HELLO, autumn!

JOHN TORODE and LISA FAULKNER on showcasing the season’s best, and the recipe to their show’s success

- REBECCA PLETCHER

Having John Torode and Lisa Faulkner back on our screens, sharing their favourite recipes while chatting about the things they love, feels wonderfully reassuring in an autumn of huge change.

Their popular ITV culinary show, John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen, is comfort TV at its finest, with the married couple’s easy banter and mouth-watering meals offering just the inspiration we need to try new ideas and ingredients in our own cooking.

‘We’re so thrilled to be doing more Weekend Kitchen. Autumn’s a fantastic transitional season for food,’ says John, 57.

‘More viewers join us each year, which is a dream come true,’ smiles home cook and actor Lisa, 50.

Here, the pair tell us what’s on the menu in series seven…

The show keeps going from strength to strength. Why do you think it’s such a success?

JOHN Right from the beginning, we said we wanted to make food for people that want to cook. They want to learn the basics – how to make pizza dough, maybe a tomato sauce. We’re not trying to be fancy or unrealistic or make restaurant-style food – the fact is, it’s accessible. People like that. We do stuff that’s not scary.

LISA It’s nice to do a show where the ratings are climbing. We appeared at a food show recently and so many people came up to us to say, ‘We love the show. It’s so easy. We can cook everything on it.’ That is a lovely feeling.

Does doing a series like this actually feel like work?