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A simple and beautiful Provencal-style French Tomato Salad. Glistening circles of sliced tomatoes sprinkled with fresh basil, parley and shallots.

This French Tomato Salad (Salade de Tomates), with its Provençal-style circular arrangement of generously-sized sliced tomatoes sprinkled with fresh basil and peppery flat-leafed parsley, is as delicious as it is beautiful. I know it's a cliché, but this really is sunshine on a plate.

Perfect with pan-fried and grilled meats. Or how about a pan-fried or grilled tuna steak? With chunks of fresh bread to mop up the sumptuous juices, and a glass of Provençal wine, you can almost hear the musical buzz of the cicadas, that sound that is Provence.

What makes this Tomato Salad so great?

A couple of crucial steps make this French Tomato Salad stand out from the all the rest.

• Firstly, taking a little time to salt the tomatoes and drain them of some of their juice. This intensifies the flavours of the tomatoes, as well as the herbs and dressing.
• Secondly, drizzling the dressing over the tomatoes and letting the salad stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or so. This is the master stroke to let all those delicious flavours meld together perfectly.

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Ingredients

• Tomatoes.
• Fresh Parsley.
• Fresh Basil.
• Shallots.
• Olive Oil.
• Vinegar.
• Salt and Black Pepper.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make a French Tomato Salad

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1. Core the tomatoes. Remove the stalk and top core from 6 medium-sized ripe tomatoes using a small sharp knife.

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2. Slice the tomatoes. Thinly slice the tomatoes cross-ways, making sure that the slices are still thick enough for the them to keep their shape and not fall apart.

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3. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt. Lay the tomatoes flat, in a single layer if possible, on a wire tray. Sprinkle the tomatoes generously with fine salt and leave to drain. If you have the time, turn the tomato slices occasionally during this time and gently shake to encourage the water to come off them.

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4. Prepare herbs and shallots. Finely chop the leaves from 1 or 2 sprigs of basil and the leaves from 4 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley. Peel and finely chop 2 small shallots.

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5. Mix the dressing. Put ¼ cup of extra virgin oil and 2 teaspoons of red or white wine vinegar into a cup or glass for mixing. Whisk together and season with salt and pepper.

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6. Arrange the salad. On a flat serving dish, arrange the tomato slices in a round circular pattern. Sprinkle with the chopped shallots and then chopped parsley and basil. Finally, drizzle the dressing evenly across the Tomato Salad. Leave the salad to stand for a good 30 minutes or so at room temperature before serving.

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More Salad Recipes

For another salad made with tomatoes and fresh parsley, try this Authentic Lebanese Tabbouleh. A deliciously fresh-tasting Parsley Salad with lemon-soaked bulgur wheat, diced tomatoes and lots of parsley.

If you are wanting to serve up a selection of salads as part of a meal such as a buffet or BBQ, a creamy salad such as this Quick Potato Salad with Spring Onions or Creamy Coleslaw with Apples are the perfect balance to the fresher tasting French Tomato Salad. For extra Mayonnaise creaminess, make your own with this Homemade French Mayonnaise recipe.

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Sugar-coated Hungarian Walnut Shortbread Cookies. Bite into perfectly scrumptious roasted nutty crunch and shortbread crumbliness.

• Quick & easy. With few ingredients and a simple baking process, these delicious cookies are a quick and easy win.
• Make ahead. Simple to break the cooking steps in stages, for instance make the cookie dough a day or so ahead of baking.
• Great as gifts. These little baton shaped Walnut Cookies are perfect as gifts, particularly around Christmas time.

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Ingredients

• Walnuts.
• Plain flour.
• Bicarbonate of soda.
• Butter.
• Sugar.
• Eggs.
• Vanilla essence.
• Salt.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make these Walnut Shortbread Cookies

Soft butter is needed to make these simple Cookies, so make sure to take the butter is out of the fridge in good time to soften. Otherwise, a quick fix for rock solid butter is to cut it into cubes and place in warm water. Leave for about 10 minutes, then drain the water from the softened butter.

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1. Heat the oven. Light the oven and set the heat to Gas Mark 3 (160 degrees C).

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2. Chop the walnuts. Finely chop 2.5oz (75g) walnuts.

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3. Sift the flour. Sieve 14oz (400g) flour together with ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda.

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4. Cream the butter and sugar. Put 7oz (200g) soft butter (you should be able to easily flatten it with a spoon) and 3.5oz (100g) caster sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat rapidly with a wooden spoon until it becomes lighter in texture and colour. The creamed butter and sugar should have a slightly fluffy texture and white tinge.

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5. Beat in egg and vanilla essence. Add 2 eggs and a few drops of vanilla essence to the creamed butter and sugar. Beat in well.

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6. Mix in flour. Add the sifted flour and bicarbonate of soda mix in stages (about a third at a time) to the egg and butter mix. Use your hands to bring the dough together when adding the last amounts of flour.

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7. Shape and chill. Shape the dough gently into a rough rectangular shape. This will make it easier to roll out later to a rectangle. Wrap the dough up in baking paper, foil or cling film. I generally use baking paper. Place the wrapped up dough in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour. About 10 minutes before taking the dough out of the fridge beat the egg as detailed in the next step.

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8. Beat 1 egg. In a small bowl beat 1 egg with a small pinch of salt. This egg will be brushed onto the rolled out pastry later. By adding a small pinch of salt, the egg will break down after a few minutes and become more liquid and easy to spread.

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9. Roll out and brush with egg. Roll out the pastry until it is about 32cm long, 20cm wide, 1cm deep. Brush the pastry generously with the well beaten egg. The egg will help to bind the chopped walnuts to the pastry when these are layered on to, so more egg rather than less.

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10. Cover with chopped walnuts. Press the chopped walnuts down gently into the surface of the rolled out pastry using the flat of your hand. Make sure that none of the walnuts are loose.

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11. Sprinkle with sugar. Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on the walnut covered pastry.

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12. Slice. Cut the pastry in half lengthways, and then in strips about 2cm wide each to make about 32 Walnut Shortbread batons.

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13. Bake. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the Walnut Cookies spaced apart onto the parchment paper. bake the Walnut Shortbread Cookies for about 10 to 14 minutes until the Cookies are lightly bronzed.

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More Hungarian Recipes

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A sparkling Lebanese Tabbouleh. Finely chopped fresh green parsley and mint are speckled with red diced tomatoes and lemon-soaked bulgur wheat.

I love Lebanese Tabbouleh. It dazzles with colour and zings with flavour. Truly a Parsley Salad, with generous handfuls of finely chopped fresh green parsley the star ingredient.

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Ingredients

• Bulgur wheat.
• Tomatoes.
• Fresh parsley.
• Fresh mint.
• Spring onions (scallions or green onions).
• Lemons.
• Olive Oil.
• Salt.
• Ground black pepper (optional).

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Authentic Lebanese Tabbouleh

This Lebanese Tabbouleh is simple to put together but be prepared for lots of chopping! For best results you need to chop the fresh herbs by hand. Here's how to make Authentic Lebanese Tabbouleh salad:

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1. Rinse and soak the bulgur wheat. Rinse ¾ cup fine bulgur wheat a couple of times using cold water. Put the bulgur wheat into a bowl and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for about 45 minutes. Whilst the bulgur wheat is soaking, prepare the other ingredients.

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2. Dice the tomatoes. Chop 4 medium-sized tomatoes into small squares.

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3. Drain the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a sieve, and leave to drain over a bowl while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

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4. Prepare the parsley and mint. Remove the main stems and stalks from 3 bunches of parsley (to give about 6 cups of chopped parsley) and 1 bunch of mint (to give about 1 cup of chopped mint). Rinse the parsley and mint in cold water.

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5. Dry the parsley and mint. Remove as much water from the parsley and mint as possible. This makes it easier to chop the herbs and helps prevent the lemon dressing from being diluted. I find that a salad spinner works best for this.

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6. Chop the parsley and mint. Remove the stems from the parsley and mint and finely chop. I find that it is best to chop the herbs by hand. You may use a food processor, but be careful not to process for too long otherwise the parsley and mint will crush and have a mushy consistency. On the other hand, if chopping by hand be sure to finely chop the herbs. Large pieces of parsley and mint will spoil the texture and flavour of the dish.

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7. Prepare and chop the spring onions (scallions). Prepare about 6 spring onions (scallions) by chopping off the root end and, if needed removing the outer leaf layer. Rinse under a cold tap. Finely chop the white end of the spring onions so that you have about ½ cup of finely chopped onion.

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8. Drain bulgur wheat and squeeze out. Check that the bulgur wheat has fully soaked. The bulgur wheat should be chewy but with no hard, gritty bite to it. Drain the bulgur wheat and squeeze it well with your hands to remove all excess water.

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9. Add lemon juice. Put the squeezed out bulgur wheat into a bowl and add about ½ cup of lemon juice. Leave to soak for 10 minutes.

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10. Add olive oil. Add ½ cup of olive oil to the bulgur wheat and lemon juice.

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11. Combine herbs and bulgur wheat. Add the chopped parsley and mint to the bulgar wheat mixture and mix together.

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12. Mix in tomatoes or serve piled onto bulgur mix. You can serve the Tabbouleh a couple of ways.

• Firstly, you can keep the diced tomatoes separate from the Tabbouleh mix of herbs and bulgur wheat, piling it onto the Tabbouleh mix.

• Secondly, you can mix the tomatoes into the Tabbouleh, as shown in the main picture and below.

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FAQ

More Lebanese Recipes

Lebanese Tabbouleh is typically eaten as part of a selection of dishes known as Meze. Serve it alongside this deliciously rich Vegetarian Lebanese Eggplant Moussaka with Chickpeas, which beautifully balances the fresh lemon taste of this Tabbouleh.

One of the joys of Lebanese dishes is their simplicity. This gently spiced Lebanese Red Lentil Soup is simplicity itself, with the surprise ingredient of butter! Buttery, creamy deliciousness!

