We have been very lucky with the summer this far and have done a lot of eating out – in the garden, that is. This antipasti platter looks good and is ideal to nibble on. I recently travelled to Italy with the Simply Better team and learned a lot about how much the Italians care for their olive oil. The Simply Better extra virgin comes from Sicily.

If you are into your olive oil, you must look up Villa Campestri in Tuscany near Florence. I visited it earlier this year to do some filming, and I even cooked there. It is a wonderful place. It is the only “olive oil” hotel in the world, with a marvellous collection of oil in a beautiful old property. You can even plant your own olive tree there.

They say that for the best paella, you should use the best rice. This paella with the mixture of seafood is a real treat. Lots of chefs also make paella with chicken, or rabbit, or add chorizo. This is a bit controversial with traditionalists, who sometimes refer to it rudely as arroz con cosas, which means rice with things! It still tastes good to me.

Antipasti platter with spiced nuts & marinated olives

Serves four to six

6 slices Parma ham

225g (½lb) piece Italian cheese, cut into slices (such as dolcelette or taleggio)

25g (1oz) wild rocket

½ tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the olives:

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

juice and finely grated rind 1 small lemon

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp dried crushed chillies (optional)

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

225g (8oz) black or green olives, or a mixture (from a jar or can)

For the nuts:

4 tbsp softened butter

225g (8oz) roasted salted whole almonds

4 tbsp soft light brown sugar

good pinch sweet or smoked paprika

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

brushetta, slices of crusty bread or crackers, to serve

1 To marinate the olives, toast the cumin and fennel seeds in a small, dry frying pan for one to two minutes, until they become aromatic. Tip into a bowl and add the olives, lemon rind and juice, garlic, chillies, if using and olive oil. Toss until each olive is well coated and then leave to marinate to allow the flavours to develop for at least 15 minutes, or for as long as time allows.

2 To make the spiced nuts, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the almonds and toss to coat. Sprinkle the sugar over the nuts and add the paprika with a good pinch of salt and pepper, then cook for about five minutes, stirring constantly until the almonds are golden brown and the sugar has caramelised. Spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to cool and harden.

3 To serve, drain off the excess liquid from the olives and tip into small bowls set on a larger platter. Break up the spiced almonds as necessary before piling into bowls and adding those along with the Parma ham and slices of cheese. Lightly dress the rocket and pile that onto the platter to serve with the brushetta, bread or crackers.

Valencian seafood paella

Serves four

8 large Dublin Bay Prawns (shell on)

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 vine-ripened tomatoes, grated (skin discarded)

1 tsp sweet paprika

½ tsp hot smoked paprika (pimenton picante)

150g (5oz) baby squid, cleaned and cut into rings

200g (7oz) Spanish short grain rice (Calasparra, La Bomba or paella rice)

500ml (18fl oz) fish stock (from a jar)

Good pinch saffron strands, soaked in a little water

20 large live clams or mussels, cleaned

450g (1lb) raw peeled prawns, cleaned (Dublin Bay or tiger)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lemon wedges, to garnish

1 Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a paella dish that is approximately 25cm (12½in) over a medium heat, then add the whole prawns and sauté for two to three minutes. Remove the prawns from the pan and set aside.

2 Heat the remaining olive oil in the paella dish and tip in the onion and garlic, then sauté for a few minutes until softened.

3 Add the grated tomatoes and cook for another three to four minutes, until reduced and thickened.

4 Tip in the sweet and hot smoked paprika and cook for another minute, stirring.

5 Add the squid and continue to sauté for a minute or so, then stir in the rice and continue to stir to ensure it is all evenly coated.

6 Heat the stock in a separate pan and then pour in 400ml (14floz) of it into the rice with the saffron mixture and season to taste.

7 Increase the heat and simmer vigorously for 10 minutes, then arrange the sautéed whole prawns on top of the dish with the clams or mussels and raw peeled prawns, pushing them well into the rice but not otherwise disturbing it.

8 Cook for about eight minutes. If the dish looks very dry before the rice has cooked completely, then add the remaining hot stock, bearing in mind it shouldn’t be soupy.

9 Cover the dish with foil and take off the heat. Leave to rest for 10 minutes, then garnish with lemon wedges and serve straight to the table. CL