How to make your much-loved Charlie Bigham dishes at home
Turns out that Charlie Bigham is an actual real-life person, not just the name of your favourite posh ready-meals found on the aisles of Waitrose and Sainsbury's. Who knew?
And now he’s published his first cookbook, Supper with Charlie Bigham, which features more than 100 easy-to-follow recipes, including some of the well-loved classics from the Charlie Bigham kitchen such as lasagne, fish pie and chicken tikka masala.
Feeling inspired? Keep scrolling for the recipes.
Our favourite Charlie Bigham dishes
Chicken tikka masala
‘As we all know, this has become an adopted national dish, but how many of us ever make it at home? This is based on the recipe we use at Charlie Bigham’s and is well worth making yourself if you’ve got lots of people coming round,’ says Bigham. ‘My two key tips from years of honing our recipe are to marinate the chicken first, and to get the spices right by adding them at the correct stage of cooking.’
The ultimate lasagne
‘Lasagne was the first recipe I ever made,’ says Bigham. ‘My mum is a lasagne supremo and gave me my first lesson at the age of 12; I have been making it ever since. At Charlie Bigham’s, we’ve spent a long time refining our recipe to ensure it’s second to none – and we keep tweaking it to make it even better. This dish is based on that recipe, but I’ve made a few tweaks to speed things up a bit. The secret to a great – rather than an average – lasagne is twofold: a carefully constructed, slow-cooked ragù and multiple layers. For the ragù, it’s important to brown the meat first before it goes into the sauce to be slow-cooked.
‘Within the sauce itself are some special ingredients that make a real difference: white wine rather than red (as called for in the original Italian recipe); three sorts of tomato (chopped canned, passata and purée); a very small amount of chicken liver for depth; and the subtle flavour notes of nutmeg, oregano, star anise and balsamic vinegar. When it comes to the layering stage, choose a large, deep ovenproof dish so you can have multiple layers of pasta: I recommend at least five.’
Fish pie
‘We all love a fish pie. It’s our top-selling dish at Charlie Bigham’s and had to be in this cookbook,’ writes Bigham.
‘Quite a lot of people write to us about it, sometimes with suggestions such as adding prawns, scallops or hard-boiled eggs. Over the years we have tried all these, but have decided to keep our recipe nice and simple: salmon, smoked haddock and hake (a close cousin of cod). If you are making fish pie at home, please do amend the recipe below, switching some of our choice of fish for your own mixture… and even include the hard-boiled egg, if you insist!’
Recipes from Supper with Charlie Bigham by Charlie Bigham, published by Mitchell Beazley. £26.
More recipe inspiration
How to make Melissa Hemsley's cherry almond ‘Bakewell’ granola
10 best Nutribullet recipes to supercharge your daily nutrition
Cut through the noise and get practical, expert advice, home workouts, easy nutrition and more direct to your inbox. Sign up to the WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWSLETTER
You Might Also Like
