Rainy day cooking: Try Nadiya Hussein's ultimate one-pot wonder tonight

Plus the best baked feta and a chocolate cookie pie 

Coconut fish noodles. Picture: Chris Terry.

After nine TV cookery series (and a new one out this November), seven recipe books, three children’s books, a novel and a memoir, Nadiya Hussein says: “I’m getting better at not being so self-deprecating and saying, ‘Absolutely, this is my career. This is what I’m really good at’.” The 37-year-old’s latest recipe collection (and accompanying BBC series), Nadiya’s Everyday Baking, is all about “celebrating the oven and saying, you know what, let the oven do all the work”.

That doesn’t just mean frosting-covered cakes, gooey brownies and biscuits: “Often when people think baking in the oven, they think just sweet treats – that’s not the case. Savoury bakes, dinners, midweek meals, lunches, you name it – you can pretty much do everything in the oven.” 

Here are a few of our favourites from a book you'll want to cook from (even when you think you don't).

Coconut fish noodles

A real one pot wonder, these Thai-inspired coconut fish noodles make for a tasty midweek dinner

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Thai

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil

• 20g desiccated coconut

• 2 tbsp garlic paste

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tbsp ground black pepper

• 4 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 tsp salt

• 3 lime leaves, thinly sliced

• 2 x 400ml tins of coconut milk

• 225g rice noodles

• 375g cod loins, chopped into chunks

• To serve:

• 2 large red chillies, thinly sliced

• a large handful of fresh coriander

• lime wedges

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6. Have a casserole dish ready, one that has a lid.

2. Add the coconut oil to the dish with the desiccated coconut and put into the oven for the coconut to brown – this should literally only take a few minutes.

3. As soon as the coconut is golden, take out. Now to add the rest of your ingredients. Add the garlic, turmeric, pepper, fish sauce, salt, lime leaves and coconut milk. Mix well.

4. Crush the noodles in the palm of your hand and scatter into the coconut mixture. Now add the cod chunks, put the lid on and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the noodles and fish are fully cooked through.

5. Give it a mix to break up the fish chunks. Spoon into bowls, scatter with some sliced red chilli and coriander and serve with a wedge of lime.
   
   Nadiya’s Everyday Baking by Nadiya Hussain is published by Penguin Michael Joseph, priced £25. Photography by Chris Terry.

Baked feta with chilli, honey and thyme

Baked with herbs and chilli, and served with a drizzle of honey, this feta is salty, sweet, spicy and herby, making for the most delicious warm dip that really does everything

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Starter

Cuisine

 Greek

Ingredients

• 2 x 200g packets of feta cheese

• 4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing

• a large sprig of fresh lemon thyme, leaves picked

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp chilli flakes

• 200g salted crisp crackers, warmed in the oven

• Honey, for drizzling

• Slices of crusty bread, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6. Lightly grease a small roasting dish.

2. Put the feta cheese right into the dish and drizzle generously with the oil. Sprinkle over the thyme, oregano and chilli. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. For the last 5 minutes of baking, add the crackers to a tray and warm through.

3. Take the foil off the feta and drizzle over the honey. Get your warm crackers out and spread with the warm, salty, sweet, herby feta. Mop up that oil with warm crusty bread.
   
   Everyday Baking by Nadiya Hussain is published by Penguin Michael Joseph, priced £25. Photography by Chris Terry.

Chocolate cookie pie

Chocolate wafers, hazelnut spread and cookie dough combine to create this showstopping dessert

Servings

16

Preparation Time

 60 mins

Cooking Time

 35 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 35 mins

Course

 Baking

Cuisine

 American

Ingredients

• For the cookie dough:

• 200g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

• 325g soft brown sugar

• 2 medium eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp almond extract

• 425g plain flour, sifted

• 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

• ½ tsp salt

• 400g dark chocolate chips

• For the filling:

• 750g chocolate hazelnut spread

• 200g roasted chopped hazelnuts

• 200g chocolate-covered wafer biscuits, chopped into cubes

Method

1. Start by making the dough. Add the butter to a large bowl with the sugar and whisk till the mixture is light and creamy. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and almond and incorporate well.

2. Now add the dry ingredients – the flour, bicarb and salt – and mix till you have a stiff cookie dough. Add your chocolate chips and make sure they are evenly dispersed into the dough.

3. Divide the mixture into two-thirds for the base and sides and a third for the top. Lightly grease and line the base of a 20cm deep cake tin or tart tin with a loose-bottomed base. Take the large ball of dough and gently roll out on a lightly floured surface so it is large enough to fit the base and sides of the cake tin, with a tiny bit of overhang to connect the top of the pie. Press it into the tin.

4. Take the chocolate hazelnut spread and mix with the roasted hazelnuts. Add half the mixture to the lined cookie dough tin. Top with the chopped chocolate- covered wafer biscuits, then top with the rest of the chocolate spread mix and level off.

5. Take the small bit of cookie dough that is left over and roll out to the size of the top. With a little water on your finger, just dampen the top of the cookie dough around the top edge. Pop the top of the pie on and pinch the edges to seal. Cut off any excess. Now leave the whole thing to sit in the freezer for 1 hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 5.

7. Bake the pie in the oven for 35–40 minutes till the dough is golden. Take out of the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin. I hate to say this to you, but you still can’t eat this. We must wait for it to chill in the fridge completely overnight. I promise it’s worth the wait. Loosen the pie from the tin before chilling or it becomes very difficult to remove.

8. Take out of the tin after your long wait, cut into wedges and enjoy with a cup of tea. Or even better still, enjoy on a picnic!
   
   Nadiya’s Everyday Baking by Nadiya Hussain is published by Penguin Michael Joseph, priced £25. Photography by Chris Terry.