There was an Italian-style feast on the table as Nigella revisited the dishes of her youth and her days of living and working in Italy. Childhood trips to the Italian gardens in Hyde Park with her grandmother were always followed by a steaming bowl of Chicken alla cacciatora. It's a treat that Nigella revisits for her own children, but her express version of this Italian classic is the work of minutes, not hours.

Spicy Calabrian-style lamb cutlets made a quick dinner with a friend and Marsala honey pears with gorgonzola were the homemade centrepiece of a spread of antipasti.