Recipe List
PASTA IN TOMATO, TUNA & CAPER SAUCE
FROZEN SEAFOOD & WHITE WINE LINGUINI
BLISTERED CHERRY TOMATO PUTTANESCA
HAM, PESTO & MOZZARELLA PASTA BAKE
QUICK & CREAMY PUMPKIN & COCONUT SOUP
CRUNCHY PESTO-BAKED SALMON FILLETS WITH BLACKENED KALE
LIGHTER TUNA & SWEETCORN BAKED SWEET POTATO
TWICE-COOKED PIZZA BAKED POTATO
GAMMON & EGG WITH CAJUN POTATO WEDGES
CHICKEN SCHNITZEL WITH CAPERS, ANCHOVIES & A FRIED EGG
PEA, PRAWN & MUSHROOM EGG-FRIED RICE
CHICKEN NOODLE & OYSTER SAUCE STIR-FRY
GRATED COURGETTE PASTA
Forget pricey spiralizers. You want to grate your courgette and mix it with the pasta so many people are seeking to replace. Usually when I’m after a quick, light pasta supper, I don’t even need the recipe to make this anymore. Just use a good-sized courgette, some fresh lemon, a good glug of extra virgin olive oil, a little bit of fresh or dried red chilli and lots of salt and pepper. You can also add some fresh torn basil in here, if you have some, but it’s not essential for a delicious bowlful.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
100g pasta shapes
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
1 courgette
¼ fresh or dried red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced, or a generous pinch of dried chilli flakes
zest of ½ lemon
juice of ¼ lemon
1. Put the pasta on to cook in a saucepan of salted boiling water over a high heat. Meanwhile, coarsely grate the courgette.
2. When the pasta is al dente (this should take about 10 to 12 minutes), drain and return it to the saucepan along with the rest of the ingredients and a generous amount of freshly ground salt and pepper. Return to the heat and stir until everything is combined and the courgette has coated the pasta. Serve in a warm bowl with a glass of cold white wine.
TINNED TOMATO PASTA SAUCE
This is the pasta sauce to make when you’re in the market for a speedy pasta supper, but you haven’t got any fresh ingredients in the house.
You can make this sauce into a steaming bowl of soup (to serve one) by making up half a vegetable stock cube in the empty tomato tin, adding it to the saucepan and simmering for 20 minutes instead of 10. Blend until smooth with a stick blender and whisk in 1 teaspoon crème fraîche or cream (whatever you happen to have in the fridge). The cream is optional, but really makes the soup taste like everyone’s favourite tinned cream of tomato soup.
MAKES: 2 portions
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 10–15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
1 × 400g tin chopped tomatoes
½ teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 teaspoon fresh oregano)
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
a small knob of unsalted butter
½ teaspoon soft light brown sugar
1. Heat a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add the butter. When the butter has melted and gone frothy, add the tomatoes, sugar and oregano to the saucepan. Season well with salt and pepper, and stir.
2. Leave the sauce bubbling away for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened and is the consistency of a good pasta sauce.
PASTA IN TOMATO, TUNA & CAPER SAUCE
Sometimes, all you want is pasta. This easy pasta sauce is packed with flavour, and is made out of things you are likely to have at the back of your kitchen cupboard.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
100g pasta shapes
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1½ tablespoons nonpareille capers
light oil
1 × 250g tin chopped tomatoes
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
1 × 140g tin tuna in spring water or brine
a small handful of fresh basil (optional)
1. Put the pasta on to cook in a saucepan of salted boiling water and cook over a high heat until al dente. This should take about 12 minutes. Meanwhile, make the sauce.
2. Add the garlic to a large frying pan, along with the capers and a generous glug of oil. Set over a medium heat and leave for a few minutes until the garlic and capers are sizzling, and the garlic has started to soften. Add the tomatoes to the pan and season well with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low, allowing the sauce to bubble away gently until the pasta is a few minutes away from being done.
3. Drain the tuna and add it to the tomato sauce, stirring it in until the fish is well coated in the sauce, but taking care not break up the tuna chunks too much.
4. Drain the pasta and stir it into the sauce. If you’re using it, tear up the basil and stir it into the pasta. Taste a little of the sauce to check you’re happy with the amount of salt and pepper, and serve.
