Perhaps my favourite sort of cooking – these are those solid, time-worn recipes that you’ve cooked so frequently you can almost make them with your eyes closed. I cannot count the times we’ve come home from work, school, swimming, the park and so on and the kids have trooped through the door with a hungry, demanding ‘what’s for tea?’. All of these dishes can be cooked in 30 minutes and under, and you know they’ll be devoured with gusto.
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Tinned beans are the stealth ingredient to boost protein, fibre and nutrients in many dishes. They are a thrifty and reliable storecupboard ingredient: supermarket own-brand beans (cannellini, borlotti, kidney, butter, black-eyed, haricot) are extremely cheap and easy to come by. This is a meal that everyone enjoys, young and old, give or take additional chilli sauce.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2–3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
3 x 400g tins assorted beans, drained and rinsed
Chipotle chilli paste or dried chilli flakes, to taste (optional)
Salt
Small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
SALAD
1 ripe avocado, diced
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 red onion, finely sliced or diced
Juice of 1 lime
TO SERVE
4 large tortilla wraps
Grated cheese, such as Cheddar
Chilli sauce
Sour cream
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a moderate heat and fry the onion until soft and golden – about 8–10 minutes. Add the garlic and spices and fry for another couple of minutes.
Add the beans to the pan and mix thoroughly with the onions. Give the beans a good mash with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon. Add the chilli if using and season with salt to taste. Cook over a moderate heat for about 5 minutes so the beans heat through. Take the pan off the heat and add the coriander.
To make the salad, combine the avocado, tomatoes and onion with the lime juice and a good pinch of salt.
To assemble the quesadillas, lay the wraps on a work surface and smother one half of each wrap with the mashed bean mix. Cover the bean mix with about a tablespoon of grated cheese and fold the wrap over.
In a dry frying pan over a moderate heat, cook the half-moon-shaped wraps until the surface is crisp and golden in patches and the cheese within has melted – about 2–3 minutes on each side. Chop the quesadilla into two or three triangles and serve with chilli sauce, sour cream and salad.
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Try to buy undyed smoked haddock: I see little point in the orange stuff. Using the cream to cook the fish and to make the chive sauce makes this dish a knockout. Serve topped with a trembling poached egg if you like.
700g smoked haddock fillets
300ml double cream
1 onion, finely diced
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp vegetable oil or butter
300g spinach, washed and roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg per person, poached (optional)
2 muffins, split in half
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
Put the smoked haddock into a pan with the cream, half the onion and the bay leaves. Bring almost to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse.
Put the remaining onion into a separate pan over a moderate heat with the oil or butter and cook for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the spinach, cover with a lid and cook until wilted. Pour off any excess liquid from the pan and add about 150ml of the haddock-infused cream. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Cover and put to one side to keep warm.
Poach the eggs now if using.
Toast the muffins.
Lift the haddock out of the infused cream and divide among four warmed plates. Stir the chopped chives into the cream and reheat briefly over a medium-high heat if necessary.
Put a muffin half on each plate alongside the haddock and top both haddock and muffin with the creamed spinach. Divide the hot chive sauce among the four plates, adding a poached egg if using.
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A winning combination and a doddle to make. If you like, you can tip the cooked pasta and sauce into a baking dish and top with grated Parmesan to bake in a hot oven at 180°C (170°C fan) until bubbling and golden around the edges. Serve with a great big green salad dressed simply and sharply with a little red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt.
50g unsalted butter
4 leeks (approx. 500g), finely sliced, rinsed well and drained
120g crème fraîche
75ml water
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (optional)
4 slices of cooked ham (or cured prosciutto if you like), finely chopped
Small bunch of parsley or chives, finely chopped
300g pappardelle (or another flat pasta, such as tagliatelle)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan, to serve
Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a moderate heat. With the butter melted and sizzling, add the leeks, reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes until the leeks are very soft but not coloured.
Add the crème fraîche, water and the mustard, if using, to the leeks and remove from the heat. Stir in the chopped ham and herbs.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta as instructed on the packet.