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So simple, this Quick Potato Salad with Spring Onions (Scallions), can be put together in no time. Small potatoes, spring onions (scallions) and mayonnaise. That's it!

• Simple ingredients. This Potato Salad has a very short ingredient list, potatoes, spring onions (scallions) and mayonnaise.
• Quick to prepare. No peeling of potatoes here. Keep the skin on for ultimate flavour and goodness.
• Delicious and nutritious. Boiled potatoes in their skin are rich with healthy goodies such as potassium, vitamin C and fibre.

Potato Salad with Spring Onions was one of our family staple salads growing up, and is still my favourite version of Potato Salad.

The crisp, fresh flavours of the finely chopped spring onion (scallion) perfectly balance the richness and creaminess of the mayo and potatoes.

Being naturally lazy, the ease with which this delicious, classic Potato Salad can be put together has always been a winner for me. No laborious peeling of potatoes, just boil, drain, thrown in some chopped spring onions and mix in a few dollops of mayo. Job done!

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Ingredients

• Potatoes. I like to keep the potatoes whole with the potato skin on, so no peeling and little preparation of the potatoes needed. Small new potatoes are perfect for this salad, otherwise waxy potato varieties such as Charlotte, Pink Fir Apple, Ratte, Jersey Royal, Maris Peer, Yukon Gold or fingerlings.
• Spring Onions (Scallions). By spring onions I am using the English meaning of spring onions, which is young spring onions that have been harvested before the bulb starts to swell. In the US these are known as scallions (and in Ireland also) or green onion. Scallions (or English spring onions) have a more delicate taste than small onions which have a bulb.
• Mayonnaise. I make this with my Homemade French Mayonnaise. You can, of course, use a store bought ready-made mayonnaise.
• Salt and Black Pepper.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Potato Salad

There are only few steps to making this salad, and it may easily be made in stages. For instance cook the potatoes a day ahead. If you are making the mayonnaise from scratch this can be made up to a few days ahead.

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1. Prepare the potatoes. Clean 500g of potatoes. If the potatoes are muddy they may need a short soak in cold water to loosen the soil. Remove any earth with a brush or soft scouring pad. Rinse the potatoes under running water. If you have small potatoes, you do not need to cut them. For larger potatoes, cut them into chunks, keeping the skin on.

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2. Cook the potatoes. Put the potatoes into a large saucepan and cover with water. Make sure that no part of the potatoes is above the water. Add a generous pinch of salt to the water. Bring the water to a boil and then gently simmer the potatoes. The cooking time will depend upon the size and type of potatoes but will be about 10 to 20 minutes. Check if the potatoes are cooked by trying to insert a fork into them. If the fork enters easily they are cooked.

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3. Drain the potatoes. Drain the potatoes as soon as they have cooked and let them cool. Whilst the potatoes are cooling, prepare the spring onions.

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4. Prepare and chop the spring onions. Prepare about 3 to 4 spring onions (scallions) by chopping off the root end and, if needed removing the outer leaf layer. Rinse under a cold tap. Finely chop the white end of the spring onions including some of the lighter green part of stems. Reserve some of the greener slices of onion.

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5. Combine the ingredients and season. Put into a large mixing bowl 4 to 5 generous tablespoons of mayonnaise, the chopped spring onions and the cooled potatoes. Mix together well with a large spoon so that all potatoes are well covered by the mayonnaise. Double check the seasoning by tasting a slice of potato together with the mayonnaise dressing. You may find that extra salt and ground pepper is needed.

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6. Sprinkle and serve. You may wish to serve the Spring Onion Potato Salad in a fresh, clean dish. Sprinkle the salad with some of the reserved finely chopped spring onions.

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The Healthy Side of Potatoes

Potatoes boiled and eaten in their skin retain more vitamins than most other methods of cooking potatoes, whilst containing less calories. New potatoes are also full of more concentrated goodness than older, larger potatoes.

Did you know, a medium sized potato has more potassium than a medium sized banana? Here are some more potato fun facts:

• Rich in vitamins. As well as a good amount of potassium, a medium sized potato has about the same amount of Vitamin C as a medium sized tangerine, and various other vitamins such as vitamin B6, thiamin, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.
• Fibre. A medium sized potato has the same amount of fibre as ½ grapefruit. Whilst the skin is rich in fibre, a large portion of the fibre is found in the potato flesh.
• Protein. A medium sized potato has about the same amount of protein as a ⅓ cup of milk. This high quality protein is found close to the skin.

FAQ

More Recipes with Mayonnaise

If you haven't made Mayonnaise before, you must try this Homemade French Mayonnaise recipe. Mayonnaise is truly simple and quick to make and this recipe is packed with tips for success first time round.

Mayonnaise is great with crunchy cabbage, the creamy, richness of the Mayonnaise in perfect contrast. Try this Creamy Coleslaw with Apples.

French Mayonnaise is also famous for its association with the classic bistrot dish of Oeufs Mayonnaise. Another deliciously simple Mayonnaise recipe.

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This super simple Crème Fraîche Tomato Pasta has a smooth creamy tomato sauce. Rich tomato sweetness balanced by the tang of Crème Fraîche.

• Quick and easy. Onion and garlic free. No-chop recipe! The perfect from scratch dish at the end of a long day.
• Simple ingredients. Just pantry essentials. If not already, make crème fraîche a stock item in your fridge. It is one of my essential chilled items, alongside butter.
• Rich creamy tomato sauce. Simmered down tomatoes with oregano and crème fraîche. Mmm....delicious!

This Crème Fraîche Tomato Pasta is a doddle to make and uses my go to alternative to cream, crème fraîche.

Can you put crème fraîche in pasta sauce? Absolutely. If anything, crème fraîche gives a richer, more tangy flavour than cream. Crème fraîche can even be the sauce itself. My Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche Pasta has just crème fraîche as the sauce with some lemon juice added for extra flavour.

Canned tomatoes can have a somewhat acidic taste, and crème fraîche, like cream, can help to smooth out and soften the flavours.

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Ingredients

• Dried pasta. I prefer to use fusilli, these little spirals of pasta are perfect for trapping lots of sauce and easy to eat.
• Canned tomatoes. Whole, chopped or crushed canned tomatoes are all good for this recipe.
• Sugar.
• Dried oregano.
• Salt.
• Ground Black Pepper.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Crème Fraîche Tomato Pasta

This great pasta dish is quick to throw together. Here's how to make it.

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1. Boil the water. Put about 6 to 8 pints (4 to 5 litres) of water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add a generous amount of salt, 1 to 2 tablespoons. This may sound a lot but helps to bring out the flavour of the pasta, rather than making it salty.

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2. Cook the pasta. Add 16oz (500g) fusilli pasta to boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes less than indicated on its wrapping, then start testing the pasta for an al dente texture. Al dente means that the pasta still has a little bit of texture when you bite into it. At this stage it is better for the pasta to be slightly under cooked rather than overcooked. The pasta will continue to cook when added to the sauce. Whilst the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce.

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3. Prepare the canned tomatoes. This step may not be necessary if you have chopped or crushed canned tomatoes. I find that a potato masher works very well for crushing tomatoes. I use this method for whole canned tomatoes and also chopped canned tomatoes for a smoother sauce. Put 2x14.5oz (400g) cans of tomatoes (including juice) into a bowl. Crush the canned tomatoes the potato masher. If you do not have a potato masher, a fork is a good alternative.

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4. Cook the tomatoes. Put the crushed tomatoes into a large wide saucepan or sauté pan and add 2 teaspoons of sugar. Fast boil over a medium to high heat for about 5 minutes.

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5. Add crème fraîche and seasoning. Add 5 tablespoons of crème fraîche, 2 teaspoons of dried oregano and salt and black pepper to taste. Gently simmer the tomato sauce for about 5 minutes allowing the flavours to develop. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.

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6. Reserve some pasta water and drain pasta. Once the pasta is cooked, remove about 1 ladleful of pasta water and keep for later use. Drain the pasta.

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7. Add the pasta to the sauce. Add the drained pasta to the Crème Fraîche Tomato sauce. Stir the pasta in gently. If the pasta is too al dente to your taste add a little of the reserved pasta water stirring it in well, and heat for a couple more minute. You can also add some of the pasta water to loosen up the sauce if it is too thick.

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8. Serve up the pasta. Ladle into dishes and add your preferred topping, such as finely chopped parsley or grated parmesan. I sometimes top with a knob of soft butter for extra rich yumminess.

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FAQ

More Quick & Easy Pasta Dishes

Another super easy tomato sauce pasta dish using canned tomatoes is this Penne Napoli (pasta with tomato and basil sauce) recipe. Crème fraîche is truly brilliant for pasta sauces, and another delicious and quick recipe with crème fraîche is this Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche Pasta.

And my favourite for speediness and buttery decadence, Garlic Butter Pasta.

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With generous glugs of olive oil, this Penne Napoli recipe has a gloriously rich tomato sauce, zinging with the aromatic taste of fresh basil.

• Super quick pasta recipe. This tomato sauce is onion-free, so no onion to chop keeps the vegetable prepping to a minimum.
• Simple ingredients. Canned tomatoes, garlic, pasta and olive oil are my pantry essentials, and you may have these already too. The only other key ingredient is fresh basil leaves (dried basil is no substitute here).
• Perfect hot or cold. Whilst the pasta is delicious as a hot light meal, it is great for making ahead and eating cold. Ideal for that office packed lunch. Make a double batch!

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Ingredients

• Garlic cloves.
• Pasta.
• Canned tomatoes.
• Fresh basil leaves.
• Olive oil.
• Salt and Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

How to Make Penne Napoli

This easy version of Penne Napoli closely follows the recipe for Napolitana in the simply brilliant pasta cookbook Pasta Every Way for Every Day by Eric Treuille and Anna del Conte.

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• Crush the garlic. Crush 2 cloves of garlic with a garlic press, or chop very finely with a knife.

