Garlicky Potato & Ham Bake!

This is an easy winter warmer - it only takes about 15 minutes to prepare but needs to bake for about an hour. This recipe is enough for 4 portions and costs about £1.50 each.

Ingredients

750g potatoes - peeled and sliced into 1/2 cm rounds
200g sliced honey roast ham - torn into pieces
250ml double cream
150ml semi skimmed milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves of garlic - peