Now that our children have more or less flown the nest, the time of me cooking big pots of stew with potatoes or lasagne every day is no more. Seán is good to try new tastes, but I have a much more conservative palate. Give me a plate of new potatoes, some butter and curly cabbage and I’m a happy woman. I don’t even need the bacon to make it a good dinner.

Last Sunday we had the full crew home and more – 15 adults for dinner in the middle of the day. So what to feed them. I balked at the idea of meat, two vegetables and potatoes done at least two ways. A big pot of curry wouldn’t work either. I considered caterers for about five seconds, but then I thought cop on woman, you can do this.

We have a small barbecue so Sean volunteered to cook some tasty sausages and he also made up a tray of chicken kebabs, so that was starters sorted. I turned to Neven Maguire for the main course and desserts. I love Neven’s recipes. Any I’ve tried always deliver exactly what they promise and with little or no fuss.

If you’ve never tried his butterflied leg of lamb with spiced yoghurt and mint then I heartily recommend it. You might be dubious about a marinade of Greek yoghurt, fresh chopped mint, lemon juice, ground coriander, cumin and mild chili powder, but believe me it’s wonderful.

The great thing about this recipe is that there isn’t an ounce of waste. One leg of lamb fed 15 people comfortably and there was even enough over for seconds. It’s great value. Make up the marinade and massage it into the lamb the evening before, then wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge until an hour before cooking time.

The other great thing about this recipe is that if roasted in the oven it only needs 15 minutes on one side and 10 on the other. With a bit of extra time for well done and settling time, you have a leg of lamb cooked to taste and ready to serve in 45 minutes. Add in potato wedges and a couple of salads and you have a superb big crowd family dinner.

I followed up with Neven’s pavlova with summer fruit. This always produces the wow effect and it’s so simple to make: just four egg whites and eight ounces of caster sugar with a dash of wine vinegar, two teaspoons of cornflower and some vanilla essence. It stretches forever and hardly takes five minutes to prepare.

With all the lovely peaches and plums in the shops I had to make Neven’s peach tarte tatin, and with a scoop of ice cream it was pure heaven. Again, this dessert is so easy and quick to prepare. Make up a caramel sauce and cover the base of your dish with it. Skin and de-stone the peaches, quarter them and lay them cut side up in the dish. Cover with a shop-bought roll of puff pastry and bake at a high heat for about 30 minutes. Pure bliss.

At the end of the meal I felt like a culinary queen and it was all thanks to Neven’s easy to make and absolutely delicious recipes. Do try them. All the recipes are online, so you have no excuse. See here

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