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• Boil the water. Put about 6 to 8 pints (4 to 5 litres) of water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add a generous amount of salt. The amount will vary according to the type of salt used but as a guide about 1 ½ tablespoons of coarse grain salt. The saying goes that the water should be as salty as seawater.

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• Cook the pasta. Once the water is boiling, add 16oz (500g) of penne pasta to it. Ideally, you want an al dente texture. The pasta still has some bite to it, but no chalkiness in the texture. I like to check the pasta from about 5 minutes before the cooking time shown on the packet. It is better to have undercooked rather than overcooked pasta at this stage. You can adjust the texture later if you find that it is undercooked to your taste. The pasta will continue to cook a little when added to the Napoli sauce. While the pasta is cooking prepare the Napoli sauce.

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• Prepare the canned tomatoes. If you have bought finely chopped or pulped canned of tomatoes you may skip this step. Otherwise, put 2x14.5oz (400g) cans of tomatoes (including all the juice) into a bowl and crush the canned tomatoes with a potato masher or a fork.

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• Combine the sauce ingredients and cook. Put the crushed garlic and crushed tomatoes into a large wide saucepan and add 7 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of sugar and about 20 torn basil leaves. Heat the sauce, bringing it to a simmer.

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• Cook and stir the sauce. Over a medium to high heat, simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes until it thickens. Stir rapidly from time to time to encourage the oil to fully mix in and emulsify with the tomato sauce.

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• Reserve some pasta water and drain pasta. Once the pasta is cooked, remove about 1 ladleful of pasta water and set aside. Drain the pasta.

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• Combine all ingredients. Add the drained pasta to the Napoli sauce and stir in gently. If the pasta needs a little more cooking for your preferred texture, add a little more of the reserved pasta water stirring it in well and cook over a gentle heat.

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• Ladle the pasta onto serving dishes. Sprinkle with some chopped basil.

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Other ideas

• Chilli flakes. Add a few chilli flakes to the sauce along with the other ingredients to give a little heat. Alternatively, just sprinkle dried chilli flakes on the pasta when serving.
• Grated parmesan. I usually have this tomato pasta dish without parmesan cheese, but grated parmesan is excellent with this dish and my children love to add generous amounts of finely grated parmesan.

More Quick Pasta Recipes

Pasta is always a good fallback when cooking in a hurry. Looking for an ultra quick pasta recipe? This Garlic Butter Pasta is perfect with a deliciously rich butter and garlic sauce.

For something a little more fancy but still super easy, try this Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche Pasta dish, with finely sliced smoked salmon and a delicious lemony crème fraiche sauce.

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Garlic Butter Pasta, a simple dish with the sublime taste of a melted butter sauce infused with the flavours of gently sautéed garlic.

• Speedy pasta recipe.
• Simple ingredients. You only need pantry basics for this quick pasta dish.
• Garlic butter magic. The fragrance of garlic as it is gently heated in butter is hard to beat.

This Garlic Butter Pasta shows how the best tasty dishes are the simplest. It was inspired by a brilliantly simple recipe I was introduced to as a student, pasta smothered with melted butter and finished with a good sprinkling of garlic salt.

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Ingredients

• Garlic.
• Parsley. Curly or flat-leaved fresh parsley.
• Pasta. I love to make this dish with fusilli pasta as each pasta has large surface for that amazing garlic butter sauce to cling to.
• Butter. If you have a choice, go for unsalted butter. Since unsalted butter has a higher smoking point than salted, you are less likely to risk burning the butter when heating it with the garlic.
• Salt and Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

How to Make Garlic Butter Pasta

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• Prepare the garlic and parsley. Finely chop a small sprig of parsley to give about 4 teaspoons of finely chopped parsley. Peel and crush 2 to 3 cloves of garlic using a garlic press. Alternatively, finely chop the garlic.

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• Boil the water. Put about 6 to 8 pints (4 to 5 litres) of water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add a generous amount of salt. The amount will vary according to the type of salt used but as a guide about 1 ½ tablespoons of coarse grain salt. The saying goes that the water should be as salty as seawater.

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• Cook the pasta. Add the fusilli pasta to boiling water and cook for a couple of minutes less than indicated on its wrapping, then start testing the pasta. Aim for an al dente texture, meaning that it still has a little bit of texture to bite into, and under cooked rather than overcooked. The pasta will continue to cook when added to the butter sauce. While the pasta is cooking prepare the butter sauce.

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• Melt the butter. Over a low heat, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan or sauté pan. Take care not to overheat the butter, if you see any signs of bubbling or small specks forming in the butter remove the saucepan from the heat.

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• Fry the garlic. Add the crushed garlic to the melted butter, stirring it in well. Over a very low heat, fry the garlic just until the aroma of the garlic is released (about 1 minute) and then remove the saucepan from the heat.

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• Drain the pasta, set aside some pasta water. Remove and keep aside about 1 ladleful of pasta water. Drain the pasta.

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• Combine all ingredients. Over a very low heat, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water to the melted butter sauce, stirring in rapidly so that the water combines thoroughly (emulsifies) with the melted butter. Take the saucepan off the heat and, stirring in gently, add the cooked pasta, 2 teaspoons of chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste. If the pasta needs a little more cooking for your preferred texture, add a little more of the pasta water stirring it in well and cook over a gentle heat.

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• Ladle the pasta onto serving dishes. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped parsley. I will sometimes top with a knob of soft butter for an extra buttery finish. Is there such a thing as too much butter?

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More Quick Pasta Recipes

Pasta is always a good fallback when cooking in a hurry. This Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche Pasta dish is another super easy pasta recipe, with finely sliced smoked salmon and a delicious lemony crème fraiche sauce.

For the easiest pasta dish with a rich tomato sauce, look no further than this Penne Napoli (pasta with tomato and basil sauce).

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Oeufs Mayonnaise, just hard-boiled eggs and mayonnnaise, is a bistrot classic that can be as simple or as grand as your imagination takes you.

• Classic French bistrot dish.
• Simple. Just eggs and mayonnaise.
• Versatile. Perfect for a buffet, as canapés, or as a first course dish or light meal.

Elegant in its simplicity, oeufs mayonnaise barely merits being called a recipe. In essence it is just hard-boiled served with mayonnaise. That's it!

I have kept to a classic and simple version of Oeufs Mayonnaise, not quite hard-boiled eggs sliced in half, topped with generous dollops of Homemade French Mayonnaise, served on a bed of lettuce and finished with a light sprinkling of paprika.

Limited only by your imagination, creations for Oeufs Mayonnaise may, however, be far from simple. The dish has its own association, L'Association pour la Sauvegarde de l'Oeuf Mayonnaise (ASOM), The Association for the Protection of the Egg Mayonnaise. Set up to promote the gastronomic tradition of the oeuf mayonnaise, ASOM holds an Annual Oeuf Mayonnaise World Championship.

Needing inspiration? Almost 50 chefs have contributed to this book, L'Oeuf Mayo, which is dedicated to the dish. The book is in French, but the cover alone shows that Eggs Mayo can be transformed to a form of art.

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Ingredients for Oeufs Mayonnaise

• Eggs.
• Lettuce.
• Mayonnaise. Make your own with our foolproof Homemade French Mayonnaise Recipe, or use shop-bought Mayonnaise. Of course, Homemade Mayonnaise is a must for the ASOM Oeuf Mayonnaise Annual Championship.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

How to Make Oeuf Mayo

For classic Oeufs Mayonnaise, you want hard-boiled eggs with the yolks still just slightly soft. This texture is sometimes described as "jammy". According to ASOM, the egg should be cooked through, but not overly cooked, so that the yolk, without being runny, maintains its softness.

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• Place the eggs in water. Place 4 eggs in a saucepan and pour on cold water, just enough so that the eggs are covered and no part of the shell is above water.

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• Bring the water to a boil. Heat the water over a medium to high heat. Watch the water closely as small bubbles start to form. As soon as large bubbles form around the eggs and break the surface of the water, start timing the oiling of the egg.

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• Boiling the eggs. Boil the eggs for 4 minutes. As soon as 4 minutes is up, pour the hot water away. Pouring the water away, rather than removing the eggs one by one from the water, prevents a difference in cooking time between the eggs.

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• Place the eggs in cold water. Place the drained eggs in cold, preferably iced, water. If I do not have iced water, I change the water for fresh cold water after a couple of minutes to help speed the cooling process. The longer you are able to leave the eggs to cool down, the easier it will be to peel them.

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• Peel and cut the eggs. Remove the cooled eggs from the water and peel them. Cut the peeled eggs in half.

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• Arrange the Oeufs Mayonnaise. Arrange a bed of lettuce leaves on the serving plates. On each plate, place 2 egg halves onto the lettuce leaves, yolk facing up, and put a generous dollop of Homemade French Mayonnaise on each egg half. Sprinkle each egg with a little ground paprika.

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How to boil an egg

There are two methods to starting the process of boiling an egg. Either adding the egg to cold water and bringing the water to a boil, or adding the egg to already boiling water.

Boiling times for a cold water start:

• 3 minutes for a truly soft-boiled egg yolk (this would be too runny for Oeufs Mayonnaise)
• 4 minutes for a slightly set yolk (this is the timing I use)
• 6-8 minutes for a hard-boiled egg

Boiling times for a boiling water start:

• 8-9 minutes for a slightly set yolk

I have tried adding eggs to already boiling water but have found it to be too problematic, with the eggshells sometimes cracking at the shock of being plunged into the hot water. So I have stuck with the method of starting the cooking process by putting the eggs into cold water.

More Recipes with Mayonnaise

Making your own Homemade French Mayonnaise is truly easy. For loads of tips on Mayonnaise success, check out our Homemade French Mayonnaise recipe.

Mayonnaise is a classic dressing for salads, such as this delicious Creamy Coleslaw with Apples and Quick Potato Salad with Spring Onions, both quick and easy to make.