FROZEN SEAFOOD & WHITE WINE LINGUINI
Buying bags of mixed frozen seafood is actually pretty great value. Once defrosted they make a good substitute for fresh. If you use them from frozen, in a cooked dish like this, it is harder to overcook.
I’ve listed linguini here as I love the amount of bite in each strand, but spaghetti is fine, as well as tagliatelle or any other type of long pasta shape.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
100g linguini
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
light oil
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
a large knob of unsalted butter
zest of ½ lemon
30ml white wine
2 large handfuls of frozen mixed seafood
1 tablespoon lemon juice
a small handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1. Cook the pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water over a high heat until al dente. It should take about 12 minutes to cook.
2. Put the garlic, butter and a splash of oil in a large frying pan. Set it over a medium heat, and leave until the butter is melted and frothy, and the garlic has started to sizzle and soften. Add the lemon zest, white wine and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Stir, and add the seafood. Once the seafood has defrosted and has cooked for about 3 minutes (the prawns should be pink and firm), add the lemon juice and the parsley. Stir until everything is combined.
3. Drain the pasta and add it to the frying pan. Stir well until all of the strands are coated, and transfer to a warm bowl before tucking in.
BLISTERED CHERRY TOMATO PUTTANESCA
Puttanesca is another one of those storecupboard spaghetti classics. However, when you’re cooking for just the one of you, it usually results in half a tin of tomatoes left over in the fridge. For an easy panful that won’t yield any leftovers that need using up, cherry tomatoes are the answer. I also find that using fresh tomatoes makes the pasta fresher, brighter and full of sunshine.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
100g spaghetti
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons light oil
3 anchovy fillets in olive oil
2 teaspoons nonpareille capers
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
a small handful of pitted black olives, halved
150g (roughly 2 handfuls) cherry tomatoes, halved
a small handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
1. Cook the spaghetti in a saucepan of generously salted boiling water over a high heat until al dente; this should take about for 12 minutes.
2. Set a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the garlic and the oil. A lot of recipes will tell you to heat the oil first and then add the garlic, but I have found that by adding the oil and the garlic together, and letting the oil heat up and the garlic gradually start to sizzle, the flavour of the garlic will infuse the oil better. It will also make it easier to prevent the garlic from burning.
3. When the garlic starts to sizzle, reduce the heat to medium low. Add the anchovies, capers and olives. Cook for about a minute until the anchovies have melted. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft and starting to fall apart, and their skins have blistered. Season generously with salt and pepper.
4. If you need to, remove the frying pan from the heat and set aside until the spaghetti is cooked. Once it is ready, return the frying pan to a low heat (if you’re going straight in with the spaghetti, just turn the heat down to low) and add 2 tablespoons of the spaghetti cooking water to create a looser sauce. Drain the spaghetti and add to the frying pan. Stir the pasta into the sauce, still over the heat, until the strands are well coated. Stir in the basil, and serve straight away.
ROASTED VEGETABLE PASTA
This is usually the first thing I make myself whenever I move into a new flat. Roasted Mediterranean vegetables are a wonderful thing to make in a big batch ready to enjoy later. Mix some of them with pasta, then pack up the rest (they are delicious cold) for lunch the next day. Aubergine would be good thrown in with these, too.
MAKES: 2 portions
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 40 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
1 red onion
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
200g pasta shapes
FRESH
1 large courgette
2 red, yellow or orange peppers, deseeded
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
2. Cut all of the vegetables into manageable chunks. Toss the vegetables with the olive oil, either in a plastic bag or a large roasting tray, adding a generous amount of salt and pepper. If you’re using the bag method, tip the vegetables into the roasting tray. Roast for 40 minutes, tossing halfway through.
3. After you’ve tossed the vegetables, put the pasta on to cook over a high heat in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for about 12 minutes. Once the pasta is ready, drain and return to the pan. Add the vegetables, and stir until the pasta is well coated in the roasting juices.
HAM, PESTO & MOZZARELLA PASTA BAKE
While this serves two, I always make it for myself as it is just as good, if not better, reheated. The inside remains soft and tender, and you get even more crispy, crunchy bits than just the breadcrumb topping.
I’ve made this with cheap ham here, and it is perfectly delicious. However, the better the ham you use, the better the pasta bake. You don’t need exactly 100g, just whatever equivalent size pack you can find.
