Nigella Lawson provides a step by step guide to creating delicious recipes for every occasion, be it cooking for many or for those times when you are home alone. For Nigella entertaining means sharing time with friends, not spending hours slaving over a hot stove and the taste of the food is far more important than agonising over presentation. Today she tackles creating delicious food in a very short space of time. On the list are lemon linguine and chicken with couscous and a delicious chocolate dessert.

For Nigella, entertaining means spending time with friends, not anguishing alone in the kitchen, and the taste of the food is far more important than its presentations. To take the strain out of home entertaining Nigella goes a Middle Eastern style meze. The food itself is not all from the Middle East, rather it's the pattern of eating that's emulated, with a series of dishes, including hummus with yogurt, olive oil and toasted pinenuts, lime-sharp guacamole studded with green chili, garlic and prosciutto with beans. This is easy cooking and easy eating.

We all have certain foods which comfort us because they remind us of childhood. Dishes that our parents prepared for us always retain a special place in our hearts. For Nigella, her ultimate ‘desert island dish' is her mother's steak bearnaise and, for dessert, her grandmother's poached pears with vanilla ice cream and dark, luscious chocolate sauce. But Nigella's love of food goes way beyond her favourite childhood dishes. There are a number of great cookery writers whom she feels have played an important role in her life. In her extensive library – which she refers to as her ‘acquired family,' she shares one of her favourite Claudia Rodenrecipes – tagliatelli with chicken, toasted pinenuts and sultanas; a succulent meaty dish and ‘family food at its best.' Nigella loves to cook with her children and what better way to teach them the fundaments of cooking than to involve them in the fun of the process. Nigella's special and easy to prepare recipe for her children is greencakes – small pâtés of broccoli, peas and potatoes which are dipped in breadcrumbs and fried. What better way to get children to eat their greens! One of Nigella's favourite family puddings is a passion fruit pavlova and she shares her secret of the ultimate meringue – beautifully crisp on the outside and marshmallow-y on the inside.

Nigella Lawson cooks because she loves to eat. Intimate and conversational, her series, Nigella Bites, is a total immersion in Nigella's food life, focusing on the simple yet delicious food she cooks for herself, her family and friends and the food she fantasises about. Each week she shows how to create straightforward yet appetising dishes, and offers practical tips and a set of hassle-free principles that make cooking an enjoyable part of life rather than performance art. In this episode, Nigella focuses on the foods she loves to eat when she's home alone.

Nigella Lawson shares her favourite ‘weekend' recipes. Intimate and conversational, the programme focuses on the simple yet delicious food she cooks for herself, her family and friends. As ever, Nigella's mantra is “minimum effort for maximum pleasure” and, in this programme, she shows how to create straightforward yet appetising dishes that make cooking an enjoyable part of weekend life rather than performance art.