Home Cooked & Heartwarming, Ashleigh Levin

In her first recipe book, Home Cooked & Heartwarming, Ashleigh says that almost anything is edible if seasoned with love and a few extra knobs of butter.

Home Cooked & Heart Warming

Chapters are divided into:
  • Breakfast And Brunch Delights
  • Whip ‘Em Up, Well In Advance
  • Seriously Simple Starters
  • Home Comforts
  • Lovely, Lazy Lunches Are Made Of This
  • Colour Me Fancy
  • Don’t Fall Fowl To Festive Stress
  • Something On The Side?
  • A Bit Naughty, But Very, Very Nice
  • A Little Tipple
  • Butters And Sauces
  • Bother-free Breads
  • Sweet Baked Heaven
Recipes that caught my eye:
  • Sophie’s oat and banana flapjacks (p13)
  • Mint, pea and pistachio pesto (p24)
  • My mother’s sticky chicken (p54)
  • Prawn capelli d’angelo (p61)
  • Asian curry pie (p62)
  • Fish tacos (p69)
  • Mighty mussel pot with secret sambuca (p80)
  • Tear-and-share roast duck with Asian dipping sauce (p93)
  • Pub-style minty, mushy peas (p104)
  • Liz’s frozen cheesecake (p112)
  • Amarula semifreddo (p119)
  • Home-made limoncello (p132)
  • Quick ‘n easy yeast-free loaf (p146)
  • Baklava cheesecake (p154)
  • Ouma’s warm baked pudding (p162)
  • Israeli chocolate cake (p166)
Mighty mussel pot with secret sambuca
Mighty mussel pot with secret sambuca
Home Cooked & Heartwarming

This recipe book is all about hearty food. There is a blurb before the recipes which adds a lovely personal note. I found the recipe photographs to be really good. The page numbers aren’t reflected on every page which I found slightly frustrating.

What I made

It was pure coincidence that I had mussels in the fridge the day I sat down to review Home Cooked & Heartwarming. My intention was to make Pernod mussels without using cream. Sticking with the idea, substituting Pernod for the sambuca, I used the recipe for mighty mussel pot with secret sambuca. I nearly went with my instincts to reduce the cream from 250mls to 125mls but stuck to the recipe. However, I should have gone with my gut as there was far too much sauce.

Pernod Mussels
Pernod Mussels
Disclosure: I was sent the book to review by Penguin Random House South Africa. I was not required to write a positive review. This post is in line with my blogging policy.
Publishing Information:
ISBN 9781432308780
Format Hardback
Published May 2018

Dave and I are away for motor racing. We will be back at work on the 13th of August. I will start replying to comments then. 

Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime August 8:

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7 thoughts on “Home Cooked & Heartwarming, Ashleigh Levin

  1. Sounds like a unique book Tandy! We are on vacay too, until the 13th for our 11th wedding anniverery. Hope you have a great racing trip!

  2. I love mussels so much, but only ever get them in Europe. This recipe sounds delicious, even with all the extra sauce. All the more for dipping good bread into! 🙂

    Hope you have a great time at the races!!

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