MAKES: 2 portions
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 35–40 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
200g pasta shapes
4 tablespoons pesto
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
2 mozzarella balls, torn
1 × 100g pack wafer-thin ham, sliced into ribbons
4 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs (see the notes on breadcrumbs, here)
1. Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water over a high heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until the pasta is al dente. Preheat the grill to 200°C/400°F.
2. Drain the pasta, shaking off as much of the cooking water as possible. Add the pesto, ham and half of the mozzarella to the pan. Stir until everything is combined and evenly distributed. Transfer the pasta mixture to an ovenproof baking dish and scatter the top with the rest of the mozzarella. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and season generously with freshly ground salt and pepper.
3. Grill the pasta bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbly, and the breadcrumbs are brown and crisp.
FRYING-PAN LASAGNE
I love lasagne, but baking a dish of layered pasta, homemade white sauce, bolognese, cheese and sometimes tomatoes as well seems like far too much effort on a weeknight. You can make this lasagne in one frying pan, using leftovers, in less than half an hour. I’ve made this to serve two as this is as much as can possibly be fitted into a frying pan. However, halving the quantities to serve just you does not make it any easier to prepare, and this way you’ll have a portion for another day.
MAKES: 2 portions
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 25 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
light oil
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
6 dried lasagne sheets
2 portions of Sausage Bolognese (here)
2 mozzarella balls
1. Fill a medium frying pan with a heatproof handle two-thirds full with boiling water. Add a generous pinch of salt, the lasagne sheets, halved, and a splash of oil. Cook for about 12 to 15 minutes over a high heat (stirring occasionally to stop the pasta sticking to the bottom of the pan) until the pasta is al dente, and drain. While the pasta is cooking, tear the mozzarella into bite-sized pieces.
2. Preheat the grill to 250°C/485°F. Return the pasta to the pan along with the bolognese. Return to the heat, turned down to medium, and stir until everything is combined and the sauce is bubbling. Stir in half of the cheese until it starts to melt, then remove the pan from the heat.
3. Top with the rest of the cheese and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Put the pan under the grill for 4 to 5 minutes, until the cheese is starting to brown and bubble, and the exposed bits of pasta are beginning to go a little crispy.
CARROT SOUP
I’m a big soup maker and carrot has to be one of my favourites. I’ve made so many different versions of it, from basic, pared-down soups to spice-laced bowlfuls. This soup is also pretty cheap to make, especially when you buy bags of carrots at a reduced price when they’re almost going soft. I’ve even found supermarket kilo bags as cheap as 27p before. This soup is also one of my favourite things to make in bulk, and then stash in single servings in the freezer.
MAKES: 4–5 portions
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 50–55 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon light oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1.2 litres vegetable stock (made with 1 stock cube)
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
1kg carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
100g red split lentils
fresh coriander, roughly chopped (optional)
1. Add the onion, garlic and oil to a large saucepan and set it over a medium heat. Fry until the onion and garlic are sizzling and starting to soften.
2. Add the carrots and cumin to the pan. Fry for about a minute.
3. Rinse the lentils in a sieve under a cold tap until the water runs clear, then stir them into the vegetables and spices.
4. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Leave the pan to simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper and blend until smooth with a stick blender.
5. Check if the soup needs any more seasoning before serving, topped with chopped fresh coriander, if you have any.
A BASIC CHICKEN SOUP
This basic, everyday chicken soup is great for using up the leftover scraps hanging around at the bottom of your fridge. Even better, it only takes an hour to make from start to finish. I wrote the recipe for this in my head during a class on classical epic poetry. I based it on what I could remember that I needed to use up at the time.
Serve with fresh crusty bread, and if you have any leftover fresh thyme hanging around, that would be great sprinkled on top of your bowl, too.
MAKES: 3–4 portions
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 50 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1 litre chicken stock (made with 1 stock cube)
1 tablespoon light oil
30g brown rice
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
1 large chicken breast
1 large leek, trimmed and sliced
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried or chopped fresh thyme
2 handfuls of mushrooms, sliced
1. Add the garlic to a medium saucepan along with the chicken stock and the chicken breast. Bring the pan to the boil over a high heat. Once the water is bubbling, reduce the heat to medium-low and put a lid on the pan. Leave the pan to simmer for 20 minutes.
