Food: 'It's a tribute to Michael and the lovely recipes we put together'

“It really happened! I was sitting at the desk where I am now, and I stood up. I was rummaging through the books at the back of the shelves and there was just this loud clunk,” says Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, remembering the day she wrote the introduction to her new cookbook, The Fast 800 Favourites.

“It was one of the chocolate bars he’d asked me to hide. It was a message from another world really.”

She is talking about her late husband, celebrated TV presenter, 5:2 diet and fasting pioneer and science writer Michael Mosley, who might have been committed to improving the UK’s metabolic health, but also had quite the sweet tooth.

Michael, 67, died on Greek island Symi in June, 2024, after succumbing to heat stroke while on holiday with his family. Mosley’s love for her husband of 37 years is felt on every page of The Fast 800 Favourites, which brings together dishes from the pair’s own kitchen, and from the series of Fast 800 books they co-created.

“Really, it’s a tribute to Michael and the lovely recipes we put together over the years,” says Mosley, 64, who, the day we speak, has spent “a ridiculous amount of time” going through their “really nostalgic” shared meals.

“I got absorbed in them. There’s something about recipes that are so personal, and you often remember them, and they have a feel to them,” she says thoughtfully. “I’m sitting here looking at Michael’s favourite breakfast, chorizo omelette. That’s one he used to cook. I would come down and it would be there, ready for breakfast, which was such a treat. He didn’t do that much of the cooking, but he absolutely mastered that one.”

She says it’s a recipe that defines the way they ate: “Not too starchy [or] sweet, but plenty of protein and fibre, and [a] healthy meal that keeps you full for longer.” It is how she’s almost always eaten, especially “once the children were a bit older and no longer living on chicken nuggets,” she says wryly of their four kids, now all grown up. “Michael, in the early days, liked his chicken nuggets too,” she adds with a laugh.

It is also how she still cooks, even if cooking for one. “I did go through a short period of buying lots of take-aways, and then I got really fed up,” she admits, which is understandable, as grief can so easily make cooking for yourself seem utterly pointless.

“I could see people in the supermarket looking at my trolley sometimes, and it had radically changed,” she says, but Mosley found her way back to cooking from scratch.

“I feel better having eaten well. It’s been one of the things that has really kept me resilient. It’s so easy to have a glass of wine with your supper, or two glasses, and to just grab food as you pass, because why not? And this isn’t a moral thing. It’s a practical thing. When you’re not really paying attention to it, you’re not feeding your body and your brain as well as you could do, and it’s a time when you need every [bit of] resilience.”

The Fast 800 Favourites is Mosley’s second recipe collection published this autumn, after September’s Eating Together, which focuses on healthy meals the whole family can sit down to eat as a clan.

“There is that irony after Eating Together, that I’m not eating together, so to speak,” muses Mosley, but notes: “I have a lot of people who come through the house, which is really nice, family come and stay. People come for supper.”

“I’m a big fan of promoting getting children and families around the table,” adds the retired GP, noting the many physical and psychological benefits of having dinner as a unit. “We did it as children. Michael did it with his family. And I think, for us, it held us together. It was our core cement in the day.”

After Michael’s death, Mosley and the children made a pact to remember him by eating together, as they did the day he disappeared. “It’s very emotional,” she says quietly. “On the other side of it, we, the family, I think, are much closer in many ways since then, but we miss him hugely.”

Working on two books in quick succession has helped Mosley tether herself. “It’s a difficult one when you are in bereavement, you never quite get the balance right,” she says. “To be honest, I have really enjoyed working. People have said, ‘It’ll catch up with you,’ and it might do, and it does at times, but I’ve had a lot of support.”

Michael was dedicated to boosting people’s metabolic health - when poor, it can lead to chronic conditions like diabetes, non-alcoholic liver disease and sleep apnoea - mainly through diet and rapid weight loss.

“It’s about how your body processes energy from food,” explains Mosley, hence the Fast 800 books, which contain healthy, balanced recipes that are low in starchy carbs, revolve around a Mediterranean-style diet, and ‘fast days’ where you consume 800-1,000 calories, “which is plenty for you to go into fat burning and lose weight, but also have some bright nutrients”.

Try three of her recipes here...

The Fast 800 Favourites, by Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, is published in hardback by Short Books. Photography by Smith & Gilmour.

Spicy Salmon & Butternut Squash Traybake

A super-easy dinner you can put together fast.

Clare Mosley calls this “a lovely lunch dish”, adding: ’m a big fan of tray bakes as they’re so easy. You can expand them really easily. And we have a lot of people come through the house, and we just add to it.

“[This has] lots of lovely fibre in it, nice and spicy. It’s got lots of lovely omega-3 in the salmon, and lots of protein. And again, it’s really filling. Keeps you full well into the day, and it tastes fabulous.”

