What's your favourite "go to" recipe?

[NoHank]

One that never fails or you can always knock up at short notice?

I have been shopping this morning for a few pieces and picked up a cauliflower, carrots and carton of passata. I have realised I tend to always have these in as I know I can whip up a pan of cauliflower and cheddar soup or a quick sauce for pasta in no time at all (and my extremely fussy DC's will always eat them!)

Risotto with leeks and bacon:

Gently fry about 4 rashers of smoked back bacon (chopped up) until the fat begins to run in a casserole you can have on the hob (like a le crueset). Remove with slotted spoon. Add a little butter and two large or three small leeks, sliced, mainly white parts. Sautee until beginning to brown then add a clove or two of crushed garlic and sautee for a couple more minutes. Return bacon to pan. Add a mug full of easy cook rice (or can be brown, you'll just need to cook it longer), a tin of chopped tomatoes but not all the juice, chicken stock - about half a pint -, black pepper (no salt) and a couple of bayleaves. Lid on pan and cook until rice is almost done and stock absorbed, add a couple of handfuls of frozen peas about 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.

Stir in a little tiny bit more butter before serving and have with parmesan if liked.

You can also add mushrooms, peppers, courgettes, other veg of course.

GROSS

cauliflower with tomatoes and cheese? vom.

My mum calls that blushing cailiflower cheese

My staples are tuna meatballs & pasta (all store cupboard items) or homemade burgers (always have mince in the freezer).

I do a tomatoe-y chickpea "thing" which can be served on its own (with bread and a salad) or goes nicely with chicken.

Fry off some chopped onions and bits of chorizo until onions until they go a bit soft - if I have some red peppers I will add them in as well. Then throw in a drained tin of chickpeas, tin of tomatoes (chopped or whole), some paprika and tomato puree. Heat lovers can add chilli! I then just simmer it for a bit - 10 minutes will do, but a bit longer gives the flavours time to blend a bit.

My staples are linguine with prawns, chilli, garlic and Thai green chicken curry.

on these threads the killer is always when someone puts in "mixed herbs" aka devils toe clippings in a recipe

Shepherd's pie
Lentil and bacon soup
Tuna pasta

ImpossiblyGlossy - I don't cook the cauliflower, cheese and tomatoes all together - they are 2 seperate dishes - one is a soup and one is a pasta sauce!

Carbonara, dhal, tomato pasta, tuna melts.

Mine is a carrot sauce (veg sauce really). So easy to make, freezable and good mixed with pasta/cous cous/rice etc. Also good to mix with fish. I've been logging my recipes online, you can find it here if you're interested www.toddler-recipes.co.uk/carrot-sauce.html

Pasta with bacon and peas- fry bacon or pancetta in a bit of garlic, add frozen peas, Creme Fraiche and a ladleful of starchy pasta water. Add parmesan at the end. DH has now nabbed this as his staple dish.