Loose Women and YouTube sensations Nadia Sawalha and Kaye Adams have written their first cookbook together. ELLA WALKER finds out more ON the front cover of Nadia Sawalha and Kaye Adams’ new cookbook, Disaster Chef, the Loose Women presenters are mid food fight.

“That was a bad idea,” says Adams, 55, shaking her head (“That was so fun!” Sawalha, 53, shouts over her). “I really cannot recommend cold noodles in your cleavage.”

But Sawalha stands by it. “In the world of Instagram, when so much of cookery is about, ‘This is what I am and you’re not; I bet you wish you were me; I’m so wonderful I could eat myself’, if that doesn’t say who we are, what does?” she asks with a cackle.

This is the duo in a nutshell. Best friends for more than two decades, they chat haphazardly over one another, sniping, laughing, buoying one another up and bickering.

“She drives me up the wall,” says Sawalha fondly. “She’s so condescending, patronising, interfering, domineering - ugh, she’s very - eering,” responds Adams affectionately.

Their lack of artifice, whether on telly or on their YouTube channel, is crucial, and without the latter, there’d be no cookbook. The pair are bona fide “middle-aged social-media sensations” - despite their kids’ initial protestations (they have two daughters apiece). “My eldest daughter can’t stay far enough away from it, she’s wholly embarrassed and wishes I would crawl under a stone,” says Adams.

18,000 subscribers are tough to ignore though.

  • Nadia And Kaye Disaster Chef by Nadia Sawalha and Kaye Adams, is priced £20.

Pretend paella (serves 4)

2-3tbsp olive oil 2 onions, sliced 3 medium tomatoes, cut into 8 3-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped 300g basmati rice Pinch of saffron threads 1 heaped tsp smoked paprika (optional) 150ml dry sherry or white wine 400ml hot fish stock (from a cube is fine) 400g pack of frozen seafood mix 100g frozen peas Lemon wedges, to serve Handful of chopped parsley leaves, to serve Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for two to three minutes, stirring, until softened. Add the tomatoes and stir.

Add the rice, saffron and paprika (if using), and stir for one minute.

Pour in the sherry or wine. Increase the heat to bring up to the bubble for one minute, stirring to burn off the alcohol, then reduce the heat to medium.

Add the stock and seafood mix, cover, and simmer very gently for 15 minutes over a low heat, or until the rice and fish are cooked. Add the peas three minutes before the end. Don’t stir.

When the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, you’re ready to go, with a good squeeze from the lemon wedges, and a flourish of chopped parsley.

  • Tip: Feel free to add chunks of fried chorizo, if you eat meat.

Perfect pavlova (serves 6-8)

“Right, trust me. You can make a perfect pav, one with a light, crisp shell and a soft, marshmallowy middle,” promises Nadia Sawalha. “Just follow this recipe word for word, take heed of my warnings, and you will taste true culinary success.”

For the meringue: 2tsp raspberry vinegar or white wine vinegar, plus extra for cleaning the bowl Lemon juice, for cleaning the bowl (optional) 4 large egg whites, at room temperature 225g caster sugar 2 level tsp cornflour For the cream: 350ml double cream, chilled 1tsp vanilla extract (optional; don’t worry if you haven’t got any) 2tbsp icing sugar, sifted (optional), plus extra for dusting For the topping: Blueberries, raspberries and strawberries On a large piece of baking parchment, draw around a 23cm dinner plate with a pencil. Turn the parchment over so it’s pencil-side down and place on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F/Gas 2).

Clean a large glass or metal bowl with a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice.

Separate the eggs, ensuring the whites are completely free of yolk. Pour the egg whites into the clean bowl.

Using an electric whisk, beat the whites on a slow speed, then gradually increase the speed to medium until they reach the soft peak stage.

Increase the speed of the whisk to its highest, then, whisking continuously, add the sugar, a spoonful at a time, until the meringue is shiny and the sugar thoroughly mixed in. If you held the whisk upside-down now, the meringue would stand up in proud (stiff) peaks.

In a cup, whisk together the vinegar and cornflour until smooth. Whisk this mixture into the meringue.

Spread the meringue to fill the baking parchment circle, building up the sides so that they stand higher than the middle. Place in the oven and bake for one hour. Once baked, turn off the oven and leave the door ajar. Leave the pavlova inside the oven until it has cooled completely. This stops it from cracking.

Combine the chilled cream with the vanilla extract and icing sugar (if using) in a large bowl. Beat on a low setting using an electric whisk, then gradually increase the speed to medium and whisk just until the cream increases in volume and begins to stiffen, but still has soft peaks. Dollop the cream into the centre of the cooled pavlova.

Scatter the blueberries, raspberries and strawberries over the cream and dust with icing sugar. Ta-Dah!