Films

This is a salad I make from May to September, while the days are warm. I start making it as the asparagus and new potatoes arrive, and stop when the nights begin to draw in, varying the vegetables with the seasons. Its flexible. Its fun. It requires no oven.

If you don’t eat eggs then some chickpeas or butterbeans from a jar will work really well instead.

Mustard to me is the heart of a good salsa verde, bringing together the green hit of herbs and the saltiness of the capers and cornichons.

Salsa verde is all about balance between salty capers, sharp cornichons, fragrant mint, basil and parsley and some acid from vinegar rounded out with the heat of some Dijon mustard. This version uses more mustard than usual, as I wanted it to be front and centre against the blank canvas of the flatbread and ricotta. If you don’t have time to make the flatbread this is nearly as good on toasted sourdough.

My husband John is obsessed with dips. He will dip almost anything, especially pizza crusts. I can’t quite get into the pizza crusts into sour cream and chive dip he loves, but I do love a dip.

This one is a take on the traditionally Chinese spring onion oil, but with a hit of chilli and turmeric, and sits on top of a thick lime yoghurt.

Pasta al limone. I can’t think of a plate of food that shines a light on lemon flavour in quite the same way. Pasta, lemon and Parmesan come together in alchemy to create something worthy of any table.

I tested out a lot of pasta al limone recipes before I landed here. Some had cream, some had finely chopped lemon but none came close to the creaminess of this one and none was as easy.

The one-pan method (where you cook the pasta and sauce in one pan) was made for pasta al limone.

The starchy water it creates is exactly what is needed to thicken the lemony sauce and coat the pasta. I like to keep this pretty simple. I have suggested some basil as an option at the end,

but these simple lemony noodles are enough on their own and a true pantry pasta. If you like, you could add some greens or even stir though some warmed cannellini beans.

I put pickles on pretty much anything. During my second pregnancy I panicked on getting near to the bottom of my last jar of Marks & Spencer’s mustard seed gherkins.

Most of the time pickles, gherkins and cornichons are eaten cold, to make the most of their crunch and acidity. But they keep their crunch when added to soups and stews, bringing texture anda hit of sour interest. Here they sit next to onions, beans and greens and a smattering of dill to make a quick stew that tastes much more layered and complicated than it is to make.

This orzo cooks all in one pan to a satisfying deep purple with the spoonable feeling of a risotto. You can use any colour of beetroot you like here; I love the deep magenta of the red ones but yellow and pink work well too.

Recipe from my book: 'One Pot, Pan, Planet'

Pasta has my heart like nothing else. My love affair with it was cemented when making stuffed agnolotti, caramelle and everything in between in restaurant kitchens, but it started with something simpler: my mum’s lasagne. This lasagne is something slightly different but still as nostalgic and comforting. It is the quickest I’ve made, ready for the oven in 10 minutes (not the hour it normally takes), yet there is still a rich deep tomato sauce and those crisp, baked edges to fight over.

I don’t pre-cook my lasagne sheets as they cook in the sauce and I like them a little al dente. If you prefer them softer you could use fresh pasta sheets here. This recipe was originally inspired by one of my all- time favourite cooks, Heidi Swanson of 101cookbooks.com.

Recipe from my book: One: Pot Pan Planet

I sat down with Hollywood Icon Stanley Tucci to talk food, inspiration and California Cuisine.