48 hours, 1000 posts consisting of FAST, CHEAP and GOOD, over here please.

[HoneyDragon]

No smugginess, no social commentary or judginess.

I want EVERYONE'S go to, cheapest stand by meals that they use, on one cosmic, love in thread of sharing and nicety.

Lets help each other out with a bit of inspiration.

tewi as far as I know Shakshuka is middle eastern. I have it a lot as the ingredients always seem to be in the house.

3 tins toms
2tbs capers
Handful basil
4 skinned garlic cloves
And Mediterranean type veg, chopped into 2cm squares
Teaspoon sugar
6 anchovies
A dried chilli

Bung it in pan, stir through 4 tablespoons olive oil. In low oven, cook for about 2 or 3 hours. Blitz it in blender, have on pasta with plenty of parmesan. Can cook on top of stove in less time but I prefer long cooking.

My pasta bake:

Mince meat
bacon bits/lardons
1 chopped carrot (parboiled)
Mushrooms
Cooked pasta
2x tines campbells condensed tomato soupchopped garlic.

Brown off mince, garlic and bacon bits and drain any oil/fat, in an oven proof dish mix the mince, bacon, cooked pasta, carrots and mushrooms, pour over the condensed soup, so it is also mixed in and coating everything, sprinkle soem grated cheese on top and bake in the overn for twenty minutes.
Divine served with garlic bread and a crisp salad.

Good thread Honey-glazed Dragon

Pan's Sausage and pasta thing:

Ingredients
Olive oil
4 sausages
1/2 red onion
1/2 pepper, sliced
Garlic
Tagliatelle
Black pepper (to taste)
Handy Hint
The sweetness of the onion and the slight kick of the pepper makes it uber flavoursome. Don't use yellow pepper as this is a very sweet pepper and the dish is sweet enough! Don't dry up all this glistening/shiny stuff with parmesan. For a vegetarian alternative, use veggie sausages.
Method

1. Fry the sausages, onion and pepper until the onion is almost caramelised. Add some garlic towards the end, so it doesn't burn.
2. Stir it all into a large pan of cooked tagliatelle and season with black pepper to taste.

penne arrabiata:

fry up some garlic and red chilli.
add passata
salt, peper, bit of sugar
cook to desired consistency.
stir into penne, sprinkle on parsley (if you like) and parmesan and more black pepper.

I could, and have done, eat this every day.

Mushrooms on toast

Fry chopped garlic in oil gently
Add chopped mushrooms, fry til soft
Add splash of cream. Mix.
Serve on toasted bread.
Eat and enjoy.

Takes 10 mins max

I drizzle some reduced balsamic glaze over the lot - the sharpness really cuts throughg the creaminess. I buy a couple of the 99p balsamic vineger from lidl and make my own reduction. Store it in an airtight jar in fridge. Last months and goes with loads. Lush with risotto, over salad, chicken. Yum.

These are quick but filling snack type meals.

Pasta with melted soft cheese as a sauce. Can be done with anything (mushrooms, courgettes, soft tomatoes, leftover chicken bits, grated cheese, onions, tuna, broccoli, anything you have left over or want to use up, just throw in as much or as little as you like) or just eat the pasta and sauce on it's own.

Toast a bread roll or bagel and chop up tomato and red onion to go on top, bit of basil if you like, drizzle over balsamic glaze, pesto or just olive oil and a bit of pepper.

You can make a kind of beans on toast with a tin of haricot beans, fry up some onion and cherry tomatoes and a bit of sweet chilli sauce and mix with the beans when they are warm. Good for using up tomatoes that are a little bit soft.

Toast a bread roll, spread with soft cheese, put salmon trimmings on top (cost about 94p for them and can do several bread rolls) and a poached egg on to top of that. Bit of black pepper. Leave it as an open sandwich. You can serve it with spinach as well but it's surprisingly filling on it's own. Takes longer to toast the bread roll than anything else. You can make a fake poached egg in the microwave in 30-40 seconds. Just break it into a cup, stab the yolk and cook for 30 seconds or so, depending on your microwave.

You can make a pizza on a sandwich wrap by spreading the tomato sauce and a bit of grated cheese on it and heating under the grill for a minute or two. Add anything else you like or leave as it is. DS is not one for pizza toppings. And it's good for using up the wraps before they go out of date.

Couscous with a bit of grilled or roasted beetroot and slightly melted feta cheese is delicious.

Roasted tomato sauce (for pasta)

Take a load of fresh tomatoes and if large slice in half, if cherry leave whole.

Cut an onion and garlic and thyme and put in a thin layer on the bottom of a baking tray, cover with olive oil. Cover the onions with the tomatoes then drizzle with more olive oil, some balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar. Back in oven at 200 for 45 mins or so.

