What Dad Cooked is a collection of our dad’s recipes, thoughts, tips and cooking hacks that simply need to be shared with all you foodies!

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Seasonal Favourites

Some delicious seasonal summer family recipes to choose from the What Dad Cooked repertoire.

Vingnole Pasta

‘Seriously tasty this (originally) ‘Italian peasant dish’ is a proper winter warmer, or a spring/summer dish made with fresh seasonal vegetables…’

A Simple Sharer of Asparagus with Butter and Lemon

Most cooks agree that when you have an amazing ingredient it is best to prepare it as simply as possible. And they are not wrong: this must be the very best way to eat asparagus. Steamed and presented in a big stack to share. Butter, salt and lemon are optional extras…

Tuna & Sweetcorn Yakitori

Japanese style barbecued skewers of tuna and babycorn with ponzu sauce

Latest recipes

Check out Dad's latest homecooked dishes and recipes below. Or click recipes in the menu to browse through 6+ years of Dad's homecooking recipes for families.

Cassoulet de Toulouse à la Pappa

A perfect winter warmer – Cassoulet!

The Laughing Cow Lightest Loaded Quesadilla

Try Dad’s loaded low-fat salsa quesadillas with The Laughing Cow Lightest x8 cheese.

Melanzane Parmigiana with Dolmio 7 Vegetables Sun Ripened Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce

An excellent way to turn a popular Italian slow food standard into an easy and quicker family classic.

Pumpkin Pie

My best pumpkin pie yet!

Asaparagus

A seasonal favourite ingredient of Dad's, so much so he made a 30 recipe series about the green spears! Try these recipes whilst asparagus can still be found locally.

Asparagus Vignarola

This is an Italian stew made from spring vegetables including artichokes, broad beans, peas.

San Joaquin Battered Asparagus

In San Joaquin County, at Stockton California they stage an Asparagus Festival in April. Stockton is the centre of asparagus growing in California so it makes sense to celebrate the crop…

Parma Ham and Asparagus

A great flavour combination and presented here as a main meal salad or antipasto.

Asparagus in Miso Dressing

Like sesame sauce, miso ends up in sauces and dressing for many classic Japanese salads. Here I’ve combined miso with asparagus to make a rather exotic salad – wasabi on the side adds piquancy and a touch of jeopardy to the dish.

Dad's Food Journal

Dad loves to write about food. Whether it's discovering a new road local to London or Surrey, where the treasures of foodie stores and independent shops delight—or Dad's macro observations in the world of food. Dad's articles (and foodie stories to his recipes) are a funny and knowledgable journey through the lense of how pops views the world.

A Kerfuffle of Parma Ham…

Whilst shopping at the farm shop, I went to the delicatessen counter to buy some Parma ham for an antipasto. But there was a problem…

Who Remembers a Time Before Houmous?

When I was at school, the only way to eat houmous was either by going to Greece on holiday, or visiting a Greek restaurant…

Why a foodie should walk down… Clerkenwell Road

Clerkenwell Road is part of a route linking east and west London, yet with its quiet passages and historic square it has the character of an intimate neighbourhood. It’s also home to a variety of foodie venues serving Clerkenwell’s creative community. Here’s some of our favourites.

Corned Beef & Hash

Love it or loathe it, corned beef has been an essential food for centuries.



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