Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's cookbook 'Nigellissima'

Serves 4-6

500g pork and veal mince
3 x 15ml tablespoons grated parmesan
3 x 15ml tablespoons breadcrumbs
3 x 15ml tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 clove garlic, peeled
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oil Spray, for greasing
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon garlic oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 x 125g ball mozzarella, halved then sliced
Few leaves fresh basil


Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan forced.

Place a sieve over a bowl and pour the tin of tomatoes into the sieve to drain off any excess liquid while you prepare the mince base. 

In a large bowl add the mince, parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley and eggs. Grate in the garlic, season with salt and pepper. Now lightly mix it all together to combine, but don't over work it, you want it light, not dense and compacted.

Spray or brush a 28cm round baking tin with oil. Place the mince mixture into the tin and spread out pressing the mixture lightly with your fingers to cover the base of the tin like a pizza base, allow it to go up the sides a little.

Place the drained tomato into a bowl, discard the liquid. Add the garlic oil and oregano to the tomatoes and season with a little salt and pepper. Now spread the tomato sauce over your mince base. Arrange the mozzarella slices on top.

Place in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and lightly set and the mozzarella melted.

Remove from the oven, let it sit for 5 minutes, then scatter over the fresh basil leaves. Serve it up by bringing it to the table whole and slice up into wedges, like a pizza.

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Recipe adapted from www.lilianabattle.com

Makes 20-30 slices

400g Oreo biscuits
60g unsalted butter, melted
750g Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 x 300ml thickened cream
5 teaspoons powdered gelatine
350g white chocolate, melted


Line a 22cm x 32cm (base measurement) baking tin with baking paper, make sure all sides overhang a little, (especially if using a slice tin as the cheesecake goes up the sides just past the rim of the tin, the baking paper will keep the cream cheese in place).

Place 250g of the Oreo biscuits into a food processor and process to fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix to combine.

Press the biscuit crumbs into your prepared tin, you will just have enough crumbs for this sized tin, so spread it out evenly. Refrigerate while you make the filling.


Place the gelatine in a bowl with 1/2 cup water. Place the bowl over a small pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the gelatine has dissolved, remove from heat, cool slightly.


Place the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in the large bowl of your freestanding mixer using the paddle attachment. Beat until smooth, scrape the bowl at least once to make sure it is all mixed well.

Pour in the cream, and continue beating until smooth and combined. Again, scrape down the sides and base of your bowl to ensure it is mixed well.


On the lowest speed, slowly drizzle in the gelatine mixture, then add in the melted white chocolate. 

Using your hands, chop up the remaining 150g Oreos and stir through the cream cheese mixture. Carefully pour over your prepared base, smooth the surface and place in the refrigerator to set for an hour. After an hour, you can cover with cling film as the top would have set, then leave in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to set properly.

Cut into slices and serve.

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Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's cookbook 'Nigellissima'

Serves 2

2 x 15ml tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus some for oiling
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Just under a teaspoon sea salt flakes or 1/2 teaspoon pouring salt, or to taste
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 sirloin steak (approx. 300g)
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
Few sprigs of fresh oregano, to serve (optional)


Heat a griddle, or cast iron or heavy based non stick frying pan over high heat until hot.

Oil the steaks lightly on both sides, season with a little salt and pepper, to taste, remember the dressing has salt, so don't over salt.

In a small dish that can just fit the steak later, combine the extra virgin olive , chilli flakes, dried oregano, salt and red wine vinegar. Give it a little stir to combine.

Place the lightly oiled steaks on the hot griddle (or in the hot pan) and cook for 2 minutes on each side (cook longer if you don't like it rare, as 2 minutes gives you a rare steak as pictured). Once cooked to your liking place the steaks immediately into your chilli marinade and sit the cooked steak in the marinade for 2 minutes on each side.

Remove the steeped steak to a chopping board. Place the tomatoes cut side down into the warm chilli marinade, leave them there while you slice up your steak. Cut the steak into thin slices on the diagonal and arrange on a serving dish or 2 dinner plates.

Mix the tomatoes around in the marinade, then pour them and the marinade all over the ribbons of meat. Add a few leaves of oregano, if you have them, I grow them so they are readily available, and serve immediately with some warm Italian crusty bread.

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Adapted from Easy Food magazine

 Serves 8

6 egg yolks
200g caster sugar
160ml fresh milk
500g mascarpone
300ml thick cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g hazelnut chocolate, coarsely chopped
240ml strong hot coffee
60ml dark (Croatian) rum
340g savoiardi biscuits
Cocoa powder, for dusting


In a medium saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks and 150g of the sugar until combined.

