1 Oven, 1 Stick Blender = 18 portions for less than £10 – Lucy’s Winter Recipes

For this edition’s recipe page, I’m feeling the warm heartiness of roasting. This is a great way of cooking tea while getting ahead with some batch cooking, and dessert is ready for afterwards! As ever these aren’t recipes to copy exactly, but rather to give you an idea of the volume of foods and use whatever is available. If you would like some help with kitchen creativity, please contact About the Town and they will put us in touch.

Happy cooking!

Lucy x

For all these recipes, turn your oven on to 200c and get a chopping board and good sharp knife out. 

Soup for 6

Ingredients:

• 6 portions of any roasting vegetables (e.g., carrots, sprouts, potatoes, swede, 1 large butternut squash)
• Seasoning (e.g., grill mix of rosemary, thyme, onion, mustard)

Method:

1. Chop hard vegetables (carrots, swede) smaller than quicker-cooking ones (sprouts, squash).
2. Mix all vegetables with a drizzle of oil and roast for 20 minutes.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of seasoning and 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper; stir and return to the oven.
4. Roast for another 15 minutes, checking the softness of hard vegetables.
5. Boil water in a kettle.
6. When vegetables are soft, transfer them to a pan and cover with hot water by about an inch.
7. Blend to your desired thickness, adding more water if necessary.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Eva’s Pasta for 6

Ingredients:

• 6 portions of Mediterranean-style vegetables (e.g., 2 peppers, 2 courgettes, 8 celery sticks, 2 medium carrots)
• 2 tins of tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes, roasted with the vegetables)
• 500g pasta

Method:

1. Cut hard vegetables (carrots) smaller than the quicker cooking peppers.
2. Drizzle with olive oil, mix, and roast.
3. Check vegetables after 20 minutes.
4. Heat tinned tomatoes in a large pan.
5. Cook the pasta.
6. Add cooked vegetables to tomatoes, season to taste, and blend until smooth.
7. Stir in the drained pasta.

Easy Apples x 6

Ingredients:

• 8 apples
• 1 tub of dessert spread (e.g., caramelised biscuit flavour)

Method:

1. Slice apples through the widest part.
2. Place flat side down; if no corer, cut around the core to create a square and push it through.
3. Place flat side up in a baking dish with 1cm of water.
4. Bake for 15 minutes until slightly softened.
5. Fill circles with dessert spread using two spoons.
6. Return to the oven for 3 minutes to warm the spread without melting it.
7. Scoop apple halves into bowls to serve.