Notes about Recipes in this book

• Clementine cake

  • westminstr on December 28, 2012

    Made this cake in 9" springform - it should still cook for an hour in my slow oven. Made with satsumas, would like to try Meyer lemon. This is a good cake to make ahead as it improves with time.

  • vickster on April 10, 2016

    Made cake in 9 inch springform pan and baked it for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. It is delicious! Very moist and flavorful -- I used tangerines from my tree but would like to try with Meyer lemon.

  • mfto on December 26, 2016

    I have been thinking about this cake since I bought the book years ago. Then this year, the NY Times featured a clementine cake as an elegant cake to serve for Christmas. The recipe by John Willoughby is very close to Nigella's. I followed Nigella's except for also making the candied clementines in the NY Times recipe. The resulting syrup is simply wonderful. The Times recipe uses a chocolate frosting if you are so inclined. I am not. Everyone praised the cake. I don't see how it could be improved.

• Anna's chick pea and pasta soup

  • westminstr on December 04, 2012

    This is a very nice soup, better with pasta than without. Not quite as good as Marcella's very similar version but still good. I'm not convinced that the baking soda soak is necessary.

• Chicken and chickpea tagine

  • westminstr on December 22, 2012

    I didn't like this one too much. Too much white wine.

• Beef stew with anchovies and thyme

  • foodgloriousfood on March 30, 2022

    I found that 3hrs at 300F was too long as it started to smell a tiny bit scorched (even in my Staub), added water and a pinch sugar and reduced heat to 200F and all was ok. The horseradish cream which is supposed to accompany this, is on page 265-266 even though the header for this recipe states that it is on page 193 (page 193 is the chapter 5 Weekend Lunch page and has no recipes) The Horseradish cream was very good with the stew.

• Linguine with clams

  • westminstr on December 27, 2012

    Made this recipe for three, tripling clams and doubling the pasta. It didn't work out that well bc the clams took too long to cook and sauce didn't reduce well. It's probably good as written though (for one person). See bittman recipe for larger quantities

  • kari500 on October 27, 2022

    I have a rare couple days to myself, and I love linguine with clams. Unfortunately not a single clam I bought opened. Luckily I had a can of clams sitting in the pantry from the pandemic, so I quickly opened that and added it while taking out the unopened clams. So I'm not sure I should be reviewing, but I can tell you that the way I had to do it was delicious.

• Pea risotto

  • Melanie on March 30, 2014

    Perfect when you feel like doing a little bit of work in the kitchen but are a bit distracted. The ingredients are quite simply however it results in a deliciously comforting bowl of risotto.

• Butternut squash and pasta soup

  • Melanie on March 30, 2014

    Another easy and comforting meal from Nigella. The hardest part is peeling and cuting the pumpkin.

• Roast cod with pea purée

  • westminstr on December 04, 2012

    I made the pea purée and served with sautéed scallops. Super fast, easy and delicious. I halved the amount of butter and cream and it was perfect.

• Chicken with scallions, chili and yoghurt

  • wester on June 27, 2019

    Simple and tasty.

• Lemon chicken

  • wester on April 22, 2017

    This was OK; the sauce had just the right consistency but I actually prefer just the juices from baking the chicken.

• Lemon linguine

  • louie734 on March 26, 2013

    Love this simple, light-tasting twist on an easy pasta dish. I like to add some frozen green peas before draining the pasta.

  • rilers68 on September 09, 2022

    I halved the recipe for 3 people and leftovers. Despite the cream and butter this dish does not feel heavy at all and we actually had it for dinner on a very warm late summer evening. I added some basil and topped w some extra Parm, a sprig of basil and pepper on top and everyone loved it! I saved some of the pasta water for the leftovers to emulsify the sauce. Five stars!!!

• Shortbread

  • Justinecooks511 on February 28, 2026

    Made this yesterday and it came out delicious! My first time making shortbread. I kneaded the dough for about 3 minutes before rolling it into a cylinder and refrigerating it, and i sprinkled the cookies with some regular sugar before baking

• Beet greens and buckwheat noodles

  • westminstr on December 22, 2012

    Very flavorful despite being fat free (not usually a selling point with me). Also very fast and easy to prepare. Good choice for healthy weeknight cooking.

• Shredded beet salad with yoghurt

  • wester on May 12, 2017

    I like the combination of flavors but IMHO the amounts need major tweaking - much too sweet, much too minty, and I had already used less of those than the recipe says. Next try: just one sprig of mint and one beet, and increase the coriander a bit.

• Thick miso dressing for beans

  • wester on September 11, 2017

    Really, why does she say "there is no such thing as a decent low-fat salad dressing" and then proceed to give four of them? Still, with a bit of tweaking to put the fat back in (I happen to be on a high-fat diet) it's good. She doesn't say what beans to use it with; I used a mix of green beans, chick peas and tomatoes.

• Clove-hot chilli con carne

  • wester on March 20, 2018

    I really liked this but the children said it tasted "weird", not like chilli.

• The cookies

  • wester on December 21, 2017

    My son had a charity sale and a Christmas lunch, and wanted cinnamon cookies for both. I made this one and the "Christmas sablés cookies" from Chocolate & Zucchini. Both produced very good cookies, but this one needed no chilling which made planning much easier.

• Basic roast chicken

  • louie734 on March 26, 2013

    This recipe got me started roasting chicken... the directions are so approachable and there's no scary instructions to truss or use a fancy rack etc. I use a cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet.

• Mushroom sandwich

  • louie734 on March 26, 2013

    Embarrassingly simple and shockingly good. Awesome worknight vegetarian supper. The Dijon is great with the juicy mushrooms.

• Linguine with bacon

  • louie734 on March 26, 2013

    Love Nigella's easy pasta recipes for worknights. Simple and delicious.

• Macaroons

  • KIGirl on November 29, 2014

    It might be me - but I am not a great fan of the Macaroon (macaron) - I would rather the egg whites in a pav !! 3/10