Nigella Express Project Continued…

Another lot from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson! I’m enjoying cooking from this book, it fits in so well with daily life, and of course I’m getting the joy of trying some new Nigella recipes. Any good suggestions for different ways to say the title of this post will be used soon!

13. Macaroni Cheese
This is a quick take on the original, the sauce is cheese, evaporated milk egg and seasonings blitzed in a food processor, then mixed with newly cooked macaroni and given a short spell in the oven. It tasted good, it didn’t knock my own version off it’s perch, but as the quick fix it is, it’s still worth making.

14. Mini Meatloaves
This we loved! Mince, sausage meat, A1 sauce (I used HP), oats, and seasonings. Formed into little loaves and baked. Nigella says they are not pretty, and they aren’t but the taste more than makes up for this! They are supposed to be served cold, but I would have to say I really liked them out of the oven too! I sliced mine up for the next nights tea, we were lucky there was enough left!

15. Chicken alla Cacciatora
This was a very speedy recipe, notwithstanding having to skin and bone the chicken thighs! Even so, I did this bit the night before, so when tea time came it was a quick job. This a dertainly better first day in my opinion, the gutsy-ness of the rosemary and bacon instead of developing, were lost second day. Keith suggested that some olives and capers would be good additions, and he is right… next time! I served this with rice. This one was on TV, so it’s been published on the BBC site already, so tah dah – a recipe!

Chicken alla Cacciatora
From Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson.


1 tbsp garlic oil
75g/2½oz pancetta cubes
6 spring onions, finely sliced
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
500g/1lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
½ tsp celery salt
125ml/4½fl oz white wine
1 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
½ tsp sugar

1 x 400g/14oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
1. Heat the garlic oil in a pan and fry the pancetta, spring onions and chopped rosemary for 2-3 minutes.2. Add the chicken pieces, sprinkle in the celery salt and stir well.3. Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer, then add the tomatoes, bay leaves and sugar. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.4. Add the drained cannellini beans, if using, and simmer until the beans are warmed through and the chicken is completely cooked through.5. To serve, divide among four serving dishes.

16. Amaretto Syllabub
If anyone has made the Turkish Syllabub from Nigella Bites, you’ll see where this recipe has evolved from. We love a creamy pudding, and I have made the Turkish one often, with many a liqueur, mainly fruit ones. This one has Amaretto in it, and I couldn’t help thinking: why didn’t I try that one? It’s gorgeous, and a sprinkling of amaretti biscuits both on the bottom of the glasses and on top before serving make it trifle-esque. Our little one (who I had made a different pudding for) was very keen on this! But I wasn’t so keen to give her it seeing as it has a reasonable amount of Amaretto in it! Nigella uses soft amaretti biscuits, but I could only get the hard ones so just gave then a good bash instead of a light crumble. My picture isn’t that inspiring, but it’s a delightful dessert.

Amaretto Syllabub
From Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

80ml amaretto
25g caster sugar
1 x 15ml tablespoon lemon juice
10 fl oz Double Cream
Soft Amaretti Biscuits
Pour the amaretto into a bowl with the sugar and lemon juice, whick at mix.
Whisk in the double cream and whisk until thickened but still soft and billowy.
Crumble 2 amaretti biscuits each into the base of 4 glasses.
Divide the syllabub between the glasses and crumble another biscuit on top of each.