Chunky Mash Meal
I absolutely loved this meal! It was so filling and comforting, plus my leftovers served as the nicest lunch at uni the next day. You can of course mix up the fillings to suit your tongue, but here's what I did.You will need:
- One large potato
- Smoked bacon
- Half an onion
- Some broccoli/spinach/peas (a green vegetable of your choice)
- Pesto
- Cheese
- Salt
- Olive oil
There are two ways of cooking your potato. The one I did here was annoyingly complicated and took almost 3 hours. Mainly because the oven wasn't on for the first hour... but let's not dwell. If you'd like to have stuffed jacket potatoes, wash your potato then rub it with a little bit of olive oil and salt before popping it in the oven for an hour at 220 celsius. If you'd like a load of mash, peel your potato, chop it up into medium sized chunks and pop in boiling water until you can easily stick a fork through them. (20-30 mins)
While the potato is cooking, chop up your onions and bacon and pop them in a frying pan. You can use some olive oil for this, but bacon does release its own fat. When they're almost done (onions are floppy and golden, bacon is dark pink) you can add in the greens. If you're boiling the potato you could chuck the greens in there instead for up to 5 minutes.
Once your baked potato is cooked, leave it to cool slightly then chop it in half. Spoon the insides out into a bowl (careful not to break the skin!) and roughly mash with a fork. I say fork because I don't own a masher yet. That's why it's a chunky mash. If you have the time/ability to fully mash a potato with a fork then don't talk to me. If you've boiled the potato, drain them then put them in a bowl and again, roughly mash with a fork. You can then mix in the rest of your ingredients, a couple of spoonfuls of pesto and some grated cheese.
You now have the chunky mash, which you can either put into a baking tray or stuff back into your potato skins. For the latter, I'd do it by hand rather than a spoon. Top both with a sprinkle of cheese then back in the oven for 5 minutes.
I Love Myself Bangers N Mash
Sometimes you just NEED an internal hug, and you absolutely cannot go wrong with sausages, potato and gravy, but this is my way of making it less boring. My Romanian flatmate found the term "bangers n mash" very odd, and yes it really is... what the heck.You will need:
- One small sweet potato (or half a medium)
- An onion
- A couple heads of broccoli
- Butter
- Really nice sausages (I LOVE Cumberland pork & apple ones)
- Gravy (powdered Bisto is my norm)
- One clove of garlic
- Olive oil
Pop your sausages in the oven according to their cooking guidelines.
Peel and chop up your sweet potato into small-ish chunks, you can see mine below. I like to chop them small because they cook quicker and are easier to mash with a fork. Boil those away in a saucepan for about 15 minutes, and pop some chopped broccoli in half way though. Next time I'll probably add spinach as well for the last 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, fry your chopped onion on a moderate heat in some olive oil, add the garlic, mix up some gravy (however much you need) and pour it in. Leave this sizzling away at a low heat, stirring occasionally.
Once you can easily stick a fork through your sweet potato bits, drain them and then get mashing. I used some Ikea tupperware for this because I still don't have adequately sized bowls, but hey, less washing up! You can add a small amount of butter here if you wish. Add as much as you need to the plate as leave the rest in the fridge for later.
Now all you need to do is add the sausages, pour on your onion gravy and dribble everywhere.
Not A Takeaway Pizza
I'd just like to announce that I've been at uni for 62 days and I haven't bought a readymade pizza yet. Let that sink in. Honestly WHERE is my medal. Well, for those of you trying to count how many you've consumed in your time at uni, or how much that's cost you, this recipe should change ur freakin world. I never thought anything would satisfy me the way a Texas BBQ does.
Essentials:
Essentials:
- Wholemeal wraps
- Passata (tomato puree from a carton/can)
- Paprika (I like the smoked version!)
- Oregano
- Garlic
- A spoonful of pesto
- A Pinch of salt/pepper
Topping ideas:
- Chorizo
- Ham
- Veggie meat alternatives
- Bell peppers
- Broccoli
- Onion
- Mushrooms
- Actually, anything. That's the beauty of pizza.
- Cheese
Turn your oven onto 220 degrees celsius and pop in the wrap on a pizza tray. This will crisp up the wrap so that it doesn't go all soggy when the sauce is applied. I usually have it in the oven while I'm chopping up my ingredients, but if you think that'll take more than 5 minutes, maybe put it in half way through.
Chop up all your ingredients into small pieces. They won't be in the oven for very long so they need to be small enough to cook through.
I've given you the ingredients I use in my tomato sauce, but measurements are to taste and will vary depending on how many you're cooking for. Start with pouring as much passata as you think you'll need into a small bowl. A teaspoonful of paprika should do, but I don't think there's such a thing as too much paprika. Then sprinkle in the rest of the herbs/seasoning, a spoonful of pesto (or two) and mix well.
Take your wrap(s) out of the oven and spoon on your sauce. Spread a thick layer around, almost touching the edges - there's no crust on this pizza! Then decorate your pizza however your tummy wants and put in the oven for up to 10 minutes. You should check after 6-8 minutes. When the sauce has turned darker and the cheese is bubbling, it's ready!
To serve you could leave it to cool for a minute then cut into pieces to share, fold into a calzone or throw on some lettuce and make it a pizza wrap.
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I really hope you enjoyed these recipes! Please let me know if you try any of them and if so, do tweet/instagram me photos!! I'm never not happy to see food.
Polly xo