Place over a medium heat, slowly whisk in the milk. When the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat, continue whisking and simmer for 8-10 minutes, then remove from the heat, pour into a clean bowl and allow to cool. I whisk it every now and then so it cools quicker.

When cooled to room temperature, cover the mixture and place in the refrigerator for one hour.

After an hour, in a clean bowl, add the cream and vanilla extract. Use a clean hand mixer, with the whisk attachment, whisk the cream and vanilla together until the mixture forms stiff peaks. 

Once the egg yolk mixture has cooled, use the same hand mixer and beaters, no need to clean them, whisk the mixture until it thickens slightly. Add the mascarpone and whisk until smooth.

Combine the coffee, remaining sugar and rum. Mix until the sugar is dissolved, then allow to cool to room temperature.

Line the base and sides of a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper, make sure the paper extends above the cake tin by 3cm.

Dip each savoiardi biscuit in the coffee mixture for 1-2 seconds to soak. In your prepared cake tin, build the tiramisu. Begin with a layer of coffee dipped savoiardi biscuits, breaking them to fit where necessary. Add one third of the mascarpone mixture, spread it out evenly, then half of the whipped cream, spread out evenly. Scatter over half of the chopped hazelnut chocolate.

Now add on another layer of the coffee dipped savoiardi biscuits, half of the remaining mascarpone mixture, and all of the remaining whipped cream. Scatter over the remaining chocolate.

Finally add another layer of coffee dipped savoiardi biscuits and the remaining mascarpone mixture.

Using a sifter, dust a layer of cocoa powder over the top. Cover loosely with cling film and refrigerate for 24-48 hours before serving.

To serve, carefully remove the sides of the baking tin, gently peel away the baking paper on the sides. Trim the base baking paper but leave the cake tin base on, it will collapse if you try to remove it, place on a serving platter, serve cold.

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Recipe adapted from Adam Liaw

​Serves 4

6 chicken thigh cutlets, trimmed of visible fat
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets
1 small red capsicum, deseeded and cut into strips
1 small eggplant, cut into 1cm cubes
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3 anchovies, very finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
8 cups mixed baby salad leaves
Black pepper, to serve

Light vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
A pinch of salt


Preheat your oven to 210C/190C fan forced.

In a large bowl add the chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, capsicum, eggplant, cherry tomatoes and anchovies. Add the oil and stir to coat.

Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a baking paper lined baking sheet large enough to fit everything in a single layer with a bit of space between the vegetables, use two baking sheets if needed, Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

​Roast the chicken and vegetables for 25-30 minutes (switching the trays if using two trays halfway through cooking) bake until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are starting to char around the edges.

While the vegetables are baking prepare the dressing. Whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette.

I like to use a platter for this, I scatter my salad leaves all over the platter, then scatter on the onion, drizzle with a little dressing.

Once the chicken is cooked, thickly slice it then scatter the chicken and roasted vegetables over the salad leaves (and any juices from the baking trays). Drizzle with remaining dressing, add extra pepper if you like and serve immediately.

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50g unsalted butter, chopped
2 cups caster sugar
1 cup hot water
1 cup self raising flour
1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g white chocolate, melted
150g dark chocolate, melted

Ganache:
300g milk chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup thickened cream 

Preheat the oven to a warm 150C. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line with baking paper, make sure the paper extends 5cm above the cake tin.

Put the butter, sugar and water in a medium sized saucepan. Over low heat, stir until all is melted and smooth, don't allow to boil. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl, cool for 15 minutes.


While the butter mix is cooling, melt the white and dark chocolates separately.

Whisk the two flours into the butter mixture, then eggs.

Divide the mixture in half. (I like to have slightly more cake mixture in the one I put the white chocolate mixture into). Stir white chocolate and vanilla into one portion, whisk to combine. Add the dark chocolate to the other portion and whisk to combine.

Now you can drop alternate spoonfuls of the white chocolate mixture and dark chocolate mixture into the prepared pan, then use a skewer to swirl it around to give the marble effect. But I prefer to pour one ladle full of the white chocolate mixture into the centre of the tin. Then pour a ladle full of the dark chocolate mixture right into the centre of the tin again, in the centre of the white chocolate mix. Repeat pouring ladle fulls alternating the white and dark into the centre of the tin, in the centre of the last mixture poured, and the mixture forms rings of marble when sliced. It is for me the perfect way to marble.

Place in the preheated oven, for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand cake in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool. I have also left it in the pan to cool completely previously.

Ganache: Combine milk chocolate and cream in a small heatproof bowl, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir, occasionally until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Place in the refrigerator, stir every 10 minutes, until the mixture is of a spreadable consistency, this can take up to an hour.

Trim cake top with a serrated knife. Spread the ganache all over the top and side.

Serve with ice cream and berries, if you like

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