Aperitivo or dinner? Portuguese whites are always right

Portuguese wines have been making steady advances on British drinkers in recent years, and for good reason. The country is home to many delightful indigenous grapes (bom dia baga, encantado encruzado), as well as the sort of varied maritime, mountainous terrain that encourages personality. Its winemakers tend to be forward-thinking and climate-conscious, too, and there are lots of bottles of interest at the “midweek” price point – that is, £8-£13. Case in point: the “yellow tram wine”, AKA Porta 6 Lisboa, is now a ubiquitous presence on our high streets.The Guardian’s journalism is independent

From basil to pistachio and peas – in praise of pesto, whichever way you make it

It was not without satisfaction that I found my 14-year-old son making pesto the other week – for the first 13 years of his life he referred to it as either “pesto-the-bogey-man”, or “gross”. To avoid interfering and sabotaging the moment, I didn’t look too closely, so I didn’t clock the shallow bowl and immersion blender combination. I did hear the noise – a blunt churn – as the blade hit the leaves and nuts. Acting more like a leaf blower than cutter, it sent green and white oily fragments up the cupboards and over pretty much every pot, utensil and tool nearby. Impressively unfazed, he managed to scrape a good proportion of the elements into the food processor and make an extremely tasty pesto, which was mixed with linguine, green beans and potatoes

Anything but eggs – the best chocolate for Easter

If you like chocolate and nut butter, Radek’s Chocolate is doing wonderful things with both, and its dairy free Silky Almond Chocolate Rabbit is magically creamy. Looking more like subservient mice than bunnies, NearyNógs’ dark chocolate bunnies, stuffed with salted caramel, were my favourite. A superb, successful marriage of very good Ecuadorian chocolate and caramel: worthy of a royal telegram.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link

Four knockout bakes and tips from the master: Edd Kimber’s recipes for cooking with chocolate

From a white chocolate cheesecake tart and flourless chocolate cake to double chocolate olive oil and marbled matcha cookies, explore chocolate’s endless versatilityChocolate is a truly magical ingredient. Not only is it a powerhouse of flavour, it also pairs beautifully with other ingredients to make something incredible. Chocolate isn’t one note, mind; from the heady richness of an intense dark chocolate to the nostalgic creaminess of milk chocolate and the often maligned simplicity of white chocolate, it can be the star of the show or simply the supporting act. Chocolate can do it all.This is my go-to dinner party dessert

Sauces, spreads, sprinkles – and cocktail in a can: whose fridge is this?

Amba sauce “I’m very jar orientated; a lot of my cooking is about combining big flavours. I’m also a sucker for a sour ingredient, and this Iraqi pickled mango condiment is really sour – more so than tamarind. If I’m garnishing a dish with tahini, then I’ll use amba to cut through the richness, otherwise I’ll use it in lieu of citrus.”Stem ginger in syrup “My grandpa always gave me this when I was a kid, and I thought it was disgusting. However, now it’s essential; I often make a (chopped) stem ginger and spring onion salsa – it’s sweet and spicy

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for potato, aubergine and herb tortino alla fiorentina

The sky is the same shade as old Tupperware, our tortoise appears to have gone back into hibernation, the flat upstairs has builders in, but the kitchen smells gorgeous, thanks to this week’s recipe. It is one of the variations suggested by Anna Gosetti Della Salda for her aubergine and egg tortino alla fiorentina in the Tuscany chapter of Le Ricette Regionali Italiane, an indispensable book that I would save from a fire. The addition of potato to the aubergine makes it an even more substantial, velvet-like and better-tasting dish, I think: a layered vegetable bake crossed with a frittata that fancies itself as having a touch of baked eggs (although don’t expect any puffing up).Instead of the aubergine, you could use artichoke hearts (trimmed and cut into slim wedges), courgettes or cardoon, and, if you fancy, you could also add a crumbled sausage or a handful of diced pancetta. Whatever you use, however, a fundamental stage in terms of both flavour and texture is the initial cooking of the vegetables: frying the potatoes, then covering the pan so they fry-steam into tenderness; the aubergine by simply frying