2. In a very large saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and gently fry the leek, celery and carrots until they are soft.
3. Remove the chicken breast from the saucepan and pour the simmering stock and garlic mixture into the vegetable pan. Using two forks, shred the chicken into manageable pieces and add them to the pan, too. Add the thyme and the brown rice. Season generously with salt and pepper, and leave to simmer with the lid on for 25 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms to the pan. Allow to cook for another 5 minutes before serving.
QUICK & CREAMY PUMPKIN & COCONUT SOUP
This is another one of my favourite soups. It works best with a cooking pumpkin (though you can use kind sold for carving at Halloween) and you can also substitute with other types of squashes. However, bear in mind that some squashes such as butternut are sweeter than pumpkin, so you might want to leave out the honey and use it to sweeten the soup to taste later.
You can use any leftover coconut milk in my Easy Root Vegetable Curry (here) or to make Coconut Hot Chocolate (here).
MAKES: 2–3 portions
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 25 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
light oil
½ vegetable stock cube
1 tablespoon runny honey
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
600g pumpkin
3 tablespoons coconut milk, plus extra to serve
fresh coriander, roughly chopped (optional)
1. Peel and remove the seeds from the pumpkin and cut the flesh into small cubes.
2. Add the garlic, onion and a good splash of oil to a medium saucepan. Set over a medium heat and cook until the garlic is sizzling and soft but not starting to brown. Add the stock cube and stir until it has broken down. Add the pumpkin and the honey to the pan, and season well with salt and pepper.
3. Pour enough boiling water into the saucepan to just cover the cubes of pumpkin, and leave to simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and blend until smooth with a stick blender. Blend in the coconut milk, and check you’re happy with the seasoning. Serve each portion with a swirl of coconut milk and a generous sprinkling of fresh coriander, if you have any.
TUNA & PESTO RICE
I can’t remember if it was my friend Steph or I who discovered that if you mix some pesto and a tin of tuna into a pouch of microwave rice (plain, brown or sun-dried tomato flavour) you have a super-quick, super-delicious meal that involves literally no effort at all. For something more substantial, a fried egg on top is always a good idea.
I’ve cooked rice from scratch here to make this bowlful because it is cheaper, but feel free to buy it pre-cooked in a pouch if you’re looking for something super-speedy.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 25 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
100g brown rice
3 tablespoons pesto
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
1 × 200g tin tuna in spring water or brine
1. Cook the rice in a saucepan full of boiling water for 25 minutes. I cook rice like pasta and drain it once it is cooked. I promise you, if you use this method rather than measuring out water and letting the rice absorb it as it cooks, you’ll never, ever have burnt, crunchy or dried-out rice.
2. Drain the tuna, and stir it into the rice, along with the pesto. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
CRUNCHY PESTO-BAKED SALMON FILLETS WITH BLACKENED KALE
Salmon and pesto is a surprisingly amazing combination. This dish is equally good doubled as a date-night dish with fancy fresh bread and salad, or for a healthy weeknight with brown rice.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
1½ tablespoons pesto
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
light oil
FRESH
1 salmon fillet
3½ tablespoons breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 very large handfuls of chopped kale
1 lemon wedge, to serve
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
2. Place the salmon fillet skin side down on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
3. Combine 3 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs and half the grated Parmesan with the pesto and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
4. Press the pesto breadcrumb mix onto the top of the fillet to form a crust. Top the crust with the rest of the cheese and breadcrumbs. Season with a little more salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
5. While the salmon is baking, cook the kale. Remove any pieces of stem from the chopped kale, and heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan over a very high heat. Once the oil is smoking, add the kale and fry, tossing occasionally until the kale is tender and crisp in parts. Serve with the salmon straight away, with the lemon wedge for squeezing over.
Breadcrumbs: You can buy them in a packet (if you don’t use them in one go you can keep them in the freezer; they should stay loose so you can defrost however much you want to use each time) or make your own. If you happen to have a mini chopper or a food processor you can make them out of whatever stale hunks of bread you have lying around. You can also keep these chunks in the freezer to make breadcrumbs when you need them. Breadcrumbs made with stale bread also keep a surprisingly long time in a clean, sealed jar in the fridge.