Can jazz up finished sauce by adding, chili, fresh basil, pancetta, tuna etc.

marking place to come and read/post properly later ....just about to Shred

Corn chowder ......
Crisp fry a few rashers of chopped up unsmoked bacon, in a large pan
Take them out and leave to drain.
Finely chop one very large onion, and add to pan with a little vegetable oil. Cook gently until translucent.
Tip in 15 fl oz of water.
Peel 3 very large potatoes - dice into small pieces & add to saucepan
Add about 6oz frozen sweetcorn
In a food processor, whizz the remainder of the 1lb pack of sweetcorn (so about 10oz) with half pint water, until you have something which looks like sweetcorn ice-cream.
Tip into saucepan.
Season well, and then bring the whole thing to the boil and simmer very gently - stirring now and then - until the diced potatoes are cooked and starting to 'fall'
Remove from heat, and stir through about 7 fl oz single cream , and the reserved bacon bits.

Serve with loads of decent french bread batons, or boule

Savoury rice and a tin of tuna or mackerel in tomato sauce.

DD loves it and its filling! Costs about a pound if you buy the value brand rice/fish!

Cook enough fresh pasta (pref linguine) for the number of people who are eating (caveat - I've never done this for more than four). Drain, put back in pan which will still be warm. Stir in two tbsps soured cream per person, and (with scissors) snip in little squares of smoked salmon until there's enough in there. You can use the cheapo salmon scraps or the best stuff. Stir in. Use same scissors to chop a few chives for garnish. Serve.

Miso soup with whatever veg you have (including potatoes), then chick in an egg to poach at the end. Serve with sticky rice.

It's delicious.

Admiral, I used to love tuna, peas and rice with a dash of vinegar as a kid. Yum!

Chop sausages into largish bits, fry with onion and garlic. Add in whatever veg you have, chopped, and a tin of toms. After 20 mins add a tin of curried baked beans. Serve with rice

Plus Nigel slater's surprisingly unponcey casserole:

Fry two onions, rough chopped, and four cloves garlic
When soft add a ring of chorizo, chopped, a big teaspoon smoked paprika, and fry 10mins
Add two tins chopped tomatoes, two tins chickpeas
Simmer an hour

Eat with crusty bread

Smoked salmon trimmings, salad onions, prawns, chili, oil, fry for 2-3 minutes
Turn off heat
Add rocket,
add to freshly cooked spaghetti/ linguine.

spicy sausage with spaghetti

cut up 3 sausages, fry until slightly crispy. add lots of garlic and chilli and a pinch of thyme then a tin of tomatoes simmer for a few minutes and serve with spaghetti

cheapest is basic tomato sauce - chopped onion, tin of tomato, some garlic and oregano serve with pasta. can also add veg, chilli, mince, mince and kidney beans with some cumin and chilli, chicken with peppers, mushrooms or small cubes of emmental cheese jsut before serving it so it goes a little gooey its lovely nice with a little bacon added too

frozen spinach (which goes a long way compared to fresh spinach) with creme fraiche and grated cheese and lot of pepper is nice with pasta

Tuna pasta:

Cook any pasta, drain, add a tin or two of tuna, a good dollop of mayo, sweetcorn/peas from freezer, serve. If you want to be really posh, fry an onion and throw it in with a dash of balsamic vinegar.

When I was a teen, lovely lovely girlfriend wished to impress, said she'd do cauliflower cheese. I turned up to find some florets on plates with some grated cheese in a pile beside it. We ate it. Other than that she was stunning.

Pasta of your choice.
Stir in a spoonful of pesto of your choice (I love Sacla's Roasted Aubergine)
Add in a serving of veg - usually it's sweetcorn here.

Yummy, and contains veg too. :)

And both my kids will eat it.

Aubergine bake

Put some pasta on to boil. Finely dice a large red onion and an aubergine. Fry over a medium/high heat till golden then add 2 tablespoons red pesto and a tin of tomatoes. Season and simmer till the veg cooked through. Drain pasta then add to veg pan, stir together then pop into an ovenproof dish. Scatter with whatever cheese you have handy, pop in a hot oven till bubbling and golden.

In the summer when aubergines are cheap I make giant batches of this sauce to freeze ...then it makes an easy quick meal!

Great idea for a thread HoneyDragon will be trying out some of these recipes soon!

Farfalle pasta (retain a ladle of the cooking water) added to finely sliced courgette cooked in butter, finely diced streaky bacon (or pancetta), handful of raisins, Tablespoonful of toasted pine nuts (optional as can be expensive) and 2 handfuls of frozen cauliflower (cooked with the farfalle pasta). Season with pepper and chilli flakes

Or
Carrot, sweet potato and lentil soup with chicken stock, onion and parsley from my window box.