Breakfast Strata is a wonderfully savory bake that is steeped overnight in a cheesy custard, keeping prep in the morning to a minimum. Nigella says if the amount of butter appalls you, of course you can use less – however, this enthusiastic buttering not only imparts its glorious flavor as the strata bakes but makes both releasing it and washing up the dish much easier.

Serves 6

ocado.com – Also, watch the video.

INGREDIENTS
500g (18oz) Frozen Whole Leaf Spinach
30g (1oz) unsalted butter, softened, for the dish
6 eggs, large
250ml (8.5oz) whole milk
½ tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
50g (2oz) Grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus 3tbsp
150g (5-6oz) Italian Mozzarella, drained
175g (less than 8oz) sturdy bread, torn into generous chunks
290g (10oz) Roasted Red Peppers, drained
1 tsp dried thyme
2 Salad Onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1 bunch Chives, chopped, to scatter (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

A couple of hours before you want to assemble the strata for overnight steeping, arrange the frozen spinach on a shallow baking tray or large plate and let it thaw.

Generously butter a 23cm-9in-square, 6cm-2in-deep ovenproof dish or similar.

Crack the eggs into a measuring jug (or bowl), then pour in the milk. Spoon in the salt, dijon mustard and worcestershire sauce and, just with a fork, whisk gently but thoroughly to break up the eggs and mix all the ingredients together. Once it seems relatively smooth, add 50g of grated parmesan (reserving the 3tbsp to sprinkle over in the morning) and whisk again quickly to mix.

Squeeze any excess water out of the thawed spinach with your hands and then, with your poor frostbitten fingers, layer it nice and evenly on the bottom of your buttered dish.

Tear half the mozzarella ball into small pieces over the dish, letting the pieces fall as evenly as possible over the spinach layer.

Tumble in the bread pieces to make another layer, then tear the drained peppers over the dish. Arrange them so they’re evenly distributed over the cheese, ensuring every bite is wonderful.

Sprinkle over the dried thyme, followed by the salad onions and the remaining mozzarella (as before), then pour over your egg and milk mixture. Press the bread down into the liquid to submerge it with the implement of your choice, or just use your hands (which I prefer). Cover and chill overnight.

The following day, take the dish out of the fridge and leave it uncovered for 1 hr. Then, 15 mins before time’s up, heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.

Just before the strata goes in the oven, press down on the bread again, to make sure it has enough eggy coverage, then sprinkle over the remaining 3tbsp grated parmesan. Bake for about 50 mins (check it after 40), by which time the top will be dark gold and puffed up. To check it’s ready, use a regular knife of the sort you eat with to cut into the centre top about 2cm down; if no runny custard remains, it’s cooked! Let it stand for 10 mins and, if wished (and I do wish), scatter the chopped chives over the top.

Indulge in the rich and comforting flavors of Nigella Lawson’s Farro Risotto. This delectable dish combines tender, pearled farro with savory crimini mushrooms, fragrant thyme, and a touch of Marsala for a truly irresistible taste. As the farro cooks to perfection, the creamy ricotta and grated Parmesan melt into the mixture, creating a luscious and velvety texture. Topped with a sprinkle of fresh parsley, this Farro Risotto is an elegant and satisfying choice that will transport your taste buds to culinary bliss.

Serves 4-6

Nigella Lawson

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup dried porcini
1/2 cup recently boiled water
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 leek s(washed & trimmed), halved lengthwise & thinly sliced
2 3/4 cups pearled farro (perlato)
1/4 cup Marsala
5 cups broth, vegetable, chicken, or porcini
8 ounces crimini mushrooms
sliced leaves from a few sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1-2 clove garlic, peeled
1/4 cup ricotta
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, to serve

INSTRUCTIONS
Cover the dried porcini with 1/2 cup of recently boiled water, then fill the kettle and put it on the heat again if you are making up the broth with concentrate, cube, or powder. In a wide, heavy saucepan (that comes with a lid) add 2 tablespoons of the oil and the fine jade tangle of leek, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until the leeks are softened.

Drain the porcini, reserving the soaking liquid, then chop them and add them to the pan. Stir well, then add the farro and turn it gently but thoroughly in the pan. Tip in the Marsala and porcini-soaking water and let it bubble up.

