For anyone who’s watched a science documentary over the last 15 years, the chances are Professor Alice Roberts will be a familiar face to you. Ever since her first appearance on Channel 4’s Time Team Live back in 2001, she’s been busy writing and presenting a series of high-profile TV programmes exploring a diverse range of subjects, from Ice Age woolly mammoths to the benefits of wild swimming.
Born in Bristol, Alice has happy memories of her teenage years working as a waitress in a small hotel. “It was all very eighties! I remember helping to prepare the buffet – making trays full of halved boiled eggs, draped in alternating stripes of mayo and Marie Rose sauce, and dressing the centrepiece – a poached salmon – with cucumber scales and an olive for its eye,” she reminisces.
Alice went on to study medicine at university and worked as a junior NHS doctor before taking up a teaching job in the anatomy department at the University of Bristol. She started to write reports on human bones for Channel 4’s Time Team Live – research which led to regular appearances on the programme from 2001, and then a host of further high-profile presenting jobs.
She how does she describe her style of cooking? “I’m not really what I’d describe as a ‘keen cook’. I like simple, quick dishes, and I have a few tried and tested favourites that the family enjoys. “I’m a guilt-ridden ex-vegetarian! I was completely vegetarian for 18 years, from 18 to 36. Then, when I was first pregnant, I started eating fish to make sure I was getting enough long-chain omega 3 oils in my diet. And I’m afraid I enjoyed it so much I haven’t given it up. I always choose fish from sustainable sources, and look for MSC certification.”
Here, Alice shares her favourite recipe – her mum’s vegetable lasagne. “She taught me to make a few dishes before I headed off to university, and this is one I’ve kept coming back to,” she explains. “It’s been modified a bit over the years, but it’s one of those dependable dishes that’s always tasty, satisfying and comforting.”
>> Click here to try Alice’s delicious Vegetable Lasagne <<
Alice is an ambassador for organic beauty brand Green People www.greenpeople.co.uk.