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📋 Recipe Card

This refreshing Creamy Coleslaw with Apples (Sugar-Free) has crunchy cabbage, shredded sweet apples and lemon rich mayo. A perfect combo!

• Super quick slaw. No carrots, no onions, no peeling!
• Simple ingredients. Nothing fancy, cabbage, apple, lemon, mayo.
• Versatile. Great side salad. Perfect for grilled meats and BBQs.

Homemade coleslaw is quick to make. This simple combination of apples, green cabbage, lemon juice and creamy mayo is particularly easy. I keep the skin on the apples for extra colour and flavour. A fuss-free Creamy Coleslaw.

You can cut time even more with a ready bagged coleslaw mix.

I like to add plenty of creamy mayonnaise as the coleslaw dressing, and our Homemade French Mayonnaise is perfect for this crunchy salad. A generous amount of mayo helps to soak up the added lemon and juices from the cabbage and apple, helping to avoid a watery coleslaw.

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Ingredients

Coleslaw Ingredients

• Cabbage. White cabbage works well for this Creamy Coleslaw recipe.
• Mayonnaise. I use my Homemade French Mayonnaise for this Apple Slaw, but a ready-made shop bought mayonnaise will work well also. To give an even deeper apple flavour, you can use apple cider vinegar, instead of wine vinegar, when making your own Mayonnaise.
• Lemon.
• Apples. I find sweet apples work best. The sweetness of the apples enhances the sweetness of the cabbage and avoids the need to add any additional sugar. I prefer red apples to give some colour contrast to this delicious slaw. Gala apples have a lovely red colour and I like to use Royal Gala, a particularly red variety of the sweet Gala apple. Other sweet red apple varieties you could use include Fuji, Braeburn and Honeycrisp. However, a sweet green apple such as the Golden Delicious will work well too.
• Salt and Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

Mayonnaise Ingredients

If you would like to make your own Mayonnaise, full instructions on how to make our quick and foolproof Homemade French Mayonnaise are given in our recipe post on how to make Mayonnaise.

Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Apple Slaw recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping board
• chopping knives suitable for chopping the white cabbage and quartering the apple
• grater for grating the apple
• large bowl
• spoon for mixing

How to Make Apple Slaw

More Ideas

• Mayonnaise. I like to vary the coleslaw dressing by adding yoghurt or creme fraiche to the Mayonnaise. This gives it an extra tang and lightens the taste. If running short of Mayonnaise, I also find that adding yoghurt, creme fraiche or soured cream is a good way to stretch the Mayonnaise further.
• Apples. You can tune the sweetness level down by changing the apple variety (or adding more lemon juice). The FruitGuys.com website has a useful chart for comparing the sweetness of various apple varieties. Although I prefer red apples, you can of course go all green and use a sweet green apple variety such as Golden Delicious. If you prefer a more tangy coleslaw, try using tart apples, such as tart Granny Smith apples.
• Nuts. Echoing the flavours of a Waldorf Salad, sprinkle chopped walnuts onto the Coleslaw for some extra crunch.
• Dried Fruit. Add dried fruit such as raisins or cranberries to give some extra bursts of sugary sweetness.

Top Tips

• Sprinkle the grated apple with lemon juice as soon as possible after it has been grated. The lemon juice helps to prevent the apples from browning.
• Add the Mayonnaise to the grated apple and mix together thoroughly before adding the chopped cabbage. Again, this helps to prevent the apples from browning.

More Recipes with Mayonnaise

For another super easy salad, try this Quick Potato Salad with Spring Onions (Scallions).

Mayonnaise is a key ingredient of the classic bistro dish Oeufs Mayonnaise, for which you must make your own Homemade French Mayonnaise if you want to take part in the Oeufs Mayonnaise World Championship.

French Mayonnaise is amazingly easy to make and our recipe for Homemade French Mayonnaise (quick and fool-proof) is packed with tips for success!

📋 Recipe Card

Eggplant is twice-cooked to melting perfection in this easy, rich Vegetarian Lebanese Eggplant Moussaka with Chickpeas (garbanzo beans).

Gloriously delicious, gloriously simple. Despite its Moussaka name, this Lebanese Eggplant and Chickpea dish (also known as Maghmour) is vegan. Unlike the Greek Moussaka, there is no béchamel sauce and no meat in this easy vegetarian alternative.

I love that the eggplants (aubergines) are cooked twice, firstly fried and then baked. I find that this two-step cooking process deliciously intensifies the smoky flavours and melting silken texture of the eggplant.

Great hot or cold. I like to have this Lebanese Moussaka with Chickpeas on stand-by in the fridge. I then have a no-fuss ready-made light lunch or supper, perfect with just some pitta bread or a hunk of crusty bread to mop up the gloriously rich tomato sauce. For a more substantial meal, you can serve this chickpea dish with couscous, rice or pasta.

For a true Lebanese feast, enjoy this Eggplant and Chickpea Moussaka as part of a Mezze meal. Lebanese Moussaka is perfect with a refreshing Authentic Lebanese Tabbouleh, with lemon-soaked bulgur, diced tomatoes, fresh mint and parsley.

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Ingredients

• Chickpeas. Dried or canned chickpeas work well.
• Bicarbonate of soda (not shown in photograph). If you use dried chickpeas, I recommend that you add a little bicarbonate of soda to the water you soak the chickpeas in to help soften them.
• Sunflower oil (or other suitable oil for frying the eggplants)(not shown in photograph)
• Eggplant (aubergine). I used the commonly found globe eggplant.
• Olive oil (not shown in photograph)
• Onion.
• Garlic.
• Tomatoes. You can use fresh ripe tomatoes or canned tomatoes, but tinned tomatoes are best if you are not able to get juicy, sun-ripened fresh tomatoes.
• Tomato paste (puree). An optional ingredient, but I find that adding some tomato paste really intensifies the tomato sauce.
• Mint (optional). Dried mint or fresh mint.
• Salt and Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Lebanese Moussaka recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping knives for preparing the aubergines, onions and garlic
• deep frying pan such as a sauté pan
• strainer
• bowl or other container for straining excess oil into
• large saucepan
• baking dish

How to Make Lebanese Moussaka

How to Prepare the Aubergines

Peeling

I’m too lazy to part-peel the aubergines before cooking, as you may find recommended in some recipes for Lebanese Moussaka. By part-peeling, I mean peeling the eggplants lengthwise to leave stripes of peel remaining. The skin does have a more intense smoky taste than the flesh of the eggplant, and it is, of course, tougher. If you want to soften the intensity of the eggplant flavour and texture, part-peeling will help with this.

Fry or Roast?

It’s true that by frying the aubergines in oil, some of that is taken up by the aubergine. For me, this is a bonus. I think it enhances the flavour of the aubergine, and the added oil helps create that richness in the tomato sauce. Draining the fried aubergine after cooking for a few minutes will take away much of the excess oil.

Roasting the eggplants is a great method, however, for minimising the amount of oil used. Roasting can also cut down the time preparing for this dish.

How to Roast the Eggplant Cubes

Set the oven at a high temperature (425F/218C). Put the cubes of eggplants into a large bowl. I add about 4 or 5 tablespoons of oil, and stir the eggplant cubes to coat them evenly with a light film of oil. Put a sheet of parchment (baking) paper onto a baking sheet or roasting dish and spread the oil covered cubes across the baking tray. I try to make sure that the cubes are not crowded. This allows them to get golden brown. Put the aubergine (eggplant) cubes into the hot, preheated over and roast for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Inspiration and Sources

I used Hussien Dekmak's version of Lebanese Moussaka in The Lebanese Cookbook as my starting point, but have strayed from the original recipe a little.

Rather than slicing the eggplants lengthwise as done in The Lebanese Cookbook’s version, I prefer the slightly simpler method of cubing the aubergines and mixing the fried cubes into the chickpea mix. I also like to add mint (not included in the original recipe) to Lebanese Moussaka to give freshness.

Various recipes for Moussaka, with varying names, can in fact be found across many parts of the Middle East, including Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as parts of Europe (such as Bulgaria and Romania). Often with meat, but there are vegan and vegetarian versions of Moussaka as well, such as this Lebanese Moussaka recipe.

The word "Moussaka" seems to have a number of meanings, including "cold" or "moistened" with the word said to have originated from Arabic. Certainly this Lebanese Moussaka, glistening in oil, can be described as moistened and is perfect served cold. Want to know more? There is a great article by Felicity Cloake in the National Geographic on "Everything you need to know about moussaka".

Storage

I generally store the Lebanese Moussaka in an airtight container in the fridge for no more than 3-4 days. After a few days, I find that the skin of the aubergines can discolour the chickpeas, but this does not seem to affect the flavour.

Can you freeze Lebanese Moussaka?

Yes. I like to freeze Lebanese Eggplant Moussaka after all the ingredients have been mixed together (Step 7 of the Recipe Card). I let the mixture cool and put it in an air-tight container before freezing. Then, when I take the frozen dish out of the freezer, I let it thaw and bake it in the oven, following Step 8 of the Recipe Card.

📋 Recipe Card

Looking amazing in their frosted orange skins, these French Orange Sorbets are made without an ice cream maker. 3 ingredients. Oranges, sugar and a little lemon for extra zest. The perfect treat for a hot day!

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🍊 Ingredients

• Oranges. Sweet oranges with lots of juice are the oranges of choice here. Valencia, Navel and Blood Oranges will all work well.
• Lemon. Don't leave out the lemon. The tartness and acid of the lemon help to enhance the flavour of the frozen sorbet.
• Sugar. Keep to a white sugar so that the flavour of the orange can shine. Caster sugar works best since it will be quick to dissolve. Otherwise granulated sugar is fine.

See the Recipe Card below for details of quantities and the full recipe.

