Versatile tomato sauce

This was one of the first things I ever cooked, and at uni it probably formed a quarter of my diet largely due to the simplicity of cooking and the low cost of ingredients.

Ingredients
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
Couple of mushrooms, sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Paprika, basil, thyme, oregano - as much as you like
Ketchup
Salt and pepper

* heat a little oil in a pan and fry the onion, garlic and mushroom for a minute or so.
* Add the tomatoes and a good squirt of ketchup or tomato puree
* Add herbs and seasoning.
* simmer for around 20 minutes

This is a really versatile recipe and forms the basis of a lot of my meals including lasagna, chilli, spag bol etc. It's great just as it is with pasta or can easily be made meaty by adding a tin of tuna or some bacon.

Teriyaki salmon

Ingredients (serves 2)
2 salmon fillets
3 tbsp Soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp honey
1 clove garlic, crushed

* mix the soy sauce, mirin, ginger garlic and honey in a flat dish
* add the salmon fillets and leave to marinade for at least half an hour
* heat and lightly oil a griddle pan, then griddle the salmon until cooked through
* while the salmon cooks, heat the left over marinade in a small pan until reduced and thickened and pour over the salmon to serve. 

I served the salmon with egg noodles, which I stir fried with some thinly sliced carrot, courgette, onion and some cashew nuts and seasoned with soy sauce and chilli. Also good are bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, broccoli or water chestnuts. 

Boulangere potatoes

Ingredients
1 or 2 large potato per person
Small onion, sliced
Clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 pint vegetable stock
Salt and pepper

* Heat oven to 200C
* thinly slice potatoes. I use a mandolin
* Place a layer of potato slices in the base of a lightly greased casserole dish and top with some onion and garlic, and season
* Repeat layering, finishing with a final potato layer
* Pour over the vegetable stick until it comes about half way up the potato layers
* Bake for around 40 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through. Cover with foil if the top is getting too crispy

As a variation, I sometimes mix in sliced swede, parsnip or turnip with the potatoes.

Eggy bread/French toast

Never understood the name 'french toast' considering you fry it, and it's always been called eggy bread in my family.

The rest of my family always insist this should be a savoury dish and they eat it with plenty of ketchup. I think they're wrong and always have it sweet. Maybe this is because I worked at a summer camp in the US when I was 19 and we had French toast with maple syrup for breakfast a couple of times a week.

Ingredients (serves 1)

1 egg

Splash of milk

Large pinch of cinnamon

1 1/2 slices bread

* crack the egg into a flattish dish, add the milk and cinnamon and beat together

* place the bread into the egg mix and let it soak in, turning when necessary

* heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook the bread until golden brown

I like it with golden syrup and sliced banana. Mmm...

Carbonara

This has been a favourite 'home alone' lunch for years. I think I first got the recipe from one of my student cookbooks.

Ingredients (serves 1)
75g tagliatelle or spaghetti
1 egg, beaten and seasoned
1 rasher bacon, sliced
3 mushrooms, sliced
1 spring onion, sliced
Cheese, grated (as much as you want)
Sweetcorn (optional)

* Cook pasta to packet instructions, adding sweetcorn if wanted
* Meanwhile, fry bacon, onion and mushroom together
* Drain the pasta, return to the pan then add the bacon etc, beaten egg and cheese
* Stir well. The heat of the pasta will cook the egg. Finish with a generous amount of black pepper. 

Don't be tempted to put the pan back on the heat or you might end up with scrambled egg!

Nutella Biscuits

Ingredients (makes approx 25)
200g nutella
110g caster sugar
120g self raising flour
1 egg

* heat oven to 180C
* mix all the ingredients together thoroughly
* roll the dough into balls of about 2cm in diameter
* place the balls on a greased baking sheet and press down to flatten somewhat, leaving space for them to spread
* bake for 10 minutes or so

I didn't have quite enough nutella so I used half nutella and half chocolate and caramel spread.

Tarting up the basics

I'm a big fan of supermarket value ranges. Being on a fairly tight budget, they are an absolute life saver and 'basic' doesn't have to mean boring.

A fave easy dinner involves livening up a tin of value chicken in white sauce.

Ingredients (serves 2 or 3)
1 can value chicken in white sauce
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
5 mushrooms
1/2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
Slosh of white wine (optional)
Salt and pepper
Oil

* heat a little oil in a pan, and lightly fry the chopped onion and garlic for a couple of minutes
* Add the mushrooms, then slosh in some white wine, if using.
* Add the tin of chicken and heat through
* Add the mustard and season to taste.

We had it on tagliatelle. Really quick and easy, and much nicer than just heating up the tin on its own.