Check the seasoning of the leek mix, adding salt and pepper to taste, and stir in the cooked pasta. If the mixture is too thick, add a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to loosen the mix. Serve with plenty of grated Parmesan at the table.
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Hands down my daughters’ favourite lunch offering. I serve cold noodle salads in many guises (for lunch, packed lunch, picnics or tea) and this Vietnamese version is perhaps the easiest and speediest. Great for using up leftover meat from the Sunday roast – or use cooked prawns if you prefer. These noodles pack a punch in terms of flavour and also in terms of how many vegetables you can pack in per bowlful.
200g dried rice noodles (vermicelli or wider version)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sunflower, vegetable or groundnut oil
200g leftover roast chicken, pork or beef, or cooked prawns
Small bunch of mixed fresh herbs, such as basil, coriander or mint, roughly chopped
ANY COMBINATION OF THE FOLLOWING SALAD VEGETABLES (IDEALLY A MINIMUM OF FOUR):
A handful of bean sprouts
A handful of mangetout, finely sliced
1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and finely sliced
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
½ daikon (Chinese radish), coarsely grated
8 or so radishes, thinly sliced
1 small green lettuce, shredded
80g roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
DRESSING
Juice of 2 limes
1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with a little salt
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp light brown sugar
4 tbsp cold water
Pinch of dried chilli flakes or chilli oil (optional)
Cook the noodles as instructed on the packet. Drain the noodles and refresh under cold running water. When cold, drain again and douse the noodles with both oils; set them aside in a large bowl. If you like you can cut the noodles in half with scissors so they are a more manageable length for eating.
To make the dressing, in a small bowl combine the lime juice, garlic, fish sauce, sugar, water and chilli flakes or oil if using.
Add the cold meat or prawns, the herbs and vegetables to the noodles. Spoon the dressing over the noodles to taste – you might not need all of it at this stage. More can be added later, to taste.
Serve the noodles in bowls and scatter with the peanuts and sesame seeds.
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Bright green, these are great little fritters. You can fry them off and keep them wrapped and warm in the oven to serve all at once. Or, if your family is anything like mine, you can fry as many fritters as will fit in the pan at a time, immediately hurling them onto the gobbled-and-wanting-more plates. Fry, eat, repeat. Especially nice served with the avocado and tomato salad on here.
350g frozen peas, defrosted
150g self-raising flour
3 eggs
80ml milk
100g halloumi cheese, coarsely grated
4 or 5 spring onions, thinly sliced
½–1 small bunch of dill or mint, finely chopped
Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable or sunflower oil for frying
Lemon or lime wedges, to serve
Plain yogurt or sour cream seasoned with a little salt or chilli flakes, to serve
Pulse the peas in a food processor until coarsely pureed.
Put the flour in a mixing bowl. Whisk in the eggs, milk, halloumi, spring onions, herbs and pea puree. Season with pepper: you shouldn’t need salt as the halloumi will be quite salty enough, but check at this point by frying a little of the mixture.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a moderate heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add tablespoonfuls of the batter and fry for about 2 minutes. By this time the fritters should have firmed up and you can flip them over and fry the other side for 2 minutes. Work quickly in small batches until you have used all the batter.
Serve with lemon or lime wedges and the seasoned yogurt and chilli flakes if you like.
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Ricotta is a terrific ingredient to have on standby in your fridge. Halfway between cream and cheese, these soft milky curds are great in both sweet and savoury dishes. A heady sausage and tomato pasta sauce resting on the ricotta makes a brilliant combination.
2–3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 onion, finely chopped
½ fennel bulb, finely diced
4 pork sausages
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ tsp fennel seeds
6–8 fresh sage leaves or 1 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
Chilli flakes, to taste (optional, but rather good here)
400g tin chopped tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
300g penne pasta (or similar robust pasta shape)
100g ricotta, at room temperature
Freshly grated Parmesan, to serve
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a moderate heat and fry the onion and fennel until soft and translucent.
Squeeze the sausage meat out of the casings and add to the pan. Turn up the heat to high and fry until the sausage meat begins to colour at the edges – about 6–8 minutes.
