I have always had a soft spot for the culinary creations of Josceline Dimbleby, for her Far Eastern Pie, from Favourite Food, was one of the first things I successfully negotiated by myself in the kitchen. A simple pie of ground beef flavoured with garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon, mixed with chopped spinach and topped with ground rice and coconut, it is typical of her work. Ms Dimbleby loves to take simple ideas and spice them up, and yet her food is very comforting, very moreish, bringing the exotica of eastern spicing back home to roost with the solid sender of western staples.
And here is another quintessential Dimbleby dish, this taken from the new Josceline Dimbleby's Complete Cookbook (Harper Collins, £20). The seasonal element is the lovely parsnip, and this is classic autumn cooking.
Parsnip-topped Italian Villa Pie550g/1.25 lbs parsnips 225g/8 oz potatoes 2 teaspoons ground cumin 6 tablespoons olive oil 900g/2 lbs minced pork 6 rounded teaspoons tomato pesto 2 rounded tablspoons tomato puree 7.5cm/3-inch sprig fresh rosemary 225g/8 oz fresh spinach 1 large egg freshly grated Parmesan, for sprinkling salt black pepper
Peel the parsnips if necessary. Peel the potatoes. Chop both up roughly, cutting the potatoes quite a lot smaller than the parsnips. Boil in salted water until they are both quite soft. Drain and mash thoroughly in a bowl, adding the ground cumin and four tablespoons of the olive oil, plus salt and black pepper to taste. Leave on one side.
Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4. Put the minced pork into another mixing bowl and add the pesto and tomato puree. Pull the spikes off the rosemary, chop finely and add to the pork mixture. Season with salt and plenty of black pepper. Put another tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, heavy frying pan over a high heat. Add the pork mixture and fry for 8-10 minutes, digging at the meat all the time with a wooden spoon until it has separated. If there are still juices in the pan, bubble fiercely until evaporated. Remove from the heat, taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Spoon the mixture into a large, rather shallow ovenproof dish and pat level. Chop the spinach leaves very finely and spread them on top of the meat. Whisk the egg thoroughly with a fork and mix it into the mashed parsnip mixture with a wooden spoon. Spread this mixture on top of the spinach layer and make flicks or patterns with a fork. Trickle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the top and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Cook the pie on the centre shelf of the oven for 40-50 minutes, until a deep golden brown.