JOE Wicks is back with his latest cookbook, Cooking For Family And Friends. The Lean In 15 entrepreneur and Insta-foodie tells Taste about his latest venture.

The Epsom-born, famously curly-haired personal trainer is, of course, best known as 'The Body Coach' to his fitness disciples.

Three years ago, Joe launched his subscription-based 90 Day Shift, Shape and Sustain Plan, and went, stratospherically, from sharing amateur recipe videos and free fitness workouts online, to helping thousands of people trim down and get fit for a living.

Full to the brim with come-at-able charm, you can see his appeal - a combination of endless enthusiasm that pours out of him with every flick of hair, every inadvertent muscle flex, and a monumental work ethic.

That and the fact he's not in the least bit starry, even sitting on a London rooftop terrace awaiting a 'Joe-mito' (a riff on his watermelon and mint 'posh slush puppy'), at the launch party of his fourth cookbook, Cooking For Family And Friends.

He even excitedly, and non-ironically, Snapchats a selfie from in front of a bigger-than-life-sized poster of himself. Best to get it out of the way early in the night too - after all, he's built his career through social media, but he still has rules: "I never do social media when I'm drunk, because I might think I'm being really funny, but am really saying the worst thing ever!"

Cooking For Family And Friends marks the halfway point in an eight-book deal for Joe, and is a more inclusive follow-up to his wildly successful trio of Lean In 15 cookbooks (all three still grace the bestseller charts, and sales have topped 2.4 million).

This time around, he's catering for busy dinner tables, rather than solo gym bunnies.

"You know how sometimes you feel like, if you're on a diet, it's just you on your own? I wanted you to think, well actually, you can have barbecues and parties and make them healthy," he explains. "You can still batch cook and make your kids' lunch.

"In fact, the whole family won't even know it, but they're eating healthier, so are going to get leaner, without anyone saying, 'You've got to eat this, you've got to eat that'."

The former boot camp trainer has, perhaps surprisingly, included a few treats too - namely his all-time "top desserts", sticky toffee pudding and chocolate fondant. "Just because chocolate isn't 'clean'," he says, fingers miming air quotes, "doesn't mean you can't enjoy it and have it now and again.

"I'm not like, 'Don't eat this', and, 'Clean eating that'. Just enjoy your food! If you exercise, it works out, you know?" he says, adding with a cheeky-chappie grin firmly in place: "This is how I roll."

Joe admits that no one person got him into cooking - "it was just myself really. My mum couldn't cook very well," - but in terms of becoming an entrepreneur, his ultimate hero is, without doubt, Jamie Oliver. Without taking a breath, he reels off his every encounter with the Naked Chef, the most recent being when the duo grabbed dinner together at Jamie's restaurant Fifteen.

"We sat there for four hours on our own talking, and he's just so generous with advice. He downloaded all this wisdom and knowledge and experience.

"He's on a mission. I told him, 'Mate, you work hard'," says Joe, visibly galvanised.

And, aside from transforming the NHS and writing another four books, what else is left on his own mission?

"The message is, no matter how old you are, you can exercise and feel good; you can take control of your body, you don't have to starve yourself.

"I'm for everyone; fitness and food for everyone."

Keen to stay lean but not scrimp on flavour? The Body Coach shares his recipe for beef and lamb meatballs

Ingredients:

500g lamb mince

250g beef mince

50g breadcrumbs

1 egg

12 pitted black olives, roughly chopped

20g pine nuts, roughly chopped

Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped, plus extra for garnish

2 jarred red peppers (about 100g), drained and roughly chopped into small pieces

1tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, diced

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

Salt and pepper

2 x 110g balls of mozzarella

To serve:

Mint leaves, roughly chopped

Salad or steamed green beans

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C (fan 160C/gas mark 4).

2. Place the lamb and beef mince into a bowl and add the breadcrumbs. Crack in the egg and chuck in the olives, pine nuts, chopped parsley and red peppers.

3. Get your hands stuck in and knead all of the ingredients together until the mixture is well-combined. With damp hands, shape the mixture into 12 large balls and set aside.

4. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof pan over a medium to high heat. When the oil is hot, chuck in the red onion and fry, stirring regularly for two minutes. Tip in the chopped tomatoes along with a quarter tin of water. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.

5. Place the meatballs in the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, then carefully flip them over with a large spoon. Tear up the mozzarella balls and lay a little piece on top of each meatball. Any remaining cheese can be scattered in the sauce.

6. Slide your pan into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the meatballs are fully cooked through and the cheese has melted and turned golden brown on top. Scatter over the mint leaves and remaining chopped parsley and serve with a helping of salad or steamed green beans.

Need a healthy snack? Here's how to rustle up a sharing platter of Vietnamese summer rolls

(Makes 16)

Ingredients:

250g cooked chicken, shredded

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1 red chilli, finely chopped - and de-seeded if you don't like it hot

2 lemongrass stalks, tender white parts only, finely sliced (about 1.5tbsp)

2tsp sesame oil

4tsp fish sauce

1tbsp lime juice

1/2 bunch of coriander, leaves only, roughly chopped

1/2 bunch of mint, leaves only, roughly chopped

1/2 iceberg lettuce, shredded

40g salted peanuts, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

A little olive oil, for greasing

16 rice paper wrappers

Sweet chilli sauce, to serve - optional

Method:

1. Put the shredded chicken into a bowl and add all the remaining ingredients apart from the rice paper wrappers. Give the filling a good mix and add salt and pepper, if needed.

2. Lightly oil a chopping board and a small tray. Half-fill a wide bowl with warm water from the tap.

3. Taking one paper wrapper at a time, dip it into the warm water and leave it just long enough to soften - this should be quick, about five to six seconds. Carefully transfer the soft wrapper to your chopping board, unfolding where necessary. Place about two heaped tablespoons of the filling across the middle of the circle, leaving a gap at either side.

4. Fold the sides over the filling and then pick up the edge closest to you and fold over the filling. Keep rolling until you fold over the far side where it should stick. Place your completed summer roll onto the greased tray and repeat the process with the remaining paper wrappers and filling.

5. Serve up the summer rolls just as they are, or with a side of sweet chilli sauce.

:: Cooking For Family And Friends by Joe Wicks is published in hardback by Bluebird, priced £20. Available now.