Make up the broth as wished and add this to the farro pan, stir, bring to a boil, and then clamp on a lid, turn down the heat, and let it cook at a simmer for 30 minutes, until the farro is cooked and all the liquid absorbed. (Note: May have to cook the farro about another 10 minutes with the lid off to absorb all of the liquid.)

While the farro is cooking, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a medium-sized frying pan and cook the sliced crimini mushrooms for about 5 minutes or until they begin to soften (they will first seem alarmingly dry) at which point add the thyme, grate in (or mince and add) the garlic, and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are juicy and soft. Remove from the heat if there is still time on the clock for the farro. Once the farro is cooked, take it off the heat, too, and add the cooked mushrooms. Stir in the ricotta and Parmesan (they will melt in the heat of the farro) until the farro is creamy, then sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Roast Chicken With Peppers and Olives always feels celebratory; indeed, a roast chicken always is celebratory. The vibrantly colored and intensely flavored vegetables that are cooked alongside here seem only to underline this, offering their own brightness and brio, sunny in taste as well as mood.

Serves 4-6

nigella.com

INGREDIENTS
1 chicken (approximately 3 lb preferably organic)
1 unwaxed lemon (cut in half)
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 leeks (washed and trimmed)
2 red bell peppers
1 orange bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
⅔ cup pitted dry-packed black olives
¼ cup olive oil
kosher salt (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/gas mark 6/400ºF. Untruss the chicken, sit it in a roasting tin and put the lemon halves and 2 of the rosemary sprigs into the chicken’s cavity.

Cut each leek into 3 logs, then slice lengthways and add to the tin. Now, remove the core and seeds of the peppers and slice them into strips, following their natural curves and ridges, and add these to the tin. Tumble in the olives, and now pour the olive oil, mostly over the vegetables but a little over the chicken, too. Add the remaining rosemary sprigs to the vegetables, along with some sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper, to taste, and, using a couple of spoons or spatulas, gently toss the vegetables about to help coat them with the oil and make sure everything’s well mixed up.

Sprinkle some sea salt flakes over the chicken and put it in the oven for about 1–1¼ hours, by which time the chicken should be cooked through, and its juices running clear when you cut into the flesh with a small sharp knife at the thickest part of the thigh joint. The vegetables should be tender by now, too, and some of the leeks will be a scorched light-brown in parts.

Remove the chicken to a carving board and, while it rests (for about 10 minutes), pop the pan of veg back in the oven, switching the oven off as you do so.

Cut the chicken up chunkily, transferring the pieces to a large warmed platter. Now take the pan back out of the oven and, with a slotted spoon or spatula, remove the vegetables to the large platter and when all is arranged to your aesthetic delight, pour over it all the bronze, highly flavoured juices that have collected in the pan.

For Spelt Spaghetti With Olives and Anchovies, the amount of pesto-like sauce you’re making here is so scant that you really do need a stick blender.

Serves 2

nigella.com

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces spelt spaghetti or other spaghetti
salt for pasta water (to taste)
10 pitted green olives
10 anchovy fillets from a can or jar (drained)
1 clove garlic (peeled and roughly chopped)
2 tablespoons pinenuts
leaves from 1 small (approx. 1oz) bunch Italian parsley
zest and juice of ½ unwaxed lemon
¼ cup olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS
Put a pan of water on to boil for the pasta. When the pan comes to the boil, salt the water generously, or to taste, and add the pasta; my spelt spaghetti needs 8-9 minutes, so I set the timer for 7 and start testing for doneness then.

To make the sauce, put the olives, anchovies, garlic, pinenuts, parsley, lemon zest and juice and olive oil in a small bowl and blitz with a stick blender (or in your mini processor bowl). Don’t worry about the odd unmashed pinenut (or olive); indeed, they are rather appealing.

Just before draining the pasta, remove a cupful of starchy cooking water and immediately add 2 tablespoons of it to the bowl of sauce, then give another brief blitz to combine those last ingredients.

Tip the drained pasta back into its pan, then pour and scrape the sauce on top and toss to mix, adding more of the cooking liquid if you feel you need the sauce to be looser.

Season to taste — you may want pepper or more lemon juice, but I can’t see salt being necessary — then toss again and turn out onto a warm serving dish or divide between 2 plates or bowls.