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Best-loved cook Mary Berry is back on ������̳ Two, cooking quick dishes and giving away her top tips for speeding up making family favourites.

When Mary says "If you’re in a hurry and don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen, I can show you a world of delicious, quick dishes," we say "yes please!".

Here's a sneak preview of some of the tips from Mary's new series, plus lots of her 15–30 minute recipes, to give you a taste of what's to come.

1. Use a wide pan to cook food more quickly

Mary recommends using a pan with a wide base for risotto – the bigger the surface area, the shorter the cooking time. You can use your wide pan to speed up cooking some sauces too.

Don't forget there are lots of dishes, such as stir-fries and frittatas, that are naturally quick to cook because they use a wide pan.

2. Slice ingredients thinly

Mary often slices her vegetables and meats nice and thinly, so they cook quickly – or quicker yet, she sometimes doesn't cook her veg at all! Vegetables that are cooked in a flash tend to retain more of their nutrients too – win, win!

Slicing thinly can be achieved most quickly with a good-quality, sharp knife. But watch those fingers!

3. Make "dead easy" pasta sauces

"Pasta is the ultimate quick meal,” says Mary. It takes minutes to cook, but there are lots of sauces that can be made in less time than the pasta takes to boil.

"There are over 350 varieties to choose from,” says Mary. Here are three of Mary’s recipes for making pasta dishes pronto!

4. Cheat to speed up family favourites

Mary is well-known for her family favourites, but she is also no stranger to mixing it up. She knows that lots of people don’t have time to make complex meals from scratch. For example, whizzing up your own pesto is a great thing to do, but if you don’t have time, a jar is fine.

Mary enjoys lasagne, fish pie and other hearty dishes that take time to make and cook – a luxury that many of us can’t afford! But with a few simple cheats, she shows that these comfort food favourites can be made from scratch much more quickly, and nothing beats good home cooking in terms of flavour or nutritional value.

These Mary Berry recipes are perfect for people with an appetite for comfort food, but who are a short on time.

5. Make your breakfast ahead of time

This tip might not cut down your prep and cooking time, but it will save you time in the mornings. Lots of Mary's breakfast recipes are perfect for prepping the night before – which means you can look after your future self and catch 40 more winks in the morning. Overnight oats, yoghurt pots and smoothies are some of Mary’s favourites. You needn't ever skip breakfast again!

Where can you watch Mary Berry's Quick Cooking?

You can watch Mary Berry's Quick Cooking Mondays at 8.30pm on ������̳ Two. You can catch up after the epsiodes on ������̳ iPlayer and get lots of the recipes on ������̳ Food.