There are no chia seeds or kale in the book…

AA shoot with Nigella Lawson is a glamorous Good Housekeeping tradition. This is the original Domestic Goddess’ incredible eighth cover with us, and the benefits of her love of yoga are clear to see. While her last cookbook, Simply Nigella, favoured a pared-back cooking style, her latest, At My Table, is bursting with what will be instant Nigella classics – not to mention encouraging late-night visits to the fridge for leftovers. This is a book for those who see food as sheer pleasure. Nigella, 57, who is a mother of two – Cosima, 23, and Bruno, 21 – is in a relaxed mood. She tucks in to steak and mustard at the shoot, followed by biscuits, while she shares the latest chapter of her life, her culinary insights and current obsessions – and just how she manages to have her sticky toffee pudding while being in the best shape of her life.

What’s the ethos behind At My Table?

It is a celebration of home cooking. My books come out of my life. I love traditional food, and I’m never going to complain about having a pie! Roast chicken is my favourite food. Home cooking doesn’t mean that variety is limited or that you can’t use all sorts of spices. I like very highly flavoured food. For me, home cooking can be bolder because you tend to know the palates of the people you are cooking for. I think in this country we are very open to different tastes and cuisines, and looking at fresh ways to eat. And I think that is something to be celebrated.

Where do you find your inspiration?

There are so many places that give me inspiration. I can be in a restaurant, eat something lovely and work out a way I can do it at home. Or I might be reading a book or see something on a website. I always credit my sources, even if I go very different with the recipe at the end! I remember some of the food I had at my granny’s flat and thought, ‘I can do that now, but a bit differently’ – like with the chicken fricassee. A lot of ideas come from what I call a fridge forage, because I am more or less cleaning out the fridge and have ingredients that aren’t really meant to go together, like my tomato and horseradish salad, which is so good. I did a recipe for chia seed pudding before and I don’t know what else I can do with it. Kale I really love but I don’t know that I can do anything that exciting with it. My mother used to cook curly kale with large amounts of butter… I don’t think anyone needs another recipe for it, though.

You mention in the book your love of double carbing (two carbs in a meal) I do. I call our house The House Of Carbs!

Which recipes sum up the book’s spirit?

Certainly the chicken and frozen pea tray bake, because I quite like the idea of having an ingredient that a certain sort of person is going to look down on! I cooked it for a wonderful French chef called Ludo Lefebvre, who has won all sorts of awards. He kept saying: ‘I love the peas!’

A lot of food in this book belongs in the home and not necessarily in Instagram posts, much as I love to put everything on Instagram and I have nothing against that. But the chicken fricassee has a face only a mother can love. And my chicken barley is great, but it’s not pretty! I don’t think it matters if people aren’t photographing it. As long as people are cooking it at home, I don’t mind what they are doing with it on social media. I will sometimes do a brown stew because I can’t resist it and say, ‘Yes, it is brown.’ That is what a stew is! It’s a wonderful thing that lifts the spirits! The thing about a smoothie bowl is that it’s a nice picture, but I don’t know who eats smoothie bowls… Who?

There is always a craze for some of your recipes. What will it be this time?

It’s so difficult to tell in advance because I write authentically and people respond authentically. There is a white chocolate cheesecake that works and a vegan lemon tendercake that I don’t understand the miracle of – it’s really light and fluffy.

You say that some of your recipes have come to you in the middle of the night and that ‘insomnia has its benefits’?

I’m not a terribly good sleeper. Sometimes I’m fretting about all the things I have to do, but sometimes I will think, ‘Those things will be really nice together… Thank you brain!’ I go on to Ocado in the middle of the night.

You look fabulous! When we last met, you told us you are a yoga fan. Are you still practising?

I do Iyengar yoga and other forms of training as well. I don’t do cardiovascular exercise much, but I do try to do a lot of walking.

How often do you exercise?

I try to do it in the mornings about five