Pollo Margherita
Chicken Breasts with Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil

This dish is rather retro and I used to make it when I first came to London as a teenager. Make sure that the avocados are perfectly ripe and don’t use buffalo mozzarella, as it will release too much milk during cooking. Grilling the avocado makes it softer and more velvety, but don’t overcook or it will turn mushy. Serve with your favourite salad leaves.

We love our pasta in Italy - so much so that we like to eat it for dessert too! These little halfmoon-shaped pasta treats are perfect eaten at the end of a meal or with coffee or a chilled glass of sweet white wine. The combination of nuts, honey and chocolate make them very rich and perfect for festive entertaining.

There’s nothing quite like the taste of a good pasta puttanesca. It’s a real Italian classic and, when I’m back in Naples, my mother cooks this for me at least once a week. She always says that it reminds her of my late father – apparently this was the dish they both ordered on their first date. Well, it must have been pretty good – otherwise I wouldn’t be here, would I?

There is nothing better than having a cup of tea in the afternoon with a piece of homemade cake and I find a light lemon cake leaves me feeling satisfied, because I’ve had a treat and feel pampered but I don’t feel too full before dinner. I have created many variations of lemon cakes but this one gives you an option of a delicious cake that is incredibly low in fat and calories without compromising...

This is quite an old-fashioned recipe from my home patch, and I must admit, I wasn’t a huge fan of it when growing up (probably because of all the fruit and lack of chocolate), but now I really appreciate all the flavours and how well they work together. My grandfather, Giovanni, used to make this at Easter and now I carry on the tradition.

Many people steer clear of aubergine and yet it really is an easy vegetable to prepare. In this sauce, it enhances the tomato flavour without overpowering it, so if you have children who don’t like their vegetables, try this dish – they’ll hardly know it’s there. I often serve this pasta as a starter but be careful with portion sizes as you don’t want to fill everyone up before the main....