KITCHEN CUPBOARD FISHCAKES
These fishcakes are great because they’re made pretty much entirely out of the things you’ve usually got kicking around your kitchen cupboard. I love them with a good side salad for a solo supper, with a dollop of mayonnaise and some lemon wedges for squeezing over. Individually wrap them before freezing, and then you can cook them from frozen.
You can use dried breadcrumbs or shop-bought fresh. Matzo meal is my favourite here if your local supermarket stocks it in the kosher section. Polenta, however, is a bad idea. If you have any leftover parsley or dill in the bottom of the fridge, chop it up and add it to the mix, too.
MAKES: 5 fishcakes
PREP TIME: 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling
COOKING TIME: 40 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons plain flour
FRESH
1 very large potato, peeled and quartered
1 × 200g tin tuna in spring water or brine
1 × 110g tin smoked mackerel
1 tablespoon milk
a large knob of unsalted butter
2 large spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
zest of ½ lemon
1 large egg
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1. Place the potato in a medium saucepan with a generous amount of salt and enough cold water to cover the potato. Set over a high heat and bring to the boil. Cook for 20 minutes until the potato is tender.
2. Meanwhile, drain the fish and break it up in a small bowl to form a rough paste but still with a few good chunks in it. Pour over the milk, and mix in.
3. Once the potato is cooked, drain away the water, and mash until smooth with the butter, mayonnaise and mustard. Add the fish and milk mixture, the spring onion, lemon zest and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Mix until everything is combined, and shape the mixture into five fishcakes. Leave these to chill and harden in the fridge for half an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7.
5. Crack the egg into a shallow bowl and whisk. Put the flour on a plate, and the breadcrumbs on another one. Dip the fishcakes first in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs. I tend to use one hand for coating the fishcakes in the egg and another for dipping them in the dry ingredients so that I’m not breadcrumbing my fingers!
6. Bake the fishcakes you’re planning on eating right away on a baking tray for 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden. Individually wrap the others in cling film before freezing.
LIGHTER TUNA & SWEETCORN BAKED SWEET POTATO
I promise you that after you’ve made tuna mayo with a mixture of mayonnaise and yoghurt, you’ll never make it with just mayonnaise again. It is lighter, fresher and simply more delicious piled like this on top of a baked sweet potato.
If you’re after any other baked sweet potato ideas, they’re great topped with a couple of spoonfuls of reheated leftover Super-Easy Meat-Free Mixed Bean Chilli (here) or a fresh batch of Boozy Guacamole (here) and whatever Pico de Gallo Salsa (here) you have left over from other dishes.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 45 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
1 medium sweet potato
1 × 120g tin tuna in spring water or brine
4 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
1 large spring onion, trimmed and thinly sliced
a large handful of tinned sweetcorn
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7.
2. Pierce the sweet potato all over with a sharp knife and bake in the oven for 45 minutes until tender.
3. Drain the tuna and mix it with the yoghurt, mayonnaise and a generous amount of freshly ground salt and pepper until everything is combined. Combine three-quarters of the spring onion with the sweetcorn and the tuna.
4. Once the sweet potato is cooked, slash the top and pile on the tuna mixture, followed by the remaining spring onion before serving.
TWICE-COOKED PIZZA BAKED POTATO
Baked potatoes are easy. You can run with so many different toppings, and bake a couple at once, ready to be reheated later. While baking the potatoes and the toppings separately is the easiest way to go, you can take your baked potato to a whole new level by baking it again with a cheesy topping.
Everything you’d usually put on a pizza works brilliantly. If you have any Sausage Bolognese (here) left over, it is great spooned over a split potato, topped with a handful of grated cheese and baked until golden and bubbling.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 1 hour 30 minutes
FRESH
1 medium baking potato
4 tablespoons passata
your choice of pizza toppings (e.g. fresh basil, chorizo, ham, olives, etc.)
½ mozzarella ball, roughly torn
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
2. Pierce the potato with a sharp knife, and wrap it in foil. Bake in the oven for 1¼ hours. (You’ll only need 1 hour for a smaller potato.)
3. Remove the potato from the foil and slash the top in each direction. Place it on a baking tray and mash the potato in the middle a little. Top with the passata, your chosen pizza toppings and the cheese. Return to the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling.
