At Psychologies, we’re always on the hunt for ways to make our sweet treats healthier, so we were delighted to find this homemade version of chocolate spread in Rachel Khoo’s latest book, Sweet & Savoury Pâtés. Actually, to call it chocolate spread is to do it an injustice – this is far more indulgent than your average jar of Nutella, and yet better for you too.

Use chocolate with at least a 70 per cent cocoa content and, if you can find it, Khoo suggests choosing extra virgin olive oil from the first pressing, ‘for its more pronounced flavour of olives and slightly peppery taste’.

Makes: 300g/10½ oz

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

200g/7oz dark chocolate

Pinch of salt

100ml/3½ fl oz extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Put the chocolate and salt in a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir from time to time until the chocolate has melted.

2. Slowly pour the olive oil over the chocolate, stirring constantly. Transfer the spread to a sterilised jar and seal. The spread will take 30 minutes to set in the refrigerator or 2 hours at room temperature. It will keep for about a week in a cool, dark place.

Variations:

Walnut, pistachio or hazelnut oils also combine very well with chocolate. They add flavour to the spread without the tedious process of grinding the nuts.

Another advantage of using nut oils is that you can make spreads suitable for people who are allergic to dairy products.

Taken from Rachel Khoo’s Sweet & Savoury Pâtés (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £14.99) out now

Photograph: Keiko Oikawa