Mary Berry is throwing a casual weekday supper. With lots of clever tips for making life easy in the kitchen, she reveals dishes made for sharing around the kitchen table with a few close friends.
Her Mediterranean platter of houmous, bread sticks, roasted vegetables and a tomato and mozzarella salad is perfect food for sharing on a summer’s evening. For hungry guests Mary offers lamb dhansak, or the ultimate in comfort food, cottage pie with dauphinoise potato topping. And for those occasions when you need to get food on the table fast, Mary has a pasta dish which takes just 15 minutes to make. She also shows how to make elderflower cordial and a crunchy apple crumble.
 1. 15 minute pasta
This is my standby pasta supper as it is so delicious, so quick and everyone loves it. Great for everyday or for casual supper parties too.
2. Apple crumble with walnuts and sunflower seeds
The apples and the nutty topping are cooked separately in Mary Berry’s unusual crumble, producing an exceptional crunch.
 3. Frozen elderflower posset
This frozen dessert is so fragrant and so easy to make: the ingredients are just whipped together and frozen and it doesn’t need churning. Serve with summer berries for the perfect summer dessert.
 4. Rosemary-roasted almonds
This is a great snack to bring out when the drinks are flowing. The combination of rosemary and smoked paprika makes these nuts especially more-ish.
5. Cottage pie with dauphinoise potato
This is the perfect meal to serve when all the family are around as everyone can help themselves to as little or as much as they want. It’s generous enough for second helpings and if by any chance there are leftovers, it tastes great the next day. It’s so much smarter than the usual cottage pie, so is perfect for casual supper parties too.
 6. Lamb dhansak
Dhansak is a popular Indian curry made from meat, lentils and flavoured with spices including cumin and ginger. It’s mild, sweet and rich with just enough heat to satisfy most tastes. Best of all it benefits from being made a day in advance as it tastes even better re-heated the next day.
7. Lemon hummus
If you like the traditional sesame seed flavour of hummus, simply add three tablespoons of tahini paste to the mixture. You could also add four tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves for an aromatic flavour.
