Episode 1 - Everyday easy
What to make for dinner – it’s everyone’s everyday dilemma, but Nigella Lawson has it covered in this first episode of Nigella Express, a show packed with delicious ideas for good food fast. There’s a no-effort family roast dinner for her father Lord Lawson and children Mimi and Bruno, consisting of poussin with sweet potatoes, along with a sugar snap pea and watercress salad with a wasabi dressing. For a quick after-work supper with a friend, Nigella turns to her trusty crispy squid with garlic mayo. When she’s home alone it’s got to be fast to shop for and fast to cook – mustard pork chops with gnocchi, a sentimental favourite that she ate in France on her first trip away from home without her family. Dessert is the heavenly almost instant caramel croissant pudding, eaten in bed after a night out at a party. Supper need never be a chore again.
Episode 2 - Against the clock
Nigella shows us how to make something fantastic with whatever time there is to spare. With her great shortcuts, spending hours over a hot stove could become a distant memory. An incredible flash-fried steak with white bean mash can be on the table in just 10 minutes. For an entire weekend lunch for the family in 20 minutes it has to be that simple and delicious crowd-pleaser, curry in a hurry. The idea of making a three-course meal can be daunting, but Nigella creates one in just 30 minutes. To start: prawns accompanied by a mouth-watering spicy dipping sauce followed by a Spanish-style dish with chickpeas, cumin and sherry alongside scallops with chorizo. For dessert, Nigella shows how easy it can be to make chocolate mousse with shortcuts of mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.
Episode 3 - Hey presto
Nigella conjures up dazzling Italian food in a flash from sensational pasta to an entire effortless feast. Childhood trips to the Italian gardens in Hyde Park with her granny were always followed by a steaming bowl of chicken cacciatore, and it’s action replay for Nigella’s kids – the big difference is that the express version of this Italian classic becomes the work of minutes not hours. Her linguine with a sauce of lemon, garlic, and thyme mushrooms is instantly addictive. Dinner with a friend – Calabrian lamb cutlets in a spicy marinade followed by clouds of softly whipped amaretto syllabub – is so fast, there’s even time for a little late night shopping. Nigella’s no-stress, no-effort antipasti feast in the Italian style is so sensationally simple, only one dish – marsala honey pears with gorgonzola – is actually homemade. This is Italian at home with pizzazz and style, made fast and easy.
Episode 4 - Workday wonders
Too tired to cook? Too busy to have people over? Never say never to workday entertaining again with Nigella's recipes for casual get-togethers and dazzling dinners, set to impress with their maximum flavour and minimum effort. For a super speedy supper, there’s crab and avocado salad with a zesty Japanese dressing – elegant, substantial and ready in minutes. Then there’s a sit-down two-course dinner of coq au riesling, a one-pot classic given an express makeover, followed by juicy jumbleberry crumble, a fabulous dessert recipe full of shortcuts and great make-ahead tips. If you’re up for a party, Nigella's three-course dinner is sure to please: serve quick crostini with avocado and green pea hummus with drinks; sizzle steaks with lemon and thyme on the grill; and whip up dreamy clouds of Eton mess. Who says entertaining is only for the weekends?
Episode 5 - On the run
Eating on the move has never been so fun, fast and fabulous. Nigella’s irresistible sesame noodle salad and velvety pea and pesto soup make a pair of perfect travelling companions. And for a moveable feast to keep the kids and grown-ups happy, picnic on portable buttermilk chicken drumsticks, crunchy New Orleans coleslaw, and chocolatey rocky road bars. Forget wine and flowers when it comes to the perfect hostess gift - homemade hokey pokey with golden shards of crisp, sweet honeycomb is a surefire way to make sure you get invited back - if you can resist eating it on the way.
Episode 6 - Get up and go
Kickstart the day the expressway with unbeatable breakfasts. From weekend parties to pancake feasts, working breakfasts, solo comforts and wake-up shakes, Nigella’s got mornings covered. Weekend brunch means a frittata party complete with pussyfoot breakfast cocktails. Wake up for work with a trio of no-cook breakfast bruschetta with tomato, avocado and easy hummus toppings, or shortcut chocolate croissants - yum! Instant pancakes with blueberry syrup go down a treat at a teenage sleepover and go from bed to breakfast in five minutes with spicy scrambled eggs. No time to spare? Nigella’s ultimate wake up and shake up go get ’em smoothie is the way to go. Workdays, weekdays, weekends - it’s breakfast the expressway.
