One easy dish I really like--tell me yours?

[Cuddleczar]

This is the dish I like to cook on Friday nights, nice and easy and I never get bored eating it. Please let me know yours, as I would like more like this! Veggie ones particularly welcome.

Adjust quantities according to number of people you are cooking for...
Some baby plum or cherry tomatoes
Some pitted black olives (I like Sainsbury's, a small jar)
Olive oil (about 1 tablespoon per person)
Crushed garlic cloves (about one per person)
Mozzarella cheese (a small packet will serve between 2 and 5 people)
Penne pasta

(The recipe was originally from a Sainsbury's mag I think and the original had dried chilli flakesomitted by me as DCs don't like itand fresh basil leaves to garnish, which I do if I have some but isn't essential. You can add chunks of red pepper to the tomatoes if you have some you need to use up.)

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Wash the tomatoes and dry on kitchen towel (so the oil will cling to them). Rinse the olives and dry. Place both in shallow oven-proof dish. Add garlic and olive oil, stir well to coat. Bake for 30 mins till tomatoes are soft. 20 mins before end of cooking time, put on large pan of water to boil. 10 mins (check time on your pasta packet) before end of cooking time, put pasta on to cook. Chop the mozzarella into smallish pieces. When pasta and tomatoes are ready, drain both and add tomatoes and olives mixture with all the oil to the pasta. Stir well. Then stir through the mozzarella. Add basil if using. Enjoy!

[RandomMess]

Marking my place to try these out, although dh wouldn't like ANY of them

[MrsS1980]

My husband loves making Nigella's eggs in purgatory.

Fry off some garlic, onions and chilli flakes. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes. When bubbling crack and drop in one egg per person and let them poach for a couple of minutes in the tomato sauce. Grate some fresh parmesan over the top.

Serve in the pan with nice chunks of bread.

Even better with a nice bottle of red! Gorgeous and hardly any Washing up.

[trixymalixy]

DH makes omelettes with smoked salmon and capers in. First time I was , but it's really delicious, easy and feels a bit more special than a standard omelette.

[WillieWaggledagger]

I roast veg (peppers courgettes onions) in olive oil, slice halloumi and put on top of veg. Back in the oven on high until halloumi is soft. Serve with lemon juice squeezed over. Dp likes to have with couscous, I don't

[soontobeslendergirl]

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1167651/chicken-and-chorizo-jambalaya

This is delicious and easy and quick - it's got meat in :o

[nottheparrot]

Two ingredients, one pan, ready in ten minutes -

cook pasta (M&S Fiorelli is nice) but any pasta will do

cut a (good) portion of Cambozola blue cheese into smallish pieces

when pasta is cooked, drop in the cheese pieces and let them melt

yummy!

[nottheparrot]

Forgot to add - can drop frozen peas into the pasta water after 5 mins if you want a bit of colour (and one of your seven a day!)

[somedizzywhore1804]

Shamelessly marking place (and dribbling)

[Mrswellyboot]

I must write some of these down

I love a quick salmon dinner

Put salmon fillets in a magic bag with Cajun seasoning. Put in the oven to bake

Parboil new potatoes, cut in half and add garlic salt and rosemary and roast.

Serve with salad or peas. Super quick dinner 30mins

[sallysparrow157]

Pasta with peas and pancetta - put pasta on (shell type ones), fry pancetta in pan til getting crispy, chuck frozen peas in and cook til not frozen any more, add some creme fraiche, Parmesan, chopped mint and lemon juice, stir in cooked pasta.

Or even easier, pasta and either garlic mushrooms or smoked salmon - boil pasta and if making garlic mushroom one slice and fry some mushrooms with olive oil and crushed garlic. Once pasta cooked, drain, return to saucepan, chuck in either mushrooms or some chopped up smoked salmon, creme fraiche or Philadelphia, whichever you have lying about, black pepper (and a squeeze of lemon juice for the salmon one), stir and serve (that's my pre night shift staple when living alone - sleep til an hour before I need to be at work, cook that, eat it, shower, still get to work on time!)

[NationMcKinley]

Great thread! Here are two that I do regularly:-
(For one)
Half a tin of chickpeas
3 handfuls of spinach - chopped
Cubes of halloumi
Patak's madras paste.

Mix the chickpeas with the halloumi. Add a teaspoon (or so, depends on how spicy you like it) of the madras paste in a microwaveable bowl. Cover and microwave for 2 minutes. Add the chopped spinach, mix well and "serve". This is something I often make at work as it's quick, filling and healthy. You can use any type of curry paste depending on taste.

One that I do for the family is Italian baked fish. I'm rubbish with quantities I'm afraid so I make it up as I go along.....

I make a smooth tomato sauce from passata, onions, garlic, basil, courgettes and mushrooms (and and other lurking veg) all blitzed up together. This then gets poured over white fish of any description and baked in the oven until it's cooked. We have it with brown rice. It's lovely, healthy and a great way to get plenty of veg down the DSs throats

[SoftSheen]

Pasta with roast squash, spinach, mozzarella and pine nuts:

-Cut butternut squash into cubes and roast together with chopped red onion, chopped garlic, oregano, rosemary, olive oil and salt. Stir occasionally (takes about 45 min to cook).

