You can understand why she’s so excited to explain that if you put lots of garlic cloves in a jar and shake it vigorously for a minute or two, the cloves will miraculously be denuded of their papery skins. It’s like magic, and you can hear the awe and joy of it in her voice.

It’s this sense of happy astonishment – that something could be so easy, so satisfying, so swiftly delicious – that makes O’Toole’s debut cookbook, Poppy Cooks (packed with even more hacks), so infectious and come-at-able.

O’Toole wants everyone to be thriving, cooking and eating well. “You can do it. You need to be proud of yourself. Take a picture [of what you’ve cooked], show it off to your friends. Make it for somebody else if you want to,” she says, full of encouragement. “From a year of quite negative stuff, it’s quite nice to have some positivity coming through,” she says, and adds gleefully that there should be no food guilt whatsoever. “Please put the butter in, please.”

Poppy O’Toole’s slow-roasted harissa lamb shoulder recipe

Ingredients:

(Serves 4–6)

The core:

2 recipe quantities of Easy Flat Breads (8 flat breads; see below)

For the lamb:

2tbsp rose harissa paste

3tbsp ras el hanout

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

5 garlic cloves, peeled

1tbsp light brown soft sugar

6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked

6 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked

2tbsp almond butter

2tbsp olive oil

1.4–1.5kg/3–3 ¼lb lamb shoulder on the bone

For the couscous:

200g/7oz couscous

Seeds of 1 pomegranate

A small bunch of mint, leaves picked and chopped

A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped

5–6 black or green olives, pitted and sliced

1 tbsp dried oregano

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and black pepper

For the flat breads: (makes 4)

250g/9oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting

250g/9oz Greek yogurt (or 125ml/½ cup warm water + 2tbsp vegetable oil, if you’re vegan)

1tsp onion seeds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds

1tsp baking powder

Salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Start this the night before you want to cook. Place all of the lamb ingredients apart from the meat itself into a blender and blitz to a smooth paste to make a marinade.

2. With a knife, make some little incisions into the lamb shoulder to help the marinade get right into the meat. Rub and massage the marinade into the shoulder like it’s date night, until it’s completely covered.

3. Transfer the lamb to a roasting tin, cover with foil and place it in the fridge overnight (or for a minimum of six hours).

4. Make the flat breads: in a bowl mix all the ingredients – flour, yogurt, seeds, baking powder and seasoning – into a dough. Knead for about three minutes, to a soft but not sticky ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 10 minutes to rest.

5. Cut the ball into four equal pieces and use a rolling pin to roll each one out to a thin round. You’re aiming for them to be about 12cm/5 inches in diameter – but don’t worry if they look rustic in shape. Set aside the rolled-flat flat breads on a lightly floured surface.

6. Place a large, dry frying pan over a high heat. Leave it to get hot, then throw in the first flat bread – no oil, no butter, nothing… just dry, hot heat. Once bubbles start to form in the dough (about 30 seconds) and you’ve got a little bit of char on the underside, flip over the flat bread and cook the other side for about 30 seconds, to get a little bit of char there, too. Keep warm while you do the same with the remaining three flat breads. That’s it, remove from the pan and serve (or cool and tightly wrap to store).

7. Put the couscous into a container big enough to allow it to double in size and pour in 400ml/about one-and-a-half cups of cold water. Cover the bowl and transfer it to the fridge. Leave this overnight, too.

8. Remove the meat from the fridge 30 minutes before you intend to start cooking so that it can come up to room temperature, and preheat the oven to 190 oC/170 oC fan/375F/Gas 5.

9. When you’re ready to cook, roast the lamb, still covered with the foil, for four hours, until it is charred a little on the outside and the meat is tender and pulls apart.

10. Drain the couscous through a fine sieve, so you don’t lose any of it. Mix all of the other couscous ingredients into it. Season with salt and pepper to taste and leave on the side to come up to room temperature.

11. Towards the end of the lamb cooking time, heat a dry frying pan over a high heat until it’s smoking hot. Place the flat breads in the pan and warm through. (Or reheat them in a microwave.)

12. Either serve your massive hunk of delicious lamb in the tin as it comes, or transfer it to a wooden board and pour all of the sauce that is left in the bottom of the roasting tin into a little jug.

13. Just let people dig and tear into this huge, sharing-lamb deliciousness, with the warmed flat breads, the couscous and the sauce served alongside.