Add the garlic and fennel seeds and cook for a further 30 seconds. Add the chopped herbs and chilli flakes if using, then add the tomatoes and season with a little salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the flavours have melded and the sauce has thickened.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta as instructed on the packet. When cooked, drain and add to the tomato sauce. Check the seasoning.
Put a spoonful or two of ricotta on each plate or bowl and divide the pasta among the dishes, drizzling with a little olive oil and plenty of grated Parmesan.
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At first glance this may not look like a truly speedy meal, but by using the meat-already-prepped-and-marinating-in-the-fridge trick, I stand firm this is a weeknight supper capable of being pulled off in minutes. Kebabs are best cooked on the barbecue, but under a grill or on a griddle pan over a very high heat will both work well.
500g pork fillet, cut into 2cm cubes (you can also use chicken leg or breast, or lamb leg)
6 tbsp olive oil
1½ tsp hot or sweet pimentón (Spanish paprika)
1½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp ground fennel seeds (optional)
3 garlic cloves, 1 finely chopped, 2 whole
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 thick slice of crusty white bread, crusts removed, broken into 1cm pieces
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tsp sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar if you prefer)
Put the meat in a mixing bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, half the pimentón, half the cumin, the oregano, fennel seeds if using, the chopped garlic and some freshly ground pepper. Mix well and leave to marinate for at least an hour: anything up to 2 days is fine – the meat will take on more flavour.
To make the sauce, fry the bread and the whole garlic cloves in 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan over a moderate heat for 5 minutes, until both are golden, but not brown. Remove the bread and garlic and put to one side. Add the onion and red pepper to the pan and cook in 1 tablespoon olive oil for about 10 minutes, until the pepper is soft and the onion translucent.
Put the onion and peppers, fried bread and garlic into a food processor or blender and add the vinegar, the remaining pimentón and cumin along with a good pinch of salt. Blend to a smooth paste, adding the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, then put the thick sauce into a serving bowl.
If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes to prevent them from burning. Thread the marinated meat onto skewers and cook for 3–4 minutes on each side – you want the meat to be cooked through but still juicy on the inside.
Season the meat with salt and pepper and serve with the sauce at the table. Serve with a green salad, seasonal vegetables and some plain rice or fried potatoes, or serve in wraps.
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I have made minestrone for young children in school and find it heartening that when faced with a pile of assorted vegetables – if cooked with enough enthusiasm – this is a dish that kids will delight in. Try to chop everything to a similar size to the pasta shape you are using; that way you will get a little of everything in every mouthful.
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
2 carrots, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
2 fat celery stalks, finely diced
1 small leek, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
120g orzo pasta or any little pasta shapes
Approx. 700ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
Approx. 100g spinach or chard, washed, cut into ribbons, boiled and drained
200g frozen peas or use fresh cooked
200g tinned white or borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
Freshly grated Parmesan, to serve
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over a moderate heat, add the carrots, onion, celery and leek and cook until very soft – at least 10 minutes. You don’t want the vegetables coloured at all, just meltingly sticky. Add the garlic about 2 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Season this medley with a little salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, boil the orzo as instructed on the packet, preferably leaving the pasta still with a little bite. Drain and leave to cool with a little slick of olive oil to prevent the pasta from clumping together.
Add the hot chicken or vegetable stock to the pan of vegetables and bring to the boil, then add the cooked greens, frozen peas and drained beans and lastly the cooked orzo. Simmer for 2–3 minutes to heat through.
Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve in bowls with plenty of grated Parmesan and a trickle of olive oil in each bowl.
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Vacuum packed and with a relatively long shelf life, smoked mackerel is a brilliant ingredient to have stashed in your fridge. Potted is an age-old term for storing meat or fish sealed under fat to prevent deterioration. Although no longer so necessary in these days of refrigeration, it is a delicious approach to serving fish, meat and even cheese. Made in minutes, potted mackerel will benefit from an hour or more in the fridge for the flavours to meld.