GAMMON & EGG WITH CAJUN POTATO WEDGES
This is my (Cajun-spiced) take on that English classic: ham, egg and chips. Cajun spice mix is one of my spice cupboard heroes. It is an essential ingredients for both my Cajun Prawn Tacos (here) and my Super-Easy Meat-Free Mixed Bean Chilli (here). Gammon steaks typically come in packs of two. Either double up if there are two of you eating, or freeze the other for later.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 40 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
light oil
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH
2 medium potatoes
1 tablespoon Cajun spice mix
1 gammon steak
1 large egg
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
2. Cut the potatoes into wedges, and place in a saucepan with some salt and enough cold water to cover the potatoes. Set over a high heat, bring to the boil (a lid is handy, but not essential here) and parboil the potatoes for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and drain the potatoes. Place them in a plastic bag with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the spice mix and a generous amount of freshly ground salt and pepper. Seal the bag and shake until the potatoes are well coated. Spread the potatoes out in a baking tray, lined with tin foil if you are a washing-up dodger like me. Bake them in the oven for 30 minutes, tossing them around on the tray halfway through.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the grill to 220°C/425°F. You’ll want to grill the gammon about 10 minutes and fry your egg about 5 minutes before the potatoes are ready.
5. Now, different gammon steaks take different amounts of time to cook. Typically they should take 3 to 5 minutes on each side, and they should curl up a little at the edges like bacon when it is time to turn them over. They are ready to eat when they look like they’re ready, again just like bacon.
6. Meanwhile, fry the egg in a small frying pan over a high heat, with just a splash of oil in the pan, and serve with the potato wedges and gammon.
CHICKEN SCHNITZEL WITH CAPERS, ANCHOVIES & A FRIED EGG
Schnitzel, that great Austrian classic. I like mine with a massive hit of salty capers and anchovies on top, plus a fried egg that has a runny, golden-yellow yolk. You can use dried breadcrumbs or shop-bought fresh (see the note here). Matzo meal is my favourite here if your local supermarket has a kosher section.
For a lighter option you can serve this with a green salad, but I like to keep it rooted firmly as a comfort food dish with a side of Mustard Mash (here).
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons plain flour
light oil
2 anchovy fillets in olive oil
1 tablespoon nonpareille capers
FRESH
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 large chicken breast
1. Crack one of the eggs into a bowl and add the mustard along with some freshly ground salt and pepper. Beat together until smooth. Sprinkle the flour on a plate, and the breadcrumbs on another one.
2. Using a large sharp knife, slice the chicken breast horizontally, almost to the end, then open it out into one large, thin piece of chicken. Using the heel of your hand, bash this out until the chicken is as thin as you can get it without breaking it up.
3. Coat the chicken in flour, followed by the egg mixture, then the breadcrumbs. Use one hand for the dry ingredients and another for dipping the chicken in the egg to avoid breadcrumbing your fingers!
4. Heat a couple of centimetres of oil in a medium frying pan over a high heat until the oil is shimmering. Fry the chicken for 7 to 8 minutes on each side until the breadcrumbs are golden and crisp. Once you’ve turned the chicken over to fry the other side, heat another small frying pan over a medium-high heat and add another splash of oil. Fry the remaining egg.
5. Set the cooked chicken aside on a warm plate lined with kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil. Serve the chicken schnitzel with the egg and the anchovies on top and the capers sprinkled over.
QUICK LATE-NIGHT MISO SOUP
Sometimes you’re home so late that, while you need something to eat, you don’t have the time or the inclination to make a proper meal. This miso soup base can be finished with whatever fresh Asian ingredients and aromatics you may happen to have in the fridge. I’ve just included some of my favourites below by way of a guide. If you’ve got a bit more time on your hands, adding cooked noodles to the soup is always a good idea.
Keep a jar of brown rice miso in the fridge (which is also great mashed with butter and spread on corn on the cob), and you can have a warm and nourishing bowl of soup at any time, ready in minutes.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 5 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
FRESH
a small handful of shiitake mushrooms
1 small red chilli, sliced
1 large spring onion
2 teaspoons brown rice miso paste
a small handful of fresh coriander leaves
1. Put the kettle on to boil while you slice the mushrooms and chilli and trim and shred the spring onion. In the bottom of a mug or small soup bowl, mix together the miso and the soy sauce to create a paste. Fill the mug or bowl with boiling water, and stir until the miso has dissolved. Add the mushrooms, chilli, spring onion and coriander and enjoy instantly.
