"Keep the silverbeet stalks for a spring minestrone. Mum always said it was the stalks that were the secret to her minestrone, adding flavour without complicating the other vegetables…"

“There is nothing sweeter nor more life-affirming than the smell of spiced, roasting chicken. The chickpeas in this dish are like hundreds of golden beads edging in and around the chicken. When I was a child, Nonna Giuseppa and Mum called me Sango mio (my blood). Nonna and Mum may not have considered this dish traditional…”

“We use aubergine (eggplant) in all manner of recipes. It is a wonderful vegetable when it’s roasted, charred, and smoky, and we all know how fantastic baba ghanouj is. This recipe works as a starter or as part of a shared table and it screams summer…

“This is a dish that I can’t believe is not more commonplace. It is basically a chicken version of the classic Lebanese baked fish dish, samke harra. In this recipe the chicken is smothered in Taratoor and finished with various nuts, parsley and chilli…