-Cook pasta shapes of choice (we like fusilli) and mix with the hot roasted squash. Toss through several big handfuls of baby spinach leaves, until slightly wilted.

-Put into pasta bowls and scatter over a few pieces of torn mozzarella, some toasted pine nuts and black pepper.

Easy, delicious and pretty healthy too.

[slightlyglitterstained]

Mine are all pretty minimalist (i.e. fast and not many ingredients!). All veggie.

Sichuan noodles: 5oclockapron.com/mycolumn/2013/5/9/noodles
I actually don't tend to cool the noodles, so they end up being warm. I also add frozen peas last minute and often skip the sesame seeds and spring onions if I don't have any in. Takes less than 10 minutes.

Creamy rocket pasta:
Cook pasta, rinse & chop rocket while it's cooking. If I have cherry tomatoes, halve those. Drain cooked pasta and stir in chopped rocket, a few dollops of creme fraiche. Add some grated cheese & tomatoes.

Tofu hotpot (fast to prep, not to cook):
Cube one packet tofu and one aubergine and put in casserole dish. Pour over one small jar of Sharwoods stir fry sauce - hoisin or black bean is good. Put lid on, oven at low temp for a couple of hours. Serve with rice, and some green veg (steamed broccoli, peas will do).
If I want to bulk it out/fancy it up, add any of the following: halved mushrooms, thick slices of courgette, sliced red pepper, dried mushrooms (rehydrated in some water).

[Gerty1002]

I do a quick Asian salad, inspired by Jamie's 15 minute meals:

Fry some chicken/salmon/prawns until cooked then add some sweet chilli sauce and some sesame seeds if you like. Goes lovely and sticky.

As that's cooking pour boiling water over some angel hair noodles and leave to soak. When cooked, drain and add a little sesame oil.

Throw a bag of salad into a bowl

If I want something a little more substantial I'll add either egg fried rice (throw an egg into a pan with a little oil and roughly fry/scramble. Throw in cooked rice and peas/spring onions/whatever you like), stir fried veg or another meat/fish fried with garlic or in another sauce.

Throw it all into bowls and serving dishes or even just leave it in the pan, put on table and dig in!

[AmeliaToppingLovesShopping]

I will definitely be trying some of these, they sound delicious.

Mine is pesto pasta with spinach. We normally have this at least once a week.

Cook pasta as per instructions
Cook frozen spinach in the microwave
Using a hand blender mix a jar of pesto with the spinach
Cook any other veg (normally frozen)
Mix pasta, pesto mix and veg together
Top with grated cheese

I some times add ham or crispy bacon and serve with garlic bread.

The DDs love it.

[Gerty1002]

Oh that sounds lovely Amelia, I can't get my DH to have anything other than.tomato based sauce with pasta :(

[antimatter]

I've made Chicken Zorba yesterday - it makes 4 generous portions, kids loved it!

I am cooking Chorizo Pepper Pasta right now!

[Ohwhatfuckeryisthis]

My Dcs fave. Pasta and Bunch of asparagus per 3 people, chopped into inch lengths and cook lightly. Packet of chunky smoked salmon(not the sliced stuff). Mix into the cooked pasta, sprinkle with lemon juice and add either a large tub of single cream or cream fraiche, black pepper.

[13loki]

Snip a packet of bacon. Fry with some sambal garlic until as crispy or flacid as you like. If it seems a bit dry, add a glugg of oil. Meanwhile boil pasta and frozen broccoli florets. I use conchiglie. Once cooked, toss the pasta and bacon together. Throw over some grated parmesan (or I sometimes use grated mature cheddar). My favourite food. I would rather eat this than cake!

[Foosyerdoos]

Carrot and lentil soup
5x grated carrot
3-4. X small cubed carrot
Orange lentils (1/2 cup?)
Tomato purée 3-4 heaped dessert spoons
Veg stock
Onions
3 dessert spoons peanut butter

Chop onion and fry add rest of ingredients to pan and cook till cooked.

[cricketpitch]

I just do a big pot of vegetable and lentil soup. Takes fifteen or twenty minutes and uses up all the vegetables in the fridge and any in the freezer that make it a bit more interesting. ( Add potatoes for a bit of bulk)

Also do miso soup with noodles, (or stock made with Marigold Swiss Vegetable stock powder and boiling water plus lime juice and chilli) and any sliced and shredded vegetables that I have around thrown into the pot.

Thats all.

[DrownedGirl]

Microwave some sliced peppers and red onion till soft
Add to a flat bottomed frying pan with a slug of oil, cooked slices of waxy potato go well too

Shake around a bit
Add seasoned beaten eggs
Cook slowly till set on the bottom
Sprinkle with crumbled feta
Finish off in the oven
Serve in wedges

Frittata

[dorathedestroyer]

My favourite comfort supper is sushi rice and salmon - once you've got the knack of the rice, it's so easy.

make sushi rice (wash rice in water till it's clear; cover with just enough cold water; put lid on; cook for 15 mins or until water's absorbed; remove from heat, stir through some sushi dressing and cover with tea towel to steam.)

shred some smoked salmon, slice half an avocado and/or cucumber. Scatter on top of warm rice with sesame seeds and soy, with wasabi on the side. Yum.

[funnyoldonion]

Can't wait to try some if these! X