finely chopped, stalks reserved

200g dried linguine

Method:

Bring up a pan of salted water to the boil and start cooking your pasta. You want to cook it for around half of the time it says on the packet, and we will finish cooking it in the sauce later on in the recipe.

Meanwhile, add the olive oil and garlic to a cold pan. Put it on a low heat and slowly cook the garlic, being careful it doesn’t take too much colour or burn. Add in the red chilli and parsley stalks and cook gently for another minute or 2. You want to have a gentle sizzle but nothing too aggressively hot.

Pour over a ladle of the pasta water which will break the frying process, and give everything in the pan a good jiggle around. The starchy water will start to emulsify with the olive oil creating a creamy, cloudy slightly thickened sauce.

Drag the pasta over with a bit more of the pasta water and keep things moving, tossing and stirring, adding more pasta water if it looks dry. The linguine should be coated in a glossy sauce.

And that’s it! Serve into bowls with an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and tuck in!

This is one of the first recipes that I’ve developed in my new house and, crucially, garden. We’ve had our first couple of sunny Spring-like days here in the UK and I’ve felt inspired to create what I call, sunshine food.

Food that is light, refreshing, zingy and moreish, often involving some crispy crunchy textures, an element of spice and some vibrant seasoning ingredients, like citrus.

If you like the sound of that then this is a good place to start. A sweet, sticky pork mince mixture with fragrant lemongrass, sharp lime juice, salty fish sauce and lots of deep, dark, brown sugar which melts into a caramel. All of these things need to work in harmony which makes this a really fun exercise in balancing flavours - tasting and adjusting as you go.

I like to serve it with bouncy sticky rice and use crisp leaves of gem lettuce to use as scoops for extra textures.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

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If I was to do a tick box exercise of things I enjoy in a meal, this would score very highly; comforting whilst still remaining light and refreshing. Filling and very satisfying whilst offering some form of nutritional value. And just downright delicious.

If you enjoy any kind of noodle soup (ramen, pho, laksa etc) but you want something easy that you can make yourself at home, then this recipe is for you.

A simple chicken broth infused with ginger, garlic & spring onion, topped with shredded chicken in a creamy sesame dressing. The sesame dressing mixes with the broth as you eat it which creates a lovely, rich soupy base which is very satisfying and moreish.

I should mention the strange method of shredding the chicken. After gently poaching chicken breasts, I’ve found that shredding them using an electric whisk is very quick and efficient, much more so than using 2 forks or your bare hands. It’s weird, but it works.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 2)

200g noodles of choice (I use fine egg noodles)

For the sesame shredded chicken:

2 chicken breasts

2 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp chilli oil

2 tbsp cold water

For the broth:

600ml chicken stock

2 spring onions - the white parts roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves - bashed/crushed

1 inch piece of ginger - bashed / crushed

Other toppings:

1 head of pak choi - quartered lengthways

2 spring onions - the greens finely sliced

5g coriander leaves

2 tbsp chilli oil

Method:

Start by using the handle or heel of your knife to bash the garlic and ginger then add to the cold chicken stock with the whites of the spring onion. Bring gently to a simmer.

Gently poach the chicken breasts in salted, simmering water until cooked through (about 6-8 minutes depending on the size). While the chicken is poaching you can whisk together the remaining ingredients to make up the sauce.

Remove the chicken from the water and add to a large metal bowl. Use your electric beaters on a medium speed and run them over the chicken breasts as they break down. Shred to a desired consistency then mix with the sauce.

In the pan with the water used for poaching the chicken, cook the noodles to packet instructions, then add the quartered pak choi for the final minute. Remove the pak choi and set aside then drain and rinse the noodles in cold water.

To serve, divide the noodles between 2 bowls. Top with the shredded chicken mixture then ladle the hot broth in. Add in the pak choi then top with the spring onion, coriander and chilli oil. Tuck in and enjoy!