🍽 Equipment

• small sharp knife (for removing orange pulp from orange skins)
• 2 bowls (for collecting orange pulp and mixing orange sorbet)
• hand food mill (mouli) or electric blender
• juice squeezer
• fork (for breaking up sorbet)
• airtight container (for storing the Orange Sorbets when placed in freezer)

🔪 How to make Orange Sorbets without an ice cream maker

🍊 Which Oranges are Best for Sorbet?

As we primarily need orange juice for this summer treat, the juiciest, ripe orange you can find the better. There are a number of orange varieties to choose from. I used Navel Oranges to make the Orange Givrées. These were the only oranges on sale in my local supermarket at the time, and so not so much chosen but my only option.

Navel Oranges are easy to identify as their base resembles a bellybutton (navel), this appearance apparently caused because the Navel Orange tries to grow a second orange from this point. My family and I found that the Navel Oranges made a great tasting Orange Sorbet, but given a choice I might have gone for the Valencia Orange.

Navel Oranges vs Valencia Oranges vs Blood Oranges

Three types of oranges seem to stand out as being a good choice for making an orange sorbet: Navel Oranges, Valencia Oranges and Blood Oranges.

Whilst Navel Oranges are apparently very popular for eating fresh, according to a paper from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension "Valencia oranges are most often processed because of their excellent quality juice which has a deep orange color, high sugar content and an unparalleled richness of flavor. This is the primary fruit processed in Florida for juice."

Although Valencia Oranges seem to win out on the juice front, another article looking at the differences between Valencia Oranges and Navel Oranges states that, "While Valencia oranges have a bit of bitter tang mixed in with their sweetness, Navel oranges are simply quite sweet.". 

So, maybe Navel Oranges win out after all. Another point in favour of Navel Oranges is that they are seedless. One less chore, no seeds to remove.

A final factor, though, worth noting on Navel Oranges, is that their juice turns bitter hours after it is squeezed. This is because of the high level of the bitter chemical limonin in Navel Oranges, which is present in the white pith and which gets into the juice during the extraction process.

We didn't notice any bitterness when eating the orange sorbet shown in the photographs, so perhaps freezing the juice slowed down the various chemical processes that bring about this bitterness.

Last but not least, if you want to create a dramatic effect with your orange treat, Blood Oranges are the ones to choose. The orange of the peel will be contrasted beautifully with the ruby red of the blood orange sorbet itself. The juiciness and sweetness of the Blood Oranges will depend upon the variety.

What Makes a Successful Sorbet?

There are two key components to a successful sorbet. They are flavour (no surprises there!) and texture.

A sorbet is essentially fruit juice or fruit puree that is frozen. So, the choice of fruit ultimately determines the flavour. However, the flavour of a sorbet is usually enhanced by:

• added sugar. Sugar also plays a role in the texture of the sorbet. More on this below.
• added acid. Freezing food can alter flavours and dull them. Adding acid (such as citrus juice) helps to counter this. Don't leave out the lemon juice in the recipe. It helps to draw out the flavour.

There are some ingredient ratios that help ensure your sorbet recipe success. Harold McGee advises in his book, On Food and Cooking, that sugar may make up to 25% to 35% of the sorbet mixture, and acid up to 0.5% of the sorbet mixture. The overall sugar to acid ratio should be similar to that of watermelons, which is 30-60:1.

Since this recipe works so well, I can only assume it meets all these parameters. I have to confess that I haven't checked!

For a successful sorbet, not only must it taste good, but it must also have the right consistency and texture. A good sorbet is often described as a creamy sorbet, and by creamy we mean here that the sorbet has a soft, smooth consistency.

A creamy sorbet is easy to scoop and the creamy texture also enhances the flavour. A gritty sorbet, which you will get if the sorbet forms ice crystals as it freezes, does not taste great.

Ice crystals are described by Dr Stuart Farrimond, in his book The Science of Cooking, as "the enemy of smooth ice cream". Although we are dealing with sorbet here, the principles for combatting ice crystals remain the same.

How to Prevent the Formation of Ice Crystals and Make Creamy Sorbet

For a creamy sorbet, we want the ice to have formed small crystals that slide easily past each other. This is what will make the frozen sorbet soft, with a smooth icy texture. We can achieve this in a number of ways:

• Mechanical breaking of the crystals. Undisturbed water freezes to create a solid block of ice. Break that ice crystal structure up whilst the water freezes, and you will no longer have a single block of ice. This is the key reason for using an ice cream maker. The ice cream maker continuously churns the sorbet (or ice cream), as it freezes, ensuring that large ice crystals are unable to form.
• Quick Freezing. According to The Science of Cooking, the faster the freezing, the smaller the crystals. Freezing in a shallow container will help the sorbet to freeze faster, due to the larger surface area. I didn't use this technique when making the sorbet photographed, but will definitely try this out the next time I make this sorbet.
• Bits of Fruit. Bits of fruit (fruit debris) help to soften the fruit sorbet by acting as a lubricant for the ice crystals. Harold McGee explains that the more debris there is, the easier it is for the crystals to slide past one another when pressed (such as with a spoon). Solids also help with the formation of small crystals.
• Sugar. Sugar has similar functions to the fruit debris. It acts as a lubricant and helps with the formation of small ice crystals. Corn syrup is sometimes used to replace part of the sugar since it helps to soften the sorbet without adding as much sweetness.

Incidentally, sorbets have about double the amount of sugar as ice cream. Harold McGee explains that this is because ice creams contain fat and protein which help to soften the texture.

Sorbet or Sherbet?

In the United States a small amount of milk solids is sometimes added to fruit ices (about 3-5%), to help soften the texture. These iced desserts are called sherbets. A sorbet is dairy-free. So if you add a tablespoon or two of cream to this Orange Sorbet, it will be transformed into orange sherbet.

Sherbet has a completely different meaning in the UK. It is a fizzy type of sweet. Flying Saucer Sweets such as these, with a fizzy sherbet centre, were really popular when I was at school.

Food Mill (Mouli) or Blender?

I used a food mill to puree the orange flesh. I found this worked really well since it strained the larger pieces of orange, including the bitter pith, at the same time as pureeing the orange.

You could also use a food processor or hand held immersion blender (stick blender) to mash up the orange. I haven't yet tested this out, and would expect it to be quicker than using a food mill.

However, I think that before blending it would be best to pick out as much of the pith as possible. Otherwise, the bitterness from the pith could taint the flavour of the sorbet. Alternatively, you may wish to try straining the puree. However, I'm not sure how effective that will be if the pith has been blitzed as well.

Felicity Cloake found in her recipe trials that if you do not strain the mixture after using a food processor, it gives the finished sorbet a "vaguely woolly texture". You have been warned!

More on this Recipe

Sorbet works particularly well with citrus fruits. They also provide the perfect container in which to serve the sorbet, their own peels.

Many versions of Orange Givrées use a classic sorbet method, in which sugar and water are heated to make a simple syrup and the juice from fresh oranges is added to the syrup. The sorbet mixture is then churned in an ice cream machine before the frozen sorbet is packed into chilled orange skins.

In this recipe, the syrup stage is completely left out, and the ice cream maker stage is replaced by the hand mashing or whisking of the sorbet in stages.

I came across this method for making orange sorbet in the very first cookbook I ever owned, Menus de la Famille Moderne. A great cookbook for simple recipes needing few ingredients. This fresh orange sorbet recipe is no exception.

💭 More Ideas

• Strawberries. A serving tip from the great chef Auguste Escoffier: dip 3 or 4 strawberries first into Curaço (an orange liqueur made from the peel of bitter oranges) and then into caster sugar. Top the Orange Sorbets with these drunken strawberries before serving. From his book Ma Cuisine. If you don't have Curaço, you can of course use another orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau.
• Biscuits. Serve these summery treats with delicate Lemon Butter Biscuits.

📋 Recipe Card

In a hurry? Ridiculously easy, with a delicious creamy lemon sauce, this simple Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche Pasta dish is for you!

This delicious pasta dish is supremely simple and quick to put together. Cooking anything at the end of a day's work is challenging. After doing battle with London public transport, this is one of the very few dishes I am happy to cook from scratch in the evening.

Something with Bread, Something on Toast or Something out of a Tin are my usual go-to quick and easy meals. To be honest, my favourite evening meal when I used to work really long hours was muesli drowned in lots of cold milk. Any why not? Quick, easy, delicious and healthy - it's the perfect supper! So the bar is set high for a simple dish...

No problem. The most challenging step of this recipe is probably slicing the lemon and squeezing out the juice. Otherwise, this is one of those chuck in the pan and mix the ingredients type of recipes. The result, pasta lightly coated with a slightly sharp, creamy lemon sauce combined with intense bursts of flavour from the lemon sprinkled smoked salmon.

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🧾 Ingredients

• pasta (I used fusili pasta)
• fresh lemon juice
• crème fraiche
• smoked salmon
• salt and pepper

See the Recipe Card below for quantities.

🔪 How to make this recipe

More Easy Pasta Recipes

Another truly easy pasta dish using fusilli is this Garlic Butter Pasta, with a rich buttery sauce infused with gently sautéed crushed garlic.

This Penne Napoli (pasta with tomato and basil sauce) is another super quick pasta dish. It has an amazingly rich tomato sauce, using just canned tomatoes and generous amounts of olive oil.

📋 Recipe Card

Nokedli (also known as Hungarian egg noodles, pasta or dumplings) are a Hungarian essential. Paprika Chicken without Nokedli? Unthinkable!

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⭐ Star Points to Love

• Easiest pasta to make. No special equipment necessary. Although a Hungarian grater (Nokedli Szaggato) will help speed the making of this pasta, Nokedli may be easily shaped using just a couple of spoons.
• Just 3 key ingredients. Flour, egg and water. If you want to add a little spice, paprika may be added but it is not essential.
• Authentic Hungarian recipe. Make Nokedli as eaten in Hungary.

🧂 Ingredients

• flour
• egg
• water
• salt
• paprika spice (optional)

See the Recipe Card below for quantities.

