Jamie Oliver COME DINE WITH US!

The superstar chef (and son Buddy) puts a thrilling new twist on old family favourites

JAMIE: KEEP COOKING FAMILY FAVOURITES Monday, Channel 4, 8.30pm

Let’s be honest, even the most accomplished cook will have exhausted their repertoire with all the extra home dining we’ve had to do since lockdown.

But if you’re struggling to excite the now jaded taste buds of your loved ones, don’t despair, because Jamie Oliver is about to serve up a feast of fresh ideas to spice up your culinary life.

Oliver’s new eight-part series, Jamie: Keep Cooking Family Favourites, showcases recipes that put a joyfully inventive new spin on old favourites, with ingenious yet simple culinary hacks using only the ingredients you might find in the average supermarket shopping basket.

In this week’s opening episode, the humble roast chicken is rejuvenated by stuffing Cumberland sausage meat under the skin – then placing the bird on a wire mesh tray in the oven so its cooking juices can drip onto the vegetables below, adding mouth-melting flavour.

Bolognese sauce is made easier as Oliver guiltlessly chucks in bags of pre-cooked veg followed by lashings of pale ale and Cheddar instead of Parmesan for a very British touch.

He has even found a way to satisfy the kids’ incessant demands for something sweet by making desserts that are cunningly packed with healthy fruit. This week is perfect for the August heatwave – ice lollies made from smoothies.

In future episodes, chicken Kiev, salmon fillets and the simple spud are among the staid standbys elevated by Oliver’s blissfully easy twists. And as the chef invites us into the home he shares with wife Jools and their five children to demonstrate his methods, he reveals that they are perfectly compatible with the realities of family life: look out for the moment in the opening episode when he faces a meltdown by toddler son River while rustling up a dish and somehow still keeps his cool.

Oliver still has the robustly boisterous cheeriness of his familiar trademark persona, but now also exhibits the wisdom he’s acquired through life experience:

‘If I’ve learnt one thing in 20 years of marriage, he says, ‘it’s do not be late with lunch!’

Tune in for the magical recipes; stay for the invaluable relationship counselling.