150g unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, sliced
2 bay leaves
½ tsp ground mace
½ tsp cayenne pepper or chilli flakes
300g smoked mackerel fillets, skin and bones removed
150g crème fraîche or sour cream
Grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat with the garlic, bay leaves, mace and cayenne for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for the flavours to infuse and to allow the milk solids to sink to the bottom of the pan.
Flake the mackerel into a food processor (or you can do this by hand, mashing the fillets vigorously with a fork in a mixing bowl if you prefer). Add the crème fraîche, lemon zest and juice and season well with salt and pepper. Blitz all the ingredients together until just combined – you can make it smooth, though I don’t like to over-process the mixture – retaining some texture in the fish.
Pour two-thirds of the clear butter into a jug. Strain the remaining butter and settled white milk solids into the mackerel, giving it a final blend or mix. Stir in the chopped parsley. Check the seasoning and add a little more lemon juice if needed.
Spoon the mixture into individual ramekins or small jars or one big shallow terrine and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
Cover the mackerel mixture with the clear butter to seal the fish from air. Grind a bit of coarse black pepper or more cayenne on top if you like. Seal the jars or cover the ramekins with clingfilm and put in the fridge to set for at least 1 hour. Best eaten within 3 days.
To serve, take the ramekins out of the fridge about 20 minutes before eating. Serve with plenty of brown toast or crusty bread to spread with the potted mackerel.
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My children would happily guzzle hummus all day long if I let them. But there comes a point (sometime deep into the summer holidays) when I need a break from the beige stuff as the go-to offering for vegetable sticks and pitta breads. This creamy dip is just as delicious and makes use of courgettes when they are in season and very cheap. Fingers crossed, it should even give hummus a run for its money!
2 firm courgettes, coarsely grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
Grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
½ garlic clove, crushed
250g Greek yogurt
2–3 spring onions, very finely sliced
50–60g walnuts, roughly crushed
PITTA CHIPS
Pitta breads
Olive oil, to cook the pitta
Dried oregano
To make the pitta chips, preheat the oven to 180°C (170°C fan). Toast the pitta breads in a toaster. Slice each pitta in half through the middle and then cut into random triangle shapes. Drizzle with a little olive oil and some dried oregano. Bake in a single layer on a baking tray in the oven for about 5–10 minutes until crisp. Season the pitta chips with extra salt if you like.
In a large colander, combine the grated courgettes with a generous pinch of salt. Set the colander over the sink and leave to drain for 15 minutes or so. Squeeze the courgettes well to extract as much of the liquid as possible.
Heat a large frying pan over a moderate heat and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the courgettes and fry gently for 10 minutes or so until all the liquid has evaporated and the courgettes have softened considerably. Spread the courgettes on a plate to cool quickly.
When the courgettes are cool, put them in a mixing bowl and add the lemon zest and juice, garlic, yogurt, spring onions and three-quarters of the walnuts. Mix well and check for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper to taste. (If you prefer, you can put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth, but I like this rustic version.)
To serve, spread the dip on a plate and scatter with the remaining walnuts and a drizzle of olive oil, with the pitta chips on the side.
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Toasted sandwiches are ace and deserving of elevation from simple sandwich status. Cold and thick, béchamel from the fridge spreads brilliantly and is dynamite in this toasted sandwich. I wouldn’t necessarily make béchamel especially for this sandwich – it’s a great way to use leftover sauce – but if you need to, make it at least 24 hours in advance.
1 tbsp butter
2–3 leeks, sliced in 5mm rounds, rinsed and well drained
1 rasher of bacon, smoked or unsmoked, back or streaky, per person
Good robust bread, sliced
Cold béchamel sauce (see below)
FOR THE BÉCHAMEL SAUCE
600ml milk
A few slices of onion
1 bay leaf
½ tsp whole peppercorns
35g butter
35g plain flour
50g Parmesan, grated (or use another strong cheese, such as mature Cheddar)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat, add the leeks and cook for about 8–10 minutes, until soft.
Fry or grill the bacon until crisp and golden brown.