🍽  Equipment

• saucepan
• mixing bowl
• mixing spoon
• jug
• Nokedli Szaggató (this is a form of "grater" used in Hungary to make these egg noodles - if you are not able to get this, 2 teaspoons may be used instead)

🔪 How to make Hungarian Egg Noodles

💭 More Ideas

Our family loves to eat Nokedli with Hungarian Paprika Chicken. This is the classic Hungarian way of serving Paprika Chicken, and very delicious too!

📋 Recipe Card

The easiest easy chocolate pudding! Sophisticated in its simplicity, this is a moreish, intensely chocolatey French Dark Chocolate Cremeux. A 4 ingredient delight!

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⭐ Star Features to Love

• Chocolate Intense. Chocolate dominates. Choose your favourite chocolate and make this decadent dessert your own!
• Gluten-free and without egg. This is a flourless and egg-free recipe. A Crémeux au Chocolat (Chocolate Cremeux) is often made with Crème Anglaise (egg custard). Here, cornflour (corn starch) rather than egg yolks is used as the means of thickening the milk to create the perfect pudding.
• Amazingly quick and easy. This is an easy chocolate pudding recipe. So simple, its a joy to make. Since cornflour (cornstarch) is used as a thickener, there is no egg custard to worry about. Separating out the egg yolks from the egg whites and taking care to avoid overheating the egg yolk mixture; let's face it, egg custard can be a bit of a hassle to make.
• Short shopping list. A simple recipe that has 4 simple ingredients: a chocolate bar, milk, sugar and cornflour. That's it!
• Authentic French recipe. An elegant dessert, this is chocolate pudding as eaten in France. For an unadulterated French version, check out the section on chocolate below for which type to use.

🍫 Ingredients

• Cornflour (cornstarch). This thickener is made from corn (rather than wheat) and contains only carbohydrate (no protein). In the U.K. it is known as cornflour, and in the U.S. it is called cornstarch. Since it contains no protein (which gluten is a form of), it is often used as an alternative to flour when a gluten-free thickening agent is needed. However, cornstarch is great as a thickener in its own right.
• Milk. I prefer to use whole milk rather than low-fat milk. This recipe has no need for double (heavy) cream to create a delicious creamy custard.
• Chocolate. These creamy puddings are all about the chocolate, so for best results use a good quality solid chocolate. For a Dark Chocolate Cremeux, I think anything from a 55% cocoa content bar to an 85% cocoa content bar will work well. 85% cocoa content gives an incredible intense chocolate taste, although I have to admit this is probably for the more hardcore chocoholics amongst us. See the section below for more discussion on which chocolate type and brand to use to get that perfect taste.
• Sugar. If you have a choice, caster sugar works best since it will be quick to dissolve. Otherwise granulated sugar is fine. I tend to avoid dark brown sugar as the strong caramel taste may be too overwhelming.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

🔪 How to make Dark Chocolate Cremeux

📖 More on this Recipe

A little background

I first came across this simple method for making Dark Chocolate Cremeux on the French food blog Papilles et Pupilles, which in turn found the recipe in La Petite Crémerie by Eva Harlé. Papilles et Pupilles is a treasure trove of recipes for food that you will find cooked in the French home. The silky-smooth texture and intense dark chocolate experience of this creamy chocolate pudding transports me back to France each time I eat it.

Crème au Chocolat, Crémeux au Chocolat, Pot au Chocolat. What's the difference?

The French and the British have very different ideas when it comes to chocolate pudding. With my British hat on, chocolate pudding means a large bowlful of a hot steamed pudding, generously ladled with rich chocolate custard. This is true comfort food at its best. With my French hat on, I think of a very different type of chocolate pudding.

Wander down the chilled aisles of any French supermarket and you will come across a section filled with an incredibly wide range of small chocolate puddings. A little bit of heaven for any chocolate lover. These chilled chocolate French desserts are often referred to generically as a Pot au Chocolat. Called various names, including Crème au Chocolat and Crémeux au Chocolat, they may be just a plain chocolate pudding or topped with cream.

Generally you will find a selection of little chocolate mousse puddings (Mousse au Chocolat) alongside the Pot au Chocolat section of the chilled aisles in French supermarkets. I don't tend to think of chocolate mousse as a Pot au Chocolat, and I don't believe that there is a hard and fast rule on this. The key difference between a chocolate mousse and the other Pots au Chocolats is that the mousse is made with whipped egg white, which gives it a light airy texture rather than that silky-smooth texture of a cremeux.

Which Chocolate Works Best?

Dark chocolate

So what do we mean by dark chocolate? Most probably you don't need any labelling to tell you what is or is not dark chocolate. Your own taste buds will have very definite ideas on this. Nevertheless, there is legislation that dictates what may be classed as dark chocolate, and there are degrees of "darkness".

Dark chocolate will often be labelled with the percentage of chocolate that it contains. This in essence means the amount of cocoa mass contained within the bar of chocolate, divided by the weight of the bar. The original recipe from La Petite Crémerie recommends a 55% chocolate. For a 100% French chocolate taste why not try the French brand Valrhona, which is well-known for good quality chocolate.

Whilst the cocoa content percentage does give a good indication as to the strength and bitterness of the chocolate, it is not everything. Both the quality and taste may vary greatly between chocolates that have the same cocoa content percentage.

The puddings photographed were made using M&S Single Origin Dark Chocolate from Peru. An 85% chocolate, it is described as having "Intense cocoa flavours with aromas of ripe fruits & mixed berries with a touch of honey". Certainly, the M&S chocolate flavoured puddings seemed to have a sweeter and more rounded flavour compared with the puddings we have made using Lindt 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate from its Excellence range, which were decidedly more robust in taste. Both versions were delicious, just different.

Milk Chocolate

Transform a Dark Chocolate Cremeux into a Milk Chocolate Cremeux simply by swapping the dark chocolate with milk chocolate. This will be sweeter than the dark chocolate version, so you may want to add the sugar in stages when making a Milk Chocolate Cremeux, checking the sweetness level before adding more.

White Chocolate

For a completely different look (and taste!), white chocolate can be used instead of dark chocolate. White chocolate is very different, however, from dark of milk chocolate. This difference is not just in looks, with white chocolate's primary cocoa ingredient being cocoa butter. Indeed, there is some debate as to whether or not it should be classed as chocolate at all.

White chocolate is generally even sweeter than milk chocolate. As with the milk chocolate version of the Cremeux, you may need to adjust the sugar and add less. I haven't yet tried a White Chocolate Cremeux (I will update this post once I do so), but I think it might be too sweet and rich on its own. A tart raspberry coulis might help to give balance. The Belgian chef, Eddy van Damme, uses a sour cherry coulis with pretty effect in his White Chocolate Cremeux recipe.

💭 More Ideas

• Whipped Cream Topping. Transform each of these French desserts into a Chocolat Liégois by topping with Crème Chantilly (sweetened whipped cream). For a little extra something, why not try whipped cream infused with alcohol? How about whiskey, or perhaps an orange liqueur? Here is a recipe for whipped cream with Cointreau.
• Chocolate Swaps. Dark chocolate combines perfectly with many flavours. A great way to introduce another layer of taste easily is to use dark chocolate flavoured with another ingredient. There is a huge range out there to choose from. Orange, mint, ginger or coconut flavoured dark chocolate would all work brilliantly instead of just plain dark chocolate. Take your pick!
• Go Mexican. With Mexico being one of the places in which cocoa was first cultivated, how about giving these little puddings a Mexican flavour? Mexican chocolate has its own specific qualities and I've been inspired by this Mexican Hot Chocolate recipe to try adding vanilla and cinnamon flavouring to the chocolate puddings. However, I'm not sure about including chile powder Mexican style. Would it work for a chilled pudding? I will experiment and update this post once I have done so.
• Add a biscuit. For some contrasting crunch, serve with a little biscuit such as mini versions of these delicate Lemon Butter Biscuits.

🍲 Storage

We have trouble in our family keeping these little puddings beyond a day. If you are more disciplined than us, you may be able to keep these in a fridge for about 2 to 3 days.

FAQ

📋 Recipe Card

Sour cream and paprika, the essence of Hungarian cooking, combine to create this gently spiced Creamy Paprika Chicken in a luxurious sour cream sauce.

The popularity of Paprika Chicken (Paprikas Csirke) in the United States "is almost as great as in Hungary" declares Paula Pogany Bennett in her excellent book The Art of Hungarian Cooking. And for good reason! Creamy Paprika Chicken is an easy, delicious chicken recipe whose success is down to very few ingredients; the magic trio is chicken, sour cream and paprika.

According to Culinaria Hungary, this Hungarian national treasure impressed the renowned chef Auguste Escoffier to such an extent that he included it, in the 1880s, on the menu at the Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo, as Poulet au Paprika. Indeed, Auguste Escoffier is credited with first introducing this dish to the wider world.

I have found varying versions of it in my many British and French cookbooks. This recipe, however, is the real deal, direct from Hungary!

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Ingredients

• oil
• onion
• garlic (optional)
• ground paprika (preferably Hungarian)
• red pepper (optional)
• tomatoes (optional)
• chicken pieces
• sour cream
• double cream
• flour

See the Recipe Card below for quantities.

Hungarian Paprika: history and what type to use

History

Paprika is the cornerstone spice of the Hungarian cooking of today. So, you might be surprised to learn that this has not always been the case. The introduction to Gundel's Hungarian Cookbook explains that paprika was not generally used until the 19th century, with paprika not mentioned in cookbooks published more than 200 years ago.

There are a couple of theories as to how paprika came to Hungary. One of these is that the plants at least were introduced by the Turks during the 17th century at the time of the Turkish occupation of Hungary. Culinaria Hungary favours another theory, which is that whilst fleeing from the Turks, certain ethnic groups from the Balkans brought pepper seeds to Hungary. It claims that this is the more likely theory since the two towns that battle for the title of "Paprika capital", Szeged and Kalocsa, are close to the Balkans.

