THE ART OF FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER

A proper spread, but quick and simple – so you can join the party while cooking up a treat

Ilove a spontaneous Friday night dinner party. That moment when the stars align and all your favourite people simultaneously decide you should see in the weekend together around someone’s kitchen table, with a few bottles and some good food.

In the past, on nights like this, I have tended to get overexcited and embark on creating an elaborate three-course feast at a moment’s notice. The result? An entire evening spent faffing in the kitchen, while everyone else is having a wonderful time getting increasingly tipsy on corner shop hooch picked up en route from the office. Now, my motto is to spend less time at the hob and more at the table. Multihour cooking affairs are for weekends, not Friday nights.

That doesn’t mean you can’t produce what I would call “a proper spread”. Keep it simple by limiting the number of dishes you’re juggling at once. Have something going in the oven, something on the hob, good bread and a couple of dippy bits.

These lamb koftas cook in no time and can be spiced with whatever you happen to have knocking about. The aubergines and onions sort themselves out in the oven, and the last minute addition of yogurt is lovely as it firms up a little in the heat. Serve with extra yogurt and a few pittas or flatbread. It would also be great with a little crumbled feta, a few pomegranate seeds, a chopped salad, or a mound of fluffy couscous. But this works great just as it is.

And for afters, repeat after me: there is no shame in a bar of Lindt dark sea salt chocolate.