Episode 7 - Instant calmer
Popular comfort foods get the Nigella Express treatment, proving that calming, delicious dishes can be the work of moments. A restoring bowl of rapid ragu will ease weekday tensions, and homely chicken pot pie will make everything better in an instant. For midnight munchies there’s donut French toast, and chocolate chip cookies will banish the blues no matter what the problem. When you’re really up against it, a soothing bowl of noodle soup for needy people is the ticket. All ready in a flash - now that’s comforting.
Episode 8 - Storecupboard SOS
The original domestic goddess has the solution to those nightmare surprise guests with ingenious ideas and cunning storecupboard standbys to turn the simplest of meals into a dazzling, quick-fix feast. Family lunch is upgraded from plain old roast chicken to brandied bacon chicken on a bed of green leaves with golden vinaigrette, followed by sumptuous chocolate and pear pudding. Sure to impress the most unexpected house guests is one-stop-shop lamb, mint and redcurrant salad, perfect for when girlfriends pop round after work. Baked sausage with halloumi cheese is a real storecupboard life-saver, and chocolate peanut butter sundaes have an instant wow factor. This is fast food to get you out of a jam when you have people to feed and no time to spare.
Episode 9 - Speedy Gonzales
Nigella’s Latin-influenced recipes pack a big flavour punch and are ready in next to no time. The family will love sweet corn chowder topped with toasted tortilla chips, and hot cheese and ham quesadillas make an ideal late-night treat. For a gorgeous no-cook dinner menu with a difference, try roquamole - blue cheese and avocado dip - served alongside a cool cured fish ceviche, and margarita ice-cream for dessert. This is cooking to a Latin beat.
Episode 10 - Quick quick slow
Time is of the essence when it comes to cooking the Express way, and it’s all about the time it takes to make a meal, not how long it takes to cook. Nigella’s lamb, olive and caramelised onion tagine followed by indulgent ice-cream cake can be made days ahead when you have the time, then eat when you’re in a hurry. On the day, all that’s left to do is prepare couscous to go with the tagine and a fabulous butterscotch sauce to pour over the cake. Then there’s dinner with a little late night and early morning action - maple chicken ’n’ ribs that are marinated the night before and cooked on the day, and passionfruit and ginger trifle that’s made at breakfast and left in the fridge ready for supper.
Episode 11 - Retro rapido
Nigella takes a step back in time to give her favouite retro recipes the Express treatment. For her school and university friend, it’s cheese fondue followed by cherry cheesecake. Her mother’s favourite Sunday supper dish, oeufs en cocotte, is sped up and given a modern-day twist. Then there’s a dazzling 50’s-inspired dinner with goujons of sole and dill mayonnaise served with simply dressed gem lettuce leaves and incredible crepes Suzette that literally light up the room. Quite simply, it’s the past made fast.
Episode 12 - Razzle dazzle
It’s party time at Nigella’s - time for a little razzle-dazzle as well as easy, tasty, make-in-advance recipes and achievable, last-minute touches to make the food table and the party itself ooze wow factor. On the menu are bite-sized potato cakes with smoked salmon, delicate crab and avocado wraps, easy peasy red pepper and chickpea hummus, sticky sausages, and white chocolate mousses served in shot glasses. This is finger-licking good finger food.
Episode 13 - Season’s eatings
Nigella has festive treats all wrapped up, from drinks and nibbles for when the guests arrive through to a delicious, no-effort dinner and fabulous going home gifts. First up, for that inner glow, it has to be Nigella's holiday hotcake, with lashings of egg nog cream for the grown-ups. Doubling up as gifts and get-ahead goodies are sweet spiced peaches and chocolate pistachio fudge. To get the party started, there’s Nigella’s favourite Christmas cocktail frothy snowball with delicious spicy popcorn aplenty, to satisfy even the most seasoned nibbler.
Get cooking with Nigella Express, weeknights at 7pm from 25 May to 10 June on SBS Food (Ch.33) and then via .