What type to use

Hungarian paprika comes in different strengths. In ascending order of spiciness: különleges (meaning "special"), csemege (delicate), édesnemes (fine-sweet), félédes (semi-sweet), rózsa (rose-red), erős (hot). For Paprika Chicken a gentle paprika works best such as an édes paprika. If you are based in the UK, the paprika that is generally sold in supermarkets is a sweet paprika (unless labelled otherwise) and will be fine to use with this recipe. I have also come across a supplier of Hungarian products (which we are yet to try) Best of Hungary which is based in the UK and has a range of different paprikas. Unfortunately, it does not appear to deliver outside of the UK.

Garlic, Peppers, Tomatoes: the choice is yours

Not to worry if you do not have any of these ingredients. Certainly none of them make it into Paula Pogany Bennett's recipe for Paprikás Csirke (pronounced "papri-kash cheer-ker") in the The Art of Hungarian Cooking.

🍽 Equipment

• sharp knife (for chopping onions, tomatoes and pepper)
• large saucepan
• spoon for stirring and mixing
• small bowl
• ladle

🔪 How to make Creamy Paprika Chicken

👨🏻‍🍳 Top tips

📋 Recipe Card

Lemon zest gives a gentle zing to these crisp butter rich biscuits (cookies). Lemon Butter Biscuits or Cookies that are truly melt-in-the mouth sensations!

These delicious lemon butter biscuits (cookies) are a doddle to make. They have a high butter content, which gives them a uniquely delicate crispness that crumbles in your mouth to release a burst of sugary lemon flavour. The perfect biscuit with a nice cup of tea as an afternoon treat.

This easy lemon biscuit recipe started life as Ginger Shortbread Biscuits in a 1970s edition of a Marks & Spencer publication called Picnics and Barbecues. The photograph in the cookbook shows pretty star shaped biscuits as the finished result. However, when I first made the biscuits it became clear very rapidly that rolling out the biscuits was going to be a challenge. Even after chilling the pastry, the dough refused to co-operate, alternating between a chilled dough prone to cracking and a sticky, buttery mush.

Deciding that life was too short to do battle, I ditched the plan to roll out the pastry and used instead the technique of forming the soft pastry into a cylinder roll shape using greaseproof paper. This roll is then chilled for at least an hour or two. To make these delicious biscuits, you simply cut slices from the roll, place on a baking tray and bake. See the photos below. So easy!

After the rolling out challenge, and having tasted these wonderful crisp butter biscuits, I started to query whether or not they were truly shortbread biscuits. After looking more into what makes a shortbread, it seems to me that recipes for shortbread biscuits generally have a higher flour to butter ratio. So I ditched the shortbread name. I also felt that the rich butter taste of these buttery biscuits worked better when flavoured with lemon, rather than ginger. And that's how the original ginger shortbread recipe morphed into an easy lemon biscuits recipe.

Have a go at both and see what you think! I have given the ingredients for the ginger version in the More Ideas section below.

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🍋 Ingredients

• fresh lemon (preferably unwaxed lemon) - only the zest is used, no lemon juice
• sugar
• unsalted butter
• plain flour

See the Recipe Card below for details of quantities.

🍽 Equipment

• fine grater
• mixing bowl (optional)
• greaseproof/baking paper
• sharp knife
• baking sheet
• cooling wire rack

🔪 How to make Lemon Butter Biscuits (Cookies)

💭 More ideas

• If you would like to try out the original ginger version of these sweet buttery biscuits, swap the lemon zest with 2 teaspoons of ground ginger. Add the ground ginger to the flour.
• How about a softly spiced biscuit? Swap the lemon zest with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of ground mace. Add the ground spices to the flour. The ground mace is a delicious complement to the sweet cinnamon, and gives a gentle warmth.
• The traditional Tosset Cakes (we would think of these as a cookie or biscuit nowadays), have a high butter content similar to these lemon biscuits and an unexpected spice combination of caraway and coriander that is truly wonderful. Swap the lemon zest, and lemon flavour, with about ½ teaspoon each of caraway and coriander seed. Grind the caraway and coriander seeds well. You need a slightly rounded teaspoon of the ground mixed spices.
• These delicate butter biscuits are a perfect accompaniment to many types of puddings. Why not try making mini versions to serve with: Strawberries and Raspberry Whipped Cream, Orange Sorbet.

🍲 Storage

• Once cooled, you can store the cooked biscuits in an airtight container, such as an airtight tin, for about a week.
• I have kept the uncooked dough in the fridge for about 2 to 3 weeks, and baked fantastic biscuits using this dough.
• At the time of writing I have not attempted to freeze the dough, but would imagine it would freeze well. I will update the post once I have tried this out.

📋 Recipe Card

Sugared strawberries are perfectly complemented by a raspberry whipped cream (cream delicately flavoured with a raspberry purée). Add a dash of kirsch or Grand Marnier for a little extra something!

Strawberries, whipped cream, raspberries, orange and sugar are combined to create a gloriously simple summer pudding.

This recipe is drawn from the fantastic Cordon Bleu Cookery Course first published in the late 1960s, which was one of my mother's favourite cooking companions in the kitchen. There are a number of strawberry recipes in this cooking series, mostly varying combinations of strawberries, sugar, other fruits and alcohol. They are a celebration of simplicity.

Auguste Escoffier, in his book, Ma Cuisine (published in 1934), has a couple of very similar recipes to this Strawberries and Raspberry Whipped Cream. The first, Fraises Ritz, includes wild strawberries as well as raspberries in the purée but there is no orange or any form of alcohol. The second, Fraises Tosca, is almost identical to the Cordon Bleu version (Escoffier give no amounts, however, for the ingredients) and was the original inspiration perhaps?

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🧾 Ingredients

• fresh strawberries
• fresh raspberries
• an orange
• double cream
• caster sugar
• icing sugar

See the recipe card below for details of quantities.

Do you need both caster and icing sugars?

Not necessarily. Yes, you can use just caster sugar. However, it may not be so easy to use just icing sugar. Caster sugar is a fine granular sugar and mixes and dissolves easily. This means that you can use it for sweetening both the raspberry purée and the strawberry mixture. However, icing sugar, as a powdered sugar, can tend to clump together, and so will be more tricky to mix evenly within the strawberry mixture.

🍽 Equipment

• 3 bowls: 1 for the strawberry mixture, 1 for the raspberry purée, and 1 to whisk the cream
• vegetable knife for hulling the strawberries
• balloon whisk or fork for mixing the raspberry purée
• a couple of tablespoons
• electric mixer for whisking cream (or balloon whisk)
• wire strainer
• juice squeezer for the orange

🔪 How to make Strawberries and Raspberry Whipped Cream

💭 More Ideas

• Add one or two tablespoons of kirsch or Grand Marnier to the strawberry mixture
• Sprinkle the finished pudding with crushed macaroons (this idea comes from Auguste Escoffier's book Ma Cuisine). He spoons the strawberries into the bowl first and tops them with the raspberry cream.
• Serve with a delicate Lemon Butter Biscuit.

🍲 Make Ahead

This is a great recipe to make ahead in stages. You can make the raspberry purée up two days ahead, and store it in a covered container in the fridge. The raspberry cream and the strawberry mixture can both be prepared a day ahead, and kept in separate covered containers in the fridge. I think it works best if the raspberry cream and the strawberry mixture are placed together in bowls shortly before serving.

📋 Recipe Card

Authentic Homemade French Mayonnaise in less than 5 minutes. Add lemon for a touch of sharpness. Perfect!

So quick to make and such a useful sauce. A jar of Homemade French Mayonnaise is always in my fridge. This must be the first recipe I learnt, most probably because it is very easy to make (yes, really easy!) but also because the ingredients and their respective quantities are so simple to remember.

The magic ratio is one egg yolk to one tablespoon of vinegar. To that I add enough oil to make the mayonnaise come together and just sufficient salt to bring out the flavours. This is a French Mayonnaise at its simplest.

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🍋 Ingredients

• oil
• egg yolk
• mustard (optional)
• lemon (optional)
• salt
• pepper (optional)

See the Recipe Card below for details of quantities.

What type of oil should you use?

I prefer to use sunflower oil.  If I don't have sunflower oil, vegetable oil is my next choice.  Although some recipes will suggest olive oil for French Mayonnaise, I find that using just olive oil can make the Mayonnaise a little bitter.  I am in good company on this as the chef Richard Bertinet in his book Cook in a Class of your Own finds the same and recommends using a mixture of rapeseed oil and olive oil.  He also notes that if using just extra virgin oil, it can separate shortly after you have made it.  So I'm sticking with the sunflower oil.

Mustard

Whilst you don't have to add mustard, not only does it give some spice to the Mayonnaise, it helps to bind the egg yolk and oil together.  This means that you have less chance of curdled Mayonnaise if you include mustard.  I prefer to use Dijon mustard.

Lemon

The French Mayonnaise recipe I learnt from my mother contains no lemon.  I was inspired to try adding lemon after watching the DVD that accompanies Richard Bertinet's book Cook in a Class of your Own.  Just a squeeze of lemon gives a little extra sharpness to the Mayonnaise that I love. Incidentally, Richard Bertinet uses a slightly different technique to making Mayonnaise, initially mixing just the egg yolk and mustard together (no vinegar), next adding the oil, and then adding the lemon.  On this, however, I'm keeping to my own method; it works.

🍽 Equipment

• tablespoon
• bowl
• whisk
• measuring jug
• jar or other container for storing the French Mayonnaise

📖 How to prevent your Mayonnaise curdling

Mayonnaise is one of those dishes that, although incredibly simple to make, success can sometimes be elusive.   This is because of its annoying habit of "curdling".  What is curdling?  Curdling is when the oil and egg separate and refuse to bind together or "emulsify".  The picture below shows a good example of curdled Mayonnaise.

