On Masterchef this week, one contestant made a brined fillet of mackerel served with cucumber, lime and smoked mackerel cannelloni and gochujang caviar. Another turned out a dessert with seven components, including a biscuit crumb, yuzu curd, mascarpone cream, sesame brittle, Italian meringue and sorbet. For anyone who’s not been watching this series (congratulations – you’ve saved yourself many, many hours), it’s the version featuring amateur, not professional, cooks. In other words, there are people out there who have managed to work out, from their home kitchens, how to make a lapsang souchong tea-smoked banana cake, whip up a sauce vierge and hand-stretch vermicelli noodles.
I am not those people. Regardless of my love for the show – I can’t get enough of Greg and John’s podgy bellied, middle aged-man energy, the pressure of the brightly-lit kitchen, the dramatic music – it’s miles away from what getting dinner on the table looks like in my house. I wondered, while watching my zillionth episode this week, if our collective obsession over the last decade with high-octane TV food competitions has made cooking feel like more of a Herculean task than it already does. Why bother making a birthday cake if it can’t be Bake Off worthy? If dinner wouldn’t illicit Greg’s delighted grin, maybe it’s easier to just order your fourth Deliveroo of the week?
So today I bring you two properly easy midweek meals that make use of a few ready-made ingredients, come together quickly and aren’t served with a side of bragging rights. In fact, I can attest they can be made while looking after an increasingly wriggly baby. Plus, I figured you’ve seen enough Union Jack-emblazoned cakes and the like this weekend to last you another 70 years. So there are flatbreads topped with ready-made baba ganoush and spiced, roasted vegetables, and an easy rice dish that sings with sunny, Spanish flavours. They won’t be winning any prizes, but hopefully you think they’re as delicious as we did.
Flatbreads with Middle Eastern-style roasted vegetables
Serves 2
1 red onion, chopped into rough chunks
1 large jarred red pepper, chopped into rough chunks
2 garlic cloves, in their skins
½ head broccoli, cut into florets
2 tsp harissa
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tin (400g) butterbeans
200g passata
2 ready-made flatbreads (I used M&S)
2 tbsp baba ganoush or houmous
Pickled chillies, to serve (optional)
Preheat the oven to 180C fan. Arrange the onion, pepper, garlic and broccoli on a baking sheet. Mix the harissa and cumin seeds with a good drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl then pour over the vegetables, tossing to coat. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the onions are softened and the broccoli has started to char.
Stir in the passata and butterbeans. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the flatbreads according to the pack instructions. Spread with the baba ganoush before piling on the roasted veg. Finish with pickled chillies and serve with a crunchy lemon-dressed salad, if you like.
Spanish-style veggie rice
Serves 2, with leftovers
1 onion, finely diced
200g mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 large jarred roasted pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Pinch chilli flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
200g paella rice
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
200ml passata
1 tsp black olive tapenade
100g frozen peas
6 jarred artichokes, halved
A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
Garlic mayonnaise, to serve (optional)
Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the onion for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat before adding the mushrooms. Continue to fry for another 4-5 minutes, until the onion is completely softened and the mushrooms are browned. Add the peppers, garlic, chilli flakes and and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the smoked paprika, rice, stock, passata and tapenade. Stir, bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, without stirring, for around 15-20 minutes, until the rice is just tender. You’re aiming for the liquid to be absorbed and to create a crunchy crust on the bottom – add a splash more water if it looks too dry.
Scatter over the frozen peas, artichokes and cherry tomatoes and cook for another couple of minutes. Spoon over a little of the oil from the jar of artichokes then serve with some garlic mayo.
Switch it up
Both of these dishes are endlessly adaptable. For the flatbreads, use cauliflower, sweet potato, cherry tomatoes, or whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. You could crumble some feta on top if you have it in the fridge. For the rice, try adding shredded torn spring greens or kale along with the peas, or sundried tomatoes if you don’t have artichokes to hand.
Make your own flatbreads if you prefer: mix 100g self-raising flour with 4 tablespoons natural yoghurt and 1 tablespoon olive oil to form a dough. Halve then roll each piece out onto a flour-dusted surface. Cook in a hot, dry frying pan for around 3-4 minutes, turning halfway.
Use it up
Serve leftover roast veg and baba ganoush on top of cooked grains for an easy lunch the next day.
Pop the remaining jarred artichokes into a sandwich along with a little harissa paste, cheese of your choice and some green leaves.
PS This week I’m loving…
This crispy chilli oil from Shedletskys Deli is made using surplus ingredients from their hot sauce. It’s addictive – have on anything from scrambled eggs to stir-fries.