Poppy O’Toole’s easy flat breads recipe

Ingredients:

(Makes 4)

250g/9oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting

250g/9oz Greek yogurt (or 125ml/½ cup warm water + 2 tbsp vegetable oil, if you’re vegan)

1tsp onion seeds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds

1tsp baking powder

Salt and black pepper

Method:

1. This is literally so easy… in a bowl mix all the ingredients – flour, yogurt, seeds, baking powder and seasoning – into a dough. Knead for about three minutes, to a soft but not sticky ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 10 minutes to rest.

2. Cut the ball into four equal pieces and use a rolling pin to roll each one out to a thin round. You’re aiming for them to be about 12cm/5 inches in diameter – but don’t worry if they look rustic in shape. Set aside the rolled-flat flat breads on a lightly floured surface.

3. Place a large, dry frying pan over a high heat. Leave it to get hot, then throw in the first flat bread – no oil, no butter, nothing… just dry, hot heat.

4. Once bubbles start to form in the dough (about 30 seconds) and you’ve got a little bit of char on the underside, flip over the flat bread and cook the other side for about 30 seconds, to get a little bit of char there, too. Keep warm while you do the same with the remaining three flat breads. That’s it, remove from the pan and serve (or cool and tightly wrap to store).

Poppy O’Toole’s tikka salmon recipe

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

The core

1 recipe quantity of Easy Flat Breads (4 flat breads; see below)

For the salmon:

400g/14oz boneless salmon fillet (skin on)

3tbsp tandoori masala powder

2tbsp Greek or coconut-milk yogurt

Juice of 1 lemon

1tbsp olive oil

Salt and black pepper

For the cucumber salad:

Juice of 1 lime

½ cucumber, sliced into ribbons *TIP!

A small bunch of coriander, leaves picked and chopped

A small bunch of mint, leaves picked and chopped

A pinch of flaky salt

To serve:

Mango chutney

1 red chilli, sliced into rounds (optional; deseeded for less heat)

Bombay mix (optional)

For the flat breads: (makes 4)

250g/9oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting

250g/9oz Greek yogurt (or 125ml/½ cup warm water + 2tbsp vegetable oil, if you’re vegan)

1tsp onion seeds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds

1tsp baking powder

Salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Make the flat breads: in a bowl mix all the ingredients – flour, yogurt, seeds, baking powder and seasoning – into a dough. Knead for about three minutes, to a soft but not sticky ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 10 minutes to rest.

3. Cut the ball into four equal pieces and use a rolling pin to roll each one out to a thin round. You’re aiming for them to be about 12cm/5 inches in diameter – but don’t worry if they look rustic in shape. Set aside the rolled-flat flat breads on a lightly floured surface.

4. Place a large, dry frying pan over a high heat. Leave it to get hot, then throw in the first flat bread – no oil, no butter, nothing… just dry, hot heat. Once bubbles start to form in the dough (about 30 seconds) and you’ve got a little bit of char on the underside, flip over the flat bread and cook the other side for about 30 seconds, to get a little bit of char there, too. Keep warm while you do the same with the remaining three flat breads.

5. Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper, then place it on to the lined tray.

6. Mix all the remaining salmon ingredients in a bowl to create a marinade, then use this for smothering your salmon. You want a nice, thick layer.

7. Leave the salmon to marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes, then put the tray in the oven and bake the salmon for 20 minutes, until opaque and cooked through.

8. Meanwhile, make the cucumber salad. Mix together the lime juice, the cucumber ribbons and both the herbs. Season with the salt and set aside.

9. Heat a dry frying pan over a high heat until it’s smoking hot. Place the flat breads in the pan and warm through. (Or reheat them in a microwave.) Set aside and keep them warm until you’re ready to use.

10. Once the salmon is ready, smother the flat breads in mango chutney, top with gorgeous flakes of pink salmon and cover with your cucumber salad. I like to add an extra kick with some slices of chilli, and texture with extra-crunchy Bombay mix. That’s it. Fold and eat.

*CHEF’S TIP: To get ribbons from a cucumber, simply use a speed peeler and slice off lengths in the same spot all the way through. Behold! A pile of long, thin cucumber ribbons.

Poppy Cooks: The Food You Need by Poppy O’Toole, photography by Louise Hagger, is published by Bloomsbury. Available now.