Nigella cooked up a no-effort family roast dinner of poussin and a refreshing salad with punchy wasabi dressing for her father and children. Then for a quick after-work supper with a friend, she whipped up her ever-ready standby of Crispy squid with garlic mayo. Supper need never be a chore again.
Nigella shared her shortcuts for getting dinner on the table in minutes. She proved that a three-course meal needn't be a daunting proposition and can be ready in half an hour. Finger-lickingly Moorish Prawns with spicy dipping sauce and Spanish-inspired Scallops with chorizo are out of the pan and onto dinner plates in the time it takes to get everyone around the table.
There was an Italian-style feast on the table as Nigella revisited the dishes of her youth and her days of living and working in Italy. Childhood trips to the Italian gardens in Hyde Park with her grandmother were always followed by a steaming bowl of Chicken alla cacciatora. It's a treat that Nigella revisits for her own children, but her express version of this Italian classic is the work of minutes, not hours.
Spicy Calabrian-style lamb cutlets made a quick dinner with a friend and Marsala honey pears with gorgonzola were the homemade centrepiece of a spread of antipasti.
These and other recipes are available from a book to accompany the series. Nigella Express (ISBN: 9780701181840), published by Chatto & Windus, is available at good bookshops or online.
