Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for goat’s cheese, herb and hazelnut spring tart | Quick and easy

This is one of my favourite recipes for this column so far. Light, fresh goat’s cheese and artichokes baked in a tart with a smooth, herb-packed base and finished with hazelnuts; I especially like the contrast of the crisp filo against the filling. There are a lot of herbs here, but they balance beautifully, so I’d advise using them all, particularly the chives. (I bought 30g packs of mint and basil, but by the time I had got rid of the stems, there were just 20g leaves left. My herb windowsill is lavish with rosemary, sage and oregano, but sadly not the soft herbs yet

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for almond and potato cake with lemon curd and mascarpone | A kitchen in Rome

Writing in 1891, in his cooking manual La Scienza in Cucina e L’arte di Mangiar Bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well), Pellegrino Artusi introduces the potato as a tuber from the solanaceae (nightshade) family that was native to South America and introduced to Europe in the 16th century. He goes on to note that large-scale cultivation didn’t begin in Italy until the beginning of the 18th century, due to the “obstinacy of the masses who were averse to eating it”, adding that, little by little, the potato became more than accepted (by the poor as well as the rich), because of its good taste, ability to satisfy hunger and the way it lent itself to being cooked in so many ways.If my counting is correct, of 790 recipes in that seminal book, 30 of them include potatoes or a significant proportion of potato flour. What is especially interesting is that even though the first recipe that includes potatoes is recipe 14 (a tasty-sounding brothy minestra with little gnocchi made from potatoes, boiled chicken, yolks and cheese), plus 14 more savoury potato recipes that Artusi waits to introduce, it isn’t until the chapter entitled Torte e dolci al Cucchiaio (Cakes and Desserts Eaten with a Spoon) that the potato is formally presented. In recipe 661, budino di patate, a soft, blancmange-style pudding that definitely requires a spoon, is made from floury potatoes, sugar, eggs, milk and lemon zest

Notes on chocolate: sweet little treats priced from 70p to £40

From cheap and cheerful to a really gorgeous and generous present It’s a week until Easter and yes I am a little rosy cheeked at still going on about Easter eggs, but Terry’s has just launched an orange gooey egg to go head to head with Cadbury’s Creme Egg.I’m not personally a fan of Terry’s Chocolate Orange (or Creme Eggs, both way too sweet for me, as is almost all commercial chocolate now). But it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge what a… dare I say… cult status they have with some people.This year, sees a new addition to the Terry’s stable – a milk chocolate egg (same size as a Creme Egg) with orange cream inside, 70p from almost everywhere that sells chocolate.There’s also (exclusive to Tesco) a new mint Easter egg with a mint chocolate ball, £6, which went down very well with testers (‘There’s an egg and a mint chocolate orange!’)At completely the other end of the scale Pierre Marcolini, maker of some of the world’s best truffles, has launched a 30th anniversary box of chocs

Sunday with Angela Hartnett: ‘I’m up at 6.30am enjoying an empty Hampstead Heath’

The chef talks about her antisocial dogs, borderline hoarding and home dinners among chefsEarly riser? I try, although I’ve been slacking recently. I like to be up at 6.30am and off to an empty Hampstead Heath. I’ve got antisocial dogs who think they own the park, so it’s easier that way. Then I can spend the rest of the day at home away from everyone

Dorian, London: ‘Truly refined decadence’ – restaurant review

If the gentrification of Notting Hill brings with it lovely Dorian, then Miquita Oliver and her mum Andi won’t hear a word against itDorian, 105-107 Talbot Road, London W11 2AT (020 3089 9556; dorianrestaurant.com). Small plates £19-£65; large plates £37-£145; desserts £8.50-£12; wine from £50I’m going to tell you a story. This is a story about that which shall not be named

Who stole all the cheese? The inside story of the boom in luxury food heists

Who would steal 22 tonnes of posh cheese, or £37,000 of smoked salmon? A rise in fraudulent orders for luxury foodstuffs has rattled the industry, leaving artisan producers with unpaid bills and a truckload of questions…One day in October 2024, Chris Swales, 54, a smoked-salmon producer with a confident demeanour and a stubbled jaw, stood at the gates of an industrial estate in east London staking out the units. There were teenagers loitering about, knackered cars, XL Bullies; everyone seemed to have more than one phone. It didn’t seem like the sort of place where nine pallets of frozen fish would be delivered, but – he checked the address he had noted down from the courier – this was the place.A couple of months earlier, Swales couldn’t have imagined that he’d be sniffing around Walthamstow on the hunt for £37,000 in missing produce, yet here he was. In August, he’d received an email – subject: “Collaboration” – from a man named Patrick Moulin, who claimed to be the buyer for Match, a French supermarket