Nigella lawson christmas

I’ve got two recipes to tell you about to get you in the mood for celebrating the season.

Italian Christmas Pudding Cake: This recipe is my own but at the same time a conflation of a couple of Italian Christmas must-haves: the glorious, fruit-studded panettone and crema di mascarpone, which is best described as tiramisu without the Savoiardi biscuit layer, and sometimes with pieces of chocolate stirred through the mascarpone mixture.

A vital part of the Christmas Eve dinner in Norway, these pork ribs have the tenderest meat and the crunchiest crackling imaginable. You have to take a leap of faith when making them, as the idea of letting the rind get so wet in the course of cooking goes against every bit of advice you may have heard thus far about the importance of keeping it dry. This method is an absolute revelation. You need a big old slab of pork belly on the bone for this, which requires a visit to the butcher. And —…

A magnificent pavlova recipe from Nigella Lawson, that will provide a stunning finish to any dinner party. Billowing meringue combines perfectly with whipped cream and tangy fruit.

"I creep into the kitchen the next morning to check on the cookies, and I feel just like a kid at Christmas."

The author and TV star talks journalism, food photos, and home versus restaurant cooking

If you want to have something hot to pass around on a tray, then cocktail sausages are what you're after. There's nothing fiddly to make, nothing to go right or wrong, and everyone loves them. These are not just any cocktail sausages: the sesame oil, honey and soy give them a sweet-savoury stickiness that is pretty well impossible to resist. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

She's the author of 12 books, master of a seductive stir and a passionate home cook.

GINGERBREAD STUFFING Sometimes, it makes sense to use one’s obsessions to advantage. I know that most people don’t have trivial light-bulb moments when the notion pops into an already food-filled head to make a stuffing in which crumbled gingerbread cake replaces breadcrumbs, but that’s, unfathomably, how my mind works.