In her new book, she writes of this recipe: “We all love traybakes - throw in the ingredients, let the oven do its bit, and hey presto. Here, the mildly curried veg contrasts with the salmon in its creamy, spiced coconut sauce.

“This fabulous traybake includes many of Michael’s favourite ingredients, as well as having lots of protein.”

Prep time 20 minutes | Cook time 25 minutes

Per serving 512 cals | Protein 31.1g | Carbs 17.4g

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1/2 onion, sliced into wedges about 1cm thick
• 200g butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 1tsp medium curry powder
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 x 400ml can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1tsp finely chopped fresh root ginger
• 2 salmon fillets (around 130g each)
• 2tsp Thai fish sauce

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6.

2. Place onion, squash and red pepper in a baking dish or roasting tin and sprinkle the curry powder over the top. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Roast veg in the oven for 15 minutes.

3. Remove tray from oven and gently stir in coconut milk, garlic and ginger. Place salmon fillets on top, drizzle with the fish sauce and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Return to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through.

Air-fryer tip: Preheat air fryer to 180C, if needed. Prepare the vegetables as Step 2. Place the vegetables in the air fryer in an even layer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the air fryer basket and gently stir in the coconut milk, garlic and ginger. Place the salmon on top, drizzle with the fish sauce and season. Air fry for another eight minutes until the salmon is cooked through.

Persian Love Cake

A decadent but really-quite-good-for-you cake.

Clare Mosley says: “It looks absolutely magnificent. It’s got a fabulous texture and zinginess to it and a slightly exotic flavour. It does look like it has a lot of ingredients, but actually they’re all quick and easy.”

She admits: “I’m not a master cake baker. I keep it very simple. I’m not going to be on Bake Off anytime soon. Healthy bake off, maybe...”.

Clare adds: “You need to have sweet treats. And all the difference is that you’re not using white flour, you’re not using white sugar. The sweetness [in this] comes from fruit and it has lots of nutrients, and there’s more fibre, it’s not sending your sugars soaring.”

In her new cookbook, The Fast 800 Favourites, she writes: “For lovely Michael, this enchantingly exotic concoction lives up to its name. Not sure I do it justice, but it certainly goes down well, with its tangy, orange-flavoured topping, and rich, nutty base. High in protein and nutrients, it has no added sugar, is low-carb and feels like a real treat... Enjoy!”

Prep time 30 minutes | Cook time 30 minutes

Per serving 273 cals | Protein 8g | Carbs 9.8g | Sugar 10.5g

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 100g dried figs, finely chopped
• 60g coconut oil or butter
• 2 medium free-range eggs
• 60g shelled pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
• Finely grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
• 100g ground almonds
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1tsp ground cardamom
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2tbsp freeze-dried raspberries
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• For the icing
• 60g full-fat cream cheese
• 1tsp honey
• 1tsp finely grated lemon zest

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Line the base of a 20 x 10cm loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.

2. Place figs, coconut oil or butter and eggs in bowl and blitz with a stick blender for about 1 minute, until creamy but retaining some texture.

3. Stir in 40g of pistachios, half the orange zest, the orange juice, ground almonds, cinnamon, cardamom, bicarbonate of soda, half the dried raspberries and a generous pinch of salt. Mix well, then add cider vinegar and mix again.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake for about 30 minutes, till cooked through and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Turn out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

5. For the topping, mix the remaining orange zest with the cream cheese, honey and lemon zest in a small bowl. Spread it on to the cooled cake, then sprinkle the remaining chopped pistachios and dried raspberries on top.

COOK’S TIP: This freezes well (so you don’t need to eat it all at once). You could use a loaf tin liner if you have one.

Chorizo Omelette

You can’t go wrong with a plate of eggs.

“This was one of Michael’s go-to omelettes, which he cooked to perfection,” says Dr Clare Bailey Mosley.

“It has fabulous Spanish flavours, is high in protein and is easy to make. It’s even better topped with fermented veg, like sauerkraut which adds a delicious sweet, salty and tangy flavour, and is so beneficial to your health that you don’t need to count the calories.”

Prep time 5 minutes | Cook time 7 minutes

Per serving 269 cals | Protein 19.4g | Carbs 2.8g

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1/2tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 4 medium free-range eggs
• 3cm piece cured chorizo, sliced and quartered
• 30g mature Cheddar, grated
• 60g cooked or leftover greens
• 1/2tsp crushed dried chilli flakes (optional)

Method

1. Place a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the oil and onion and sweat for two minutes.

2. Crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk with fork. Season well with freshly ground black pepper, then pour over the onion. Leave for 30 seconds to start to set, then use a spatula or wooden spoon to pull the egg into the centre of the pan, allowing the runny mixture to flow out into the empty space. Do this four or five times, working quite quickly.

3. When omelette has started to set, add chorizo, cheese and greens. Cook for another two minutes, then scatter over the chilli flakes, if using. Fold one half of the omelette over the other and slide onto a plate to serve.