Gabriella’s Table

Gabriella’s Table CLINICAL NUTRITION - Helping women regulate hormones to lose weight and feel energised. Daily nutrition tips. Clinical Nutritionist and Health coach

I think the answer to owning too many cookbooks is to start a cookbook club. We chose Jerusalem by Ottolenghi. Everyone ...
02/09/2026

I think the answer to owning too many cookbooks is to start a cookbook club. We chose Jerusalem by Ottolenghi. Everyone picked a different recipe and arrived with it ready to serve. There was far too much food, which is actually the perfect amount.

Any suggestions for the next one?

02/09/2026

Let’s feed our favourite people.

First in my Spring Salads Worth Making series: a 10-minute wombok salad with cucumber, loads of herbs, feta and a lemon-sumac dressing.

Crunchy, fresh and very easy, the kind of salad I’ll be making all spring.

Lemony Wombok, Cucumber & Feta Salad

Serves 6–8

Ingredients

* ½ large wombok, finely shredded
* 1 large cucumber, sliced
* 3 spring onions, finely sliced
* ½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
* ½ cup chopped mint
* 150g feta, crumbled

Lemon-sumac dressing

* Juice of 1 large lemon
* 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 tsp sumac
* 1 tsp honey
* Salt and black pepper

Shake the dressing ingredients together in a jar.

Combine the wombok, cucumber, spring onion and herbs. Pour over the dressing and toss well. Transfer to a platter and crumble the feta over the top.

Serve straight away while it’s still crunchy.

Save this for your next spring lunch or dinner.

02/09/2026

Beef stifado the kind of thing I want bubbling away in the oven on a Sunday.

Slow-cooked beef, red wine, cinnamon and orange, with whole golden shallots added towards the end. And make extra , tomorrow I’m turning the leftovers into something completely different 👀

BEEF STIFADO

You’ll need

1.5 kg chuck steak, cut into large pieces
500 g small shallots, peeled
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tbsp tomato paste
250 ml red wine
500 ml beef stock
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
A few strips of orange rind
Olive oil
Salt + black pepper
Chopped parsley, to finish

To make it

Brown the beef really well in olive oil, working in batches.

Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for another minute. Pour in the red wine and let it bubble for a couple of minutes.

Add the beef stock, cinnamon and orange rind, then return the beef to the pot.

Cover and cook at 160°C for around 3 hours**, until the beef is tender and the sauce has reduced.

Meanwhile, fry the whole shallots separately in a little olive oil until golden. Add them to the stifado for the last 30 minutes of cooking

Stir through the red wine vinegar at the end, season to taste and finish with plenty of chopped parsley.

Sunday dinner sorted. Monday’s already taken care of

Now go feed your favourite people. x

27/08/2026

This lamb shoulder gets me far more credit than I deserve.

There’s no basting and no hovering over it. Just pomegranate molasses, sumac, garlic and six hours in a low oven.

I made two shoulders because if the oven is going to be on that long, I’m getting two dinners out of it. We ate one on Sunday and the second became crispy lamb shawarma bowls the following night.If you dont plan on using the second one for dinner nights 2, just halve the recipe

POMEGRANATE, SUMAC + GARLIC LAMB SHOULDER

Serves approximately 6, with leftovers

Ingredients

* 2 small bone-in lamb shoulders, approximately 1.5–2kg each
* 3 large red onions, cut into slices
* 12 garlic cloves, crushed
* 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses
* 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 tbsp sumac
* 4 tsp ground cumin
* 4 tsp ground coriander
* 4 tsp sea salt
* Black pepper
* 500ml chicken stock or water

To finish:

* Flat-leaf parsley
* Mint
* 75g toasted pistachios

Method

1. Heat the oven to 130°C fan.

2. Spread the onion over the base of a deep roasting pan.

3. Combine the garlic, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, sumac, cumin, coriander, salt and plenty of black pepper. Rub the mixture all over the lamb.

4. Place the lamb shoulders on top of the onions and pour the stock around them. Cover with baking paper, then seal the tin tightly with foil.

5. Cook for 5½–6 hours until the lamb pulls apart easily. If it’s still firm, reseal the tin, increase the oven to 150°C fan and continue cooking, checking every 20–30 minutes.