Why does Mayonnaise curdle?

My mother warned me that French Mayonnaise can be affected by the weather, particularly if there is "thunder in the air", when it is more likely to curdle. Is there any science to support this?  I don't know.  In any event, it is immensely comforting that if your Homemade Mayonnaise does curdle, it is nothing to do with your cooking skills. The weather was just not "right". 

How to prevent curdling? The Golden Rule.

In the Top tips section below, I have listed a number of ways to prevent curdling. The most important of these is to add the oil to the egg and vinegar mixture very slowly, particularly in the early stages of adding the oil.  

So, drizzle just a little bit of oil into the egg and vinegar mixture to begin with, whisking all the time until it is thoroughly mixed in. I always use a balloon whisk, but you can use an electric mixer instead. Then drizzle a tiny bit more of oil, and again whisk in thoroughly before adding another little drizzle of oil. Keep going like this, until the Mayonnaise shows signs of emulsifying; the Mayonnaise will start to turn a slightly lighter colour and the mixture will being to thicken slightly. You may then start to speed up the rate at which you add the oil. But take care!

My sauce has curdled. What do I do?

Ignore the weather and start again!

Using a fresh egg yolk, and clean dry bowl, follow steps 1 and 2 of the instructions for making French Mayonnaise. At step 3, instead of adding the oil straight away, instead add the curdled sauce mixture to the egg and vinegar mixture, being very careful to drizzle in the curdled mixture very slowly and in small amounts. Whisk in each small amount added thoroughly, before adding a further amount.

Once all the curdled mixture has been added in successfully (with the sauce showing signs that it has safely emulsified) continue with adding the oil and following the rest of the instructions.

🔪 How to make French Mayonnaise

🍲 Storage

I like to store my Homemade Mayonnaise in a jam jar, keeping it covered with the lid. I really like the shape of the jars from the Bonne Maman range of jams, so I keep a stock of their empty jam jars (plus I love their jams). The jar you can see in the photographs is a Bonne Maman jar. I find that the Mayonnaise keeps for at least a week in the fridge.

• Use a slightly warm bowl. I learnt this tip from the watching the film Julie and Julia, which is about the cookery writer Julia Child. The reason for this takes me onto the next tip.
• Use eggs that are at room temperature. The egg yolk is an emulsifier and helps the oil combine with the vinegar and lemon. Harold McGee in McGee on Food & Cooking explains that egg yolks work better as emulsifiers when they are warm.
• Add the oil very, very slowly, drizzle by drizzle, whisking all the time and in between drizzles. This stage must not be rushed, particularly when first adding the oil to the egg yolk mixture. This is the Golden Rule of making Mayonnaise.
• Mustard is also an emulsifier. Although not essential for making French Mayonnaise, it helps to avoid curdling and, of course, give it a little extra kick.

What to Serve with Mayonnaise?

Where to start? Mayonnaise is a truly versatile sauce that may be used as is or easily adapted as the perfect accompaniment to many vegetable, fish or meat dishes.

Mayonnaise is considered one of the "mother sauces" (sauce mère) in French cuisine, meaning that it is a sauce that may be used as a base for many other sauces. For instance, coleslaw dressing, remoulade and sauce tartare are all examples of sauces with Mayonnaise as their base. In fact there is the view that, strictly speaking, Mayonnaise does contain mustard and that Mayonnaise with mustard is a variation of the basic mother sauce.

Here are some of the dishes with which we use our Homemade French Mayonnaise.

• Coleslaw. Mayonnaise is perfect as a coleslaw dressing. You can vary the flavour by adding yoghurt or crème fraîche for a more tangy, lighter coleslaw dressing. Adding soured cream gives an extra creamy coleslaw dressing. I like to use this French Mayonnaise to make our Creamy Lemony Coleslaw with Apples (Sugar-Free).
• Oeufs Mayonnaise. A simple combination of hard-boiled eggs with Mayonnaise creates the bistro classic of Oeufs Mayonnaise.
• Canned Tuna Fishcakes.
• Celeriac Salad (Céleri Rémoulade).
• Chips (French Fries).

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Grilled Tinned Sardines on Toast, all the goodness of whole sardines on a budget! A can of sardines, butter, bread plus lemon for perfection!

• Whole sardine goodness. Mashing the sardines ensures the whole sardines, bones and all, are in this delicious sardine topping. Perfect for children and any fussy eaters who might otherwise pick out the calcium-rich little bones.
• Budget friendly. Canned sardines are amongst the cheapest options for fish. Healthy meal, healthy budget.
• Simple and quick. Mash and toast for a flavour-rich grilled sardine feast. As simple as that!

A staple family meal when growing up, Grilled Tinned Sardines on Toast is still one of my favourite quick and easy recipes. I like to grill the sardine paté almost to the point of charring, to get those amazing intensified, caramelised flavours of grilled fish.

I love to squeeze a generous amount of lemon juice over the toasted sardines. That charred, grilled taste is magically transformed to a deeper flavour and the sharp sweetness of the lemon balances the richness of the fish. Sublime!

These Sardine Toasts are great as a light meal, easy finger food snacks for the children or cut into small squares to make canapés.

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Ingredients

• Tinned sardines. Sardines in olive oil, sunflower oil, brine, tomato sauce... There's a lot of choice out there. Choose your favourite. I used to always go for sardines in tomato sauce, but now just add some tomato puree (paste) when using sardines in oil or brine. If using sardines in oil, you may need to adjust the butter and add slightly less. I also tend to use the cheapest sardines out there, keeping the more expensive quality sardines for eating as is straight from the can.
• Butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter, particularly if using tinned sardines in salty brine. I can then add salt as needed once the sardines, butter and, if using, the tomato puree (paste) have been mashed together.
• Tomato puree (paste). Not needed if using sardines in tomato sauce
• Salt and black pepper.
• Bread for toasting. Any bread that toasts well. In the top picture I have used sourdough bread to make finger toasts, but I love it with sandwich bread as well.

How to make mashed Sardines on Toast

A couple of tips before you start this simple dish. It's easiest to mash the butter into the sardines if it is beautifully soft.

A quick way to soften rock hard butter is to cut the butter into chunks and put these in warm (not hot) water for a few minutes. When the butter is softened, drain off all the water before adding the drained butter to the drained sardines.

Alternatively, the method I use mostly is to cut the hard butter into small pieces and mash these into the sardines.

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1. Drain sardines. Remove the sardines from the tin, and drain off excess sauce or oil. Place the sardines, butter and, if using, tomato puree (paste), in a bowl.

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2. Mash sardines. Mash the sardines and other ingredients in the bowl thoroughly together using a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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3. Toast the bread. Toast the slices of bread on one side under a grill until golden brown. Butter the untoasted side.

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4. Spread sardine paste. Divide the sardine mixture between the toasts. Using a fork, spread the sardine mixture onto the buttered side of each piece of toasted bread.

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5. Grill the sardines. Grill the sardine mixture side of the toast until gently browned.

Top Tips for Great Sardines on Toast

• Butter the toast well. After toasting one side of the bread, make sure to butter the untoasted side before putting the sardine mixture on. This will help draw the buttery sauce from the sardine mixture into the toast, richly flavouring the bread.
• Ridges in the sardine mash. Make a ridged pattern in the sardine mixture using a fork. Toast the sardine mixture until the tops of those ridges are nicely browned to get maximum flavour.
• Lemon juice. Squeeze a little lemon juice onto the toasted sardines. Delicious!
• Tomato paste. If using tinned sardines that are not in tomato sauce, don't forget to add the tomato paste. The tomato adds a little sweetness and really helps to balance the oiliness of the fish.

Are Sardines good for you?

Sardines belong to that group of fish classed as "oily fish". Oily fish, as well as being a good source of vitamin D are high in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which the NHS advises may help to prevent heart disease.

According to the NHS website tinned sardines are among a small group of fish whose bones we can eat easily. This means that tinned sardines also provide calcium and phosphorous which, according to the NHS website, are good for keeping bones strong. An article asking the opposite question "Are Canned Sardines Bad for You?" gives even more detail of all the many benefits you may get from eating canned or tinned sardines.

Sardines v Pilchards. What's the difference?

So what's the difference between sardines and pilchards? Well, not a lot it turns out. Pilchards and sardines are one and the same fish, with its Latin name, Sardina pilchardus, including both of the common names for this fish.

In fact, Cornish pilchards were re-branded as Cornish Sardines as pilchards were perceived as being less attractive to eat than sardines. Apparently, sardines conjure up pictures of the Mediterranean and delicious grilled fish, whereas pilchards are associated with not so attractive canned food.

Although the same fish, there are differences between canned sardines and canned pilchards.

1. Size. Traditionally, pilchards are fish that have grown to more than 6in long. Sardines are fish that are smaller than 6in. Although, this size difference is not so apparent when comparing actual canned pilchards and sardines, as can be seen in the photograph below. Pilchards on the left, sardines on the right.
2. Preserving sauce or marinade. I think that much of the difference in taste between pilchards and sardine is due to the difference between brands and their marinades.

The difference in appearance between the pilchards and sardines in the photo below is down to the marinade they have been canned in and the tin size. The sardines (on the right) have been tightly packed in olive oil to give glistening ram-rod straight little fish. Whereas the pilchards (on the left) have been canned in brine in a larger tin.

Serving ideas

• Serve with tomatoes. When tomatoes are in season, I like to serve the Tinned Sardines on Toast with a few slices of fresh tomato sprinkled with just a little salt. Otherwise, a simple tomato salad such as this French Tomato Salad.
• Sandwich filling. Use the sardine mixture as a sandwich filling.

Can you make ahead?

The tinned sardine mixture can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. The mixture may solidify in the fridge. If it is fairly solid when using again, just put small spoonfuls of the solidified mixture onto the toast and grill very briefly (not even a minute) to soften the butter. Then spread the softened mixture on top of the toast evenly with a fork before grilling again.

FAQ

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