Photo by Chris Court
Donna Hay is something of an Australian institution, synonymous — if you’ll forgive the shorthand — for blending good taste with good food, and in a particularly Aussie way, highlighting freshness and vivid flavours in a brisk you-can-do-this manner, and her trademark styling — pale, bleached-out backgrounds, bright bold food and, most recognisably, a hymn to white and to light — champions a certain beachy chic that speaks to urbanites-in-a-hurry all over the world.
And she is enormously prolific. One Pan Perfect is her 26th book and it is a mark of her achievement that a new one always feels like an exciting occasion. What’s key, of course, is that — as her many fans would testify — you just know that you’ll be given many ideas to pull you out of any cooking rut, and in a way that feels calming rather than challenging. And that signature combination of buoyancy and coolness is very much the mark of One Pan Perfect. While it promises over 120 recipes, there are so many ideas and suggestions bursting enthusiastically from its pages, that it feels as if there are double that number. And it’s a tough task to whittle that down for you here! But I must and I will. The enveloping theme of the book is meals you can make in one roasting tray, one dish, one pot or pan; a focus much favoured by those of us who cook day in, day out at home, and are most appreciative of recipes that don’t leave us with a pile of washing up! Her instructions are always brief, but to the point: her food doesn’t rely on lengthy processes or fiddly technique. I should also tell you that some of the recipes are amplified by means of a QR code, allowing the reader to hold up a phone to it and see a video demonstration. This is something which I believe will become huge in cookbooks; indeed I was reading an advance copy just a week or so ago of Olia Hercules' Home Food and saw that it also contained this feature.
But I digress — as so often — and I will hurry up now and present my highlight of the actual recipes for your delectation and delight. I immediately earmarked the Crispy Mushroom Tacos with Avocado and Lime Yogurt; the Baked Red Curry Chicken and Coconut Dhal (the chicken cooks on top of the coconutty lentils in the pan); Porcini Meatballs with White Beans and Mozzarella; Spiced Meatballs in Sticky Chilli Sauce; Baked Tomatoes and Parmesan Feta; Ginger Chicken Pot Sticker Dumplings (made with bought wrappers); Lamb with Artichokes, Feta and Olives (again, calling on artichoke hearts that come in a jar or tub); Pancetta-Wrapped Roast Pork with Pear and Fennel; Spiced Turmeric, Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup; Pasta with Bloody Mary Sauce (a fresh update on Penne alla Vodka); Spinach Soup with Lemon and Tahini; a Potato and Radicchio Salad with Garlic Dressing (which also contains blue cheese) that rings all my bells; and her Lucky Pot Ginger Chicken which, as it contains rice, is my idea of the perfect one-pan meal. And then there are the desserts, and many of them! I just have to draw your attention to the Blackberry Tray Pie; Fruit-Topped Skillet Cake; Earl Grey Tea and Lemon Cake; Upside-Down Summer Pavlova, a brilliant idea; as is her Lemon Meringue Pudding, perfect for those with pastry-panic; and Aperol Spritz Peaches. And it’s a sweet recipe I’m sharing with you today in the form of her Rhubarb Almond Pudding Cake. It’s Yorkshire rhubarb season here in the UK and so I just couldn’t resist!
One Pan Perfect by Donna Hay is published by 4th Estate, RRP £25.
Photos by Chris Court.