6. Remove the foil and baking paper. Increase the oven to 220°C fan and cook uncovered for another 15–20 minutes, until deeply browned.

7. Rest for 15 minutes, then transfer the lamb to a platter with the onions and pan juices. Finish with parsley, mint and toasted pistachios.

If you’re putting the oven on for six hours, you may as well make tomorrow’s dinner too.

Now go feed your favourite people.

25/08/2026

One month home from Sicily and apparently I’m still cooking my way through it.

This is my Sicilian caponata, an eggplant antipasto with onion, celery, tomatoes, capers and sultanas, balanced with honey and red wine vinegar. It has that sweet-and-sour agrodolce flavour that makes you keep going back for another spoonful.

Serve it at room temperature as part of an Italian antipasto spread, with grilled fish or chicken, or with a good bread. It’s also a very useful make-ahead vegetable side dish because it gets better after a few hours.

I know this because I kept opening the fridge to “check” it.

SICILIAN CAPONATA

Ingredients:

* 2 large eggplants, cut into 2 cm cubes
* Approximately ⅓ cup olive oil
* 1 large onion, diced
* 2 celery stalks, finely sliced
* 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
* ⅓ cup sultanas
* 2 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
* 1 tbsp honey
* 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
* Salt and black pepper
* 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

Method:

1. Heat some of the olive oil in a large frying pan. Cook the eggplant in batches until properly golden and soft, adding more oil as needed. Transfer to a plate.
2. Cook the onion and celery in the same pan over medium-low heat for 8–10 minutes.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and sultanas and simmer for 10–12 minutes.
4. Stir through the capers, honey and red wine vinegar.
5. Return the eggplant to the pan and gently fold everything together. Cook for another 5–8 minutes, then season.
6. Leave it to cool and sit for at least a couple of hours. Serve at room temperature with the toasted pine nuts scattered over the top.

Save this Sicilian caponata recipe for the next time the eggplants look good.

11/08/2026

I was making egg salad for Friday night. It’s so simple, it hardly feels like a recipe. I spread it onto a plate, added sour cream, opened the caviar—and got a little carried away.

This is how I like to cook when I’m having people over: start with something familiar, make it look beautiful, then put it in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. Nothing too formal or complicated, but still special enough for Friday night.

And despite all that caviar, underneath it really is just a creamy egg salad with finely chopped white onion. It takes barely any time to make, which is great when I have other dishes happening in the kitchen.

CAVIAR-COVERED EGG SALAD

8 hard-boiled eggs
⅓ cup mayonnaise, or enough to make it creamy( as always, Undivided Food Co good fat mayo)
¼ small white onion, very finely chopped
Salt and black pepper
½ cup sour cream
Red and black caviar, to cover

Mash the eggs, then mix them with the mayonnaise, onion, salt and pepper. Spread the egg salad over a serving plate and smooth it into an even layer.

Spoon the sour cream over the top and gently spread it to the edges. Finish with the red and black caviar—I alternated spoonfuls of each until the sour cream was completely covered.

Keep it chilled until you’re ready to serve, then put it straight in the middle of the table with a fresh baguette

09/08/2026

I’m starting a new little series here — Slow Cook Sunday

because what’s better than putting something in the oven and letting it become dinner while I get on with the rest of the day.

First up: Italian-style lamb shanks with tomato, red wine, olives and a lemony gremolata.

Italian Lamb Shanks

4 large lamb shanks
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large brown onion, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
250 ml dry red wine
700 ml beef or chicken stock
½ tsp chilli flakes, optional
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, optional

Gremolata
Zest of 1 lemon
½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
Pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 160°C fan-forced.

Season the lamb shanks well. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof casserole and brown the shanks deeply on all sides. Remove and set aside.

Add the onion and carrots and cook for 8–10 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for another minute or two.

Pour in the red wine and scrape up everything from the base of the pot. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, then add the stock, tomatoes, chilli.

Return the lamb shanks to the pot, cover and cook for about 3 hours, until the meat is very tender.

Remove the lid, add the olives and cook uncovered for another 20–30 minutes until the sauce has reduced and become glossy. Stir through the balsamic if using and check the seasoning.

Mix the gremolata ingredients together and scatter over the lamb before serving.
#
Slow Cook Sunday, week one.

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