Cook a lot: Fast, fresh, simple. by Donna Hay

I first 'met' Donna Hay in the shape of her magazine when working for Jamie Oliver in London. It was one of the mags that were eagerly awaited by everyone in the office. Once in, it would be fought over, disappear for days on end and finally pop up somewhere with drool marks on the pages.

Donna's books are like fat versions of her magazine: summery, whitewashed pictures with lots of pastels and impeccable food styling that somehow doesn't make you feel inadequate just by looking at it, but convinces you that your plate/table/life can look this good too.

It's weird cooking from her title, Fast, fresh, simple. in the middle of winter. Everything looks so light. I have a proper leaf-through before settling on the orecchiette with Brussels sprouts and pancetta. It looks very tasty, it has sprouts in so must be wintery and well, pancetta, I could eat you every day.

The recipe's short and clear and deserves its place in the 'fast' chapter. (It could easily fit in the 'simple' or 'fresh' chapters too, actually.) I work as neatly as poss, wanting to match the pretty picture. I even use a similar looking plate. Alas. My sprouts are too brown, my cream is somehow not white enough and the whole thing looks way too cheesy. Literally. See for yourself:

Donna's orecchiette

My orecchiette

(Ouch. My photography skills are embarrassing. In my defense, I took my picture at night, with bad lighting...)

It was delicious though. A perfect balance of bitter and salty and creamy. (When I make it again, from memory, a few days later, it turns out you'd better follow the recipe because the balance is easily disrupted and the dish a lot less nice.)

In the back of the book, Donna reveals some of her styling secrets. Maybe I'll read that first, next time I try and live the pretty life.

Fast, fresh, simple. by Donna Hay is available in English (Hardie Grant, £16.99) and in Dutch (Van Dishoeck, €29.99) and in many other languages I'm sure. Find out more about Donna here.

You'll find a short version of this review (in Dutch) on jamiemagazine.nl.