Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom : Really good food without the fuss - foolproof recipes, shortcuts and hacks

“It’s taken me a long life to know for sure that life is for living, and that hard graft has to be worth it.
So, if you are whacked, short of time or just don’t like cooking, cheating is fine. I cheat all the time, and I LOVE cooking.”
—PRUE LEITH

“There’s nothing quite so charming as a true grande dame of cuisine tackling a contemporary technique—and nailing it…‘Hip, hip hooray!’” —BOOKLIST 

“Practical and inventive…sure to inspire” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 

Chef and TV legend Dame Prue Leith brings us the cookbook you’ve always wanted – 80 delicious recipes, with accompanying kitchen shortcuts and hacks, for a lifetime of easy cooking. 

Every recipe in this book comes with a handy tip, plus you’ll find over 25 videos accessed by a QR code to help you learn a skill or get ahead.

Coined by Shirley Conran in her ’70s bestseller Superwoman, ‘Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom’ is a phrase that every time-poor cook can relate to. In this clever cookbook, you’ll find really good recipes without the fuss: recipes where a neat trick can save you time, recipes where the cheat versions taste just as good as the home-made, and recipes to help you avoid waste and save you money. How do you cook the perfect steak? What’s the best way to dice an avocado? And what about when it just all goes terribly wrong?

With recipes including Celeriac Rémoulade with Prosciutto, Rocket and Pine Nuts, Crispy Pork Belly, Buttermilk Chicken, Sushi for Scaredy-cats, Chocolate Almond Torte and Cherry Clafoutis, Prue’s handy hacks show you how a little bit of insight goes a long way.

Perfect for every home cook, the absolute beginner, or someone who has been doing it so long that cooking has somehow lost its attraction – Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom contains years of culinary know-how and inspirational meals, squashed into an accessible cookbook. 

Recipes include:

• Chicory, Pear, Hazelnut and Goat’s Cheese Salad
• Gunpowder Steak with Coriander Chutney
• Tomato, Chilli and Fennel Sugo with Spaghetti
• Herbed Salmon Parcels
• Brown Sugar Meringue, Roasted Pear and Salted Caramel Sauce
• Passionfruit Yoghurt Cakes
• Baked Camembert and Olive Wheel