I was once invited to an associate of my husband’s house for afternoon tea. My husband’s friend set down a huge plate filled with great hulking slices of cakes (bought up from a shop in Melbourne) and the one that caught my eye was a fragrant orange cake. I figured the man of the house was a little clueless as men usually tend to be around cakes and tea as there was no fork or knife around and I only wanted a small slice (I usually start small in case I don’t like it as I feel rude not finished things). As I didn’t know them very well I didn’t want to interrupt the fascinating sailing conversation that was going on between the menfolk (ok sarcasm there) so I kept quiet and transported the huge hunk of cake onto my plate.

And once I lifted the slice to my lips, I was so sweetly rewarded in the most wonderful way. The cake was incredibly soft, cool and damp inside and sweet and heady with zest.

Of course when his wife sat down, out came the forks and knives and proper instruments but did I give up my slice or offer a taste to anyone? Absolutely not. I was shamelessly and unrepentantly greedy that day. And ever since I tried that cake, I sought a recipe for it, making orange cake after orange cake, ones with syrup, ones claiming to be the moistest Orange cake, hoping to replicate that cool, sweet fragrance. And when I finally found it several years ago, I became ecstatic. I should have known that the moistness was due to the exclusion of flour and the inclusion of almond meal.

I don’t remember which cookbook I got this from, although I do know that the printout I have attributes this recipe to Claudia Roden. She used regular Oranges rather than Blood Oranges but I have a stash of Blood Oranges at the moment and couldn’t wait to use them. They are in season for a shortish time, although they are now being imported, and I have seen them around a lot lately at a very reasonable price so if you do see some, grab them. They make a fantastic juice (but the juice must be drunk straight after juicing). Or use it as an excuse to make this divine cake.

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Its an rainy day during Sydney’s Winter that I decide that the Spaghetti Pie recipe will get an look in. There’s nothing better than being inside when its raining and it becomes a little more gratifying when there’s something delicious smelling in the oven.

Being particularly time poor that day, I short cut the meatballs by using Chevups skinless sausages which are low in fat and high in meat. I added some fresh breadcrumbs to them to fluffify and lighten them, some milk to bind and stirred in the broccoli and oddly enough, we have a new meatball favourite.

I also couldn’t get by without using my favorites tomato pasta bake sauce, Remano Creamy tomato and basil from shock horror, of all places, Aldi. Its creamy and very tomatoey and we make special trips to Aldi to stock up our cupboards with it. My husband and I are those oddball people that actually love cottage cheese. We could eat it by the tubful so I need no convincing to use it. In fact the texture, once cooked, is like using mince. And since I’m not a fan of mozzarella, I used regular tasty cheese, nothing fancy there. It wasn’t as crispy as the recipe suggests that it would be - perhaps the addition of the pasta sauce instead of regular tomato sauce did it but it was still very good and a favoured alternative to spaghetti and meatballs.

(Rainy Day) Spaghetti Pie from Deceptively Delicious

This is a perfect recipe for that leftover pasta you’ve got in the fridge from last night’s dinner

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 3 ozs/90g whole wheat spaghetti or angel hair pasta (or 1 cup cooked leftover pasta) I used fettucine
• 1/2 pound/250g lean ground turkey or sirloin (I used 200g chevups sausages and 50g fresh breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 cup broccoli puree
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 cups bottled tomato sauce
• 1 cup lowfat cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup carrot puree
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella (I used regular tasty)

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Coat a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain in a colander (Skip this step if you have leftover pasta)

3. In a small bow, mix the ground turkey or sirloin with the broccoli puree, egg white, parmesan and garlic. Form the mixture into 1/2 inch balls

4. In a large bowl, stir the cooked pasta, tomato sauce, cottage cheese, carrot puree,, and salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the pie plate and smooth the top. Scatter meatballs on top and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake, uncovered until the centre is firm and the cheese is bubble, 25 - 30 minutes.

Prep: 20 mins Total: 45 mins serves 8-10

By Jessica Seinfeld from Deceptively Delicious

For all of my semi high falutin’ tastes, I admit that one of my favourite meals, the one that has me fork and knife at the table ready, is the humble roast chicken. I have a visceral reaction whenever I see a gloriously bronzed bird at the table and along with bread baking, I believe there is no smell better than a roasting chicken. And because I can’t help but fiddle, I made a stuffing with apricot and onion, a slight twist on the traditional sage and onion.

An item that makes another appearance in the recipe is Duck Fat. I had a little left over from cooking a duck stashed in the deep freeze. I never used it as I only had left such a small amount. But luckily only a small amount is needed here. If you can’t be bothered, and the whole point is that this is an easy dinner where the oven does all the work, just use butter. And prepare to swoon, this method ensures that there’s no dry breast meat at all, just succulence and bliss.

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