From rich butter puff to crumbly shortcrust and crisp layered fillo, there’s a world of dishes to be made with delicious pastry. Here are some of my favourite recipes to make your own pastry and to make easy dishes using ready-made pastry sheets.
Mushroom & Cheese Pies Like this recipe? You’ll love my online British cooking class! Thanks to chef Simon Sandall who rattled off this suggestion on the spur of the moment when we were making beef Wellington together and wondering what to do with leftover mushroom duxelles and pastry off-cuts. You could always make the duxelles […]
Spungata (Ligurian Apricot Tart) Join one of my food & wine tours to Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! This delicious fruit tart, called spungata in Liguria and spongata in neighbouring Emilia-Romagna, is similar to what other Italian regions call crostata. In Liguria spungata are often given as a gift when visiting friends and […]
Savoury Künefe Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Turkish cooking class inspired by Somer Sivrioglu! I love the flavours in Turkish paçanga börek – the pastirma, kasar cheese, tomato and chilli sing together. I’m also impressed by how deliciously easy sweet kunefe is to make using kadayifi pastry. So I wondered what would happen […]
Shortcrust Cookies Like this recipe?Discover more simple pastry recipes here! I hate wasting pastry offcuts, so when I make a tart or pie I use the remaining pastry for these tasty little shortcrust cookies (see the video below for another of my favourite pastry tricks). Unlike puff pastry, shortcrust can be rerolled without ill effect, […]
Date & Almond Ladies Fingers Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Middle Eastern cooking class inspired by Michael Rantissi! The inspiration for these delicious date & almond ladies fingers comes from my friend Janni Kyritsis, who uses the same technique to make simple savoury snacks filled with anchovy, feta or olives. I don’t have […]
Shallot Pancakes Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Asian home cooking class inspired by Cheong Liew! Shallot pancakes are northern Chinese snacks that are irresistibly moreish and a great way to use up the green onion tops that so often end up in the bin. The method is a simple process of rolling the […]
Open Filo Sandwich with Anchovy Sauce Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Greek cooking class Inspired by Janni Kyritsis! This simple filo pastry recipe is inspired by one of my favourite starters from Janni Kyritsis at MG Garage (see the video below for another of Janni’s filo classics). I love the way he pressed […]
Olive, Feta or Anchovy Fillo Fingers Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Greek cooking class Inspired by Janni Kyritsis! Just about everything I’ve ever cooked has been inspired by something I’ve eaten before and these fillo fingers are no exception – my friend Janni usually whips these up to serve with drinks when friends […]
Potato & Fontina Tart with Smoked Eel Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Northern Italian cooking class inspired by Alessandro Pavoni! This deliciously versatile potato & fontina tart can be vegetarian, but potatoes and smoked fish are such natural partners that I like to add hot-smoked trout or eel. If Fontina’s not available, use […]
Guinea Fowl Bisteeya Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Middle Eastern cooking class inspired by Michael Rantissi! Variously written as bisteeya, bastilla, bestela, bastila, pastilla or pastila, this Moroccan pie has many variations but is traditionally an elaborately spiced preparation of pigeon, egg, almonds and warqa pastry, which is similar to Greek fillo pastry. […]