PEA, PRAWN & MUSHROOM EGG-FRIED RICE
Egg-fried rice makes a fantastic, satisfying, last-minute supper, especially if served with a couple of ice-cold beers. This is also one of those great-for-leftovers dishes; make it with leftover cooked rice (which shouldn’t be kept for more than a day or two) and whatever prawns are still in the freezer, leftover pieces of roast chicken and any Asian vegetables you have to hand.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 10 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
2 teaspoons light oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
FRESH
1 large egg
8 shiitake or chestnut mushrooms, sliced
a small handful of frozen peas or petits pois
a small handful of frozen cooked prawns
2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
60g cooked and cold leftover rice
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a wok or very large frying pan over a very high heat. Beat the egg, add to the pan and quickly scramble. Remove the egg from the pan, and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil and cook the mushrooms for a few minutes until they are slightly soft. Add the frozen peas, prawns and the sliced spring onions to the pan and cook until the prawns have defrosted. Add the rice and fry until everything is combined and the rice is thoroughly heated. Return the egg to the pan along with the soy sauce and sesame oil. Toss until all of the rice is well coated.
PAD THAI
Pad Thai was the first Thai dish I ever cooked and it is full of the flavours I crave if I’m after a big bowl of aromatic noodles. This recipe is the closest I’ve managed to get at home to the street Pad Thai they cook to order at the Brick Lane weekend indoor food market.
You can also make this with cooked pieces of chicken, and you can sub out the tamarind with fresh lime juice if you don’t have any. I don’t eat peanuts, but it is traditional to toast and chop a few to sprinkle over the finished dish.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
3 teaspoons light oil
½ teaspoon golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
FRESH
50g rice noodles
1 large egg
2 spring onions, trimmed and shredded
a large handful of beansprouts
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
a large handful of frozen cooked prawns
fresh coriander, roughly chopped
lime wedges, to serve
1. Cook the rice noodles in a saucepan full of boiling water over a high heat until they are tender. I know the packet says to just leave them to soak in boiling water, but ignore this. I’ve never successfully managed to cook them in this way!
2. Meanwhile, make the rest of the stir-fry. Beat together the egg and spring onion and set a wok or the largest frying pan you have over a very high heat. Heat 1½ teaspoons of the oil until it is smoking and scramble the egg mixture. Remove from the pan, and return the pan to the heat.
3. Heat the rest of the oil (another 1½ teaspoons) and fry the beansprouts until they start to soften. Combine the fish sauce, tamarind paste, sugar and soy sauce, then add to the pan.
4. At this point the noodles should be cooked; drain them and run them under the cold tap for a couple of seconds to rinse off any excess starch. Add the noodles to the pan, along with the prawns. Once the prawns have heated through, transfer the pad Thai to a heated bowl. Sprinkle with fresh coriander, and serve with fresh lime wedges.
CHICKEN NOODLE & OYSTER SAUCE STIR-FRY
During my year abroad, one of the things I treated myself to the first week in my new apartment was a wok so that I could whip up a last-minute stir-fry or two (I also used my wok to make the filling for Chicken Fajitas, here).
I know this is the only recipe in the book that uses oyster sauce, but I promise you that you’ll keep using it. It really brings together any quick stir-fry of vegetables, protein and noodles, with no need for a recipe.
MAKES: 1 portion
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
STORECUPBOARD
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 nest of egg noodles
½ tablespoon light oil
FRESH
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon cornflour
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 small chicken breast, chopped
2 handfuls of beansprouts
2 handfuls of sugar snap peas
1 large spring onion, trimmed and shredded
1. Combine the garlic with the oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornflour and sesame oil. Add the chicken and leave to marinate while you cook the noodles in a pan full of boiling water, set over a high heat, as per the packet instructions.
2. Heat the light oil in a wok or the largest frying pan you have over a very high heat. Add the chicken and cook for a minute or two until it is cooked through. Add the beansprouts and the sugar snaps to the pan, and stir fry until the sugar snaps are tender. Drain the noodles and add them to the wok, along with the spring onion. Stir until the noodles are well coated and serve straight away in a warm bowl.