To assemble the sandwiches, spread the bread with a good slather of béchamel sauce, top with the cooked leeks, add a rasher of bacon and a second slice of bread and press down.
In a large dry frying pan over a moderate-low heat, add the sandwiches (you may need to cook them in batches) and cook until the bread is crisp and golden on one side. Flip over and toast the other side. To help them toast evenly, put something stable and heavy on the sandwiches in the pan (I sometimes use my stone mortar or a large tin of tomatoes). Alternatively, you can grill them on both sides under a preheated grill. Cut in half and serve immediately.
You do want the béchamel cold to assemble this dish, so make it at least 24 hours – or up to 2 or 3 days – before you make the sandwiches. The recipe for Marrow, Chilli, Fennel Seeds and Tomato with Cheese Sauce on click here calls for a béchamel sauce.
Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan with the onion, bay leaf and peppercorns. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
In another saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour and cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. The paste should be bubbling and just beginning to stick to the pan.
Strain the warm milk and gradually add the milk to the pan with the flour, whisking all the time. Continue to whisk vigorously to prevent lumps forming – but don’t panic if they do, just keep whisking before adding more liquid and they should eventually smooth out. With all the milk added, stir the sauce slowly over a moderate to low heat for about 15–20 minutes until the sauce is thickened and velvety.
Take the sauce off the heat and add the grated cheese, stirring to combine. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. If not using the sauce straight away, dot the top with a few lumps of butter, cover, leave to cool and store in the fridge.
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For me this fish stew epitomises a nutritious yet speedy weeknight supper. Serve ladled over some couscous to soak up the fragrant fishy juices, with plenty of chopped parsley and some lemon wedges to squeeze at the table. Serve boiled potatoes, rice or pasta instead of the couscous if you prefer.
4 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced or sliced
3 celery stalks, finely diced or sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 anchovy, rinsed and chopped (optional)
Pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
3 plum tomatoes, chopped, or 3 tinned plum tomatoes, well drained
100ml white wine (or use additional stock)
600ml fish or vegetable stock (see recipe below)
500g firm white fish such as cod or coley, cut into 2–3cm chunks
Grated zest of 1 lemon, plus lemon wedges to serve
200g couscous
300ml boiling water
A handful of finely chopped parsley
Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a wide, shallow pan over a moderate heat and add the onion, celery and garlic, and the anchovy and chilli flakes if using. Season with a little salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the coriander and fennel seeds and the chopped tomatoes and cook for another couple of minutes. Pour in the wine, if using, and the stock and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and add the fish. Cover with a lid and simmer until the fish is opaque and just cooked through. This should take about 5–7 minutes. Add the lemon zest and check the seasoning.
Meanwhile, put the couscous in a large bowl, pour in the boiling water and add ½ teaspoon of salt. Cover with clingfilm and set aside for 10 minutes.
Fluff the couscous with a fork, then divide the couscous among four warmed bowls. Add the fish and then pour some of the liquid from the pan into each bowl. Scatter with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil and serve with lemon wedges.
Quick fish stock
Put about 400g fish bones (ask a friendly fishmonger for these) in a saucepan with a peeled garlic clove, a few fennel and coriander seeds and a few slices of celery and onion. Add 650ml cold water, bring to the boil and skim off any froth that forms. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Strain and put to one side until ready to use.
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These chubby little pancakes make a wonderful breakfast or brunch. I’ve used honey, but you could sweeten with a little sugar instead. I like these pancakes freckled with poppy seeds, but you could add grated citrus zest or raisins to the batter if you prefer.
4 eggs
250g cottage cheese
220ml milk
2 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil, plus extra to cook the pancakes
240g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp poppy seeds (optional)
Soft fruit, such as raspberries, to serve
In a bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, milk, honey and 2 tablespoons of oil until just combined.
In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt and poppy seeds if using. Whisk in the egg and milk mixture until just combined.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, add a little oil and drop heaped tablespoons of the batter into the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Serve immediately with some soft fruit – raspberries would be my preference – drizzling over a little more honey if you like.
