Lazy Sunday lunch – we get some great bases from Harris Farm (for those that are too lazy to make your own!), then cut your Desiree potatoes super thin. Get a plastic bag and put the potatoes in with just enough olive oil to give them a thin coating and some coarsely chopped rosemary and a crushed clove of garlic.

Mix that bag up and then layer the potato on your base, you can have the base sparsely populated with potato or put in two layers if you like.

Dust with salt and a little pepper if desired and then whack it in the oven until the potato is done. Won’t take too long if it’s cut nice and thin.

A light drizzle of olive oil again. Slice and serve.

Jared Ingersoll of Danks Street Depot has just released his second book “Sharing Plates” which I’m yet to check out.

However, the recipe for Baked Ricotta with cherries in a vanilla syrup (taken from the book) looks most awesome.

Check out the review for breakfast at Danks Street Depot.

Post scriptum: It may be Mother’s Day this weekend, but if you’re thinking about breakfast in bed for your Mum or wife, read this article first and think again.

This one’s a bit of a fave at the moment. A southern Italian pasta dish – you cook the broccoli until soft in the same water as the pasta. The key to this tasty dish is that, once the pasta and broccoli are drained, you throw the pasta and broccoli in the pan with the oil, garlic and pancetta combination before serving.

300g penne
1 head of broccoli, crumbled up into small florets
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
80g pancetta
2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced – ala Goodfellas)
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Grated parmesan to serve

Cook penne in plenty of boiling salted water.

When half-cooked, add the broccoli. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add some of the oil and cook pancetta until crispy. Add the garlic and chilli, stir until lightly golden and remove from heat. Just make sure you don’t burn that garlic – there’s nothing worse.

Drain pasta and broccoli – the broccoli should be soft and broken up – and add to the pan of garlic and pancetta, cook for a few minutes, tossing and adding a touch more pepper, salt and oil. Serve with parsley, if using, and parmesan.

The end result – tonight’s dinner (sans parsley and parmesan – dammit!)

Serves 4. Recipe credits – Brigitte Hafner.

Now that summer is well and truly here, salads using fresh produce are number one on our list. Here’s one we did on new year’s eve as a canape. All you need to do is serve it in small noodle boxes instead.

500g dried rice vermicelli noodles
olive oil spray
2 skinless chicken breast fillets
1 large mango
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
4 spring onions
1 Lebanese cucumber
1 small cos lettuce
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish Sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
1 small red birdseye chilli

1. Cook noodles in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender.
2. Drain and refresh with cold water and drain well.
3. Spray a nonstick frying pan with oil and heat.
4. Cook chicken over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until browned and cooked through.
5. Place noodles, mango, tomato (halved), sliced spring onions, chilli (diced, seeds optional if you like it hotter), lettuce, cucumber (ribbons with a peeler) and chicken in a bowl.
6. In a small bowl, mix lime juice and sauces. Pour over noodle salad and toss well to combine.
7. Divide among serving plates, and sprinkle with coriander.

Enjoy!