The sisters at the center of the sensational Nigella Lawson theft trial told a British jury Wednesday that they were so chummy with the Food Network star, they even contributed a recipe to her latest cookbook, “Nigellisima.”
Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo are claiming that a generous and drug-addled Lawson gave them carte blanche to run up big bills on company credit cards issued by her then-husband, wealthy art collector Charles Saatchi.
The sisters have regaled jurors with tales of Lawson’s alleged rampant cocaine use, especially during the deadline penning of recipes, but didn’t say whether “Quick Calabrian Lasagna” was penned during a drug-fueled frenzy.
The recipe does reflect a warping of time — the so-called “quick” dish requires an hour of baking time, and that’s before its eggs are hard boiled and its meat sauce is simmered.
And despite Lawson’s supposed generosity, she credits the recipe “Quick Calabrian Lasagna” in its introductory text not to the sisters, but to “an Italian informant of mine from Calabria.”
In other Lawson books, she described the sisters as her “kitchen confidantes,” Francesca told jurors.
In closing statements Wednesday, lawyers for the sisters insisted that their spending was encouraged and legit, and that Saatchi is using the prosecution to take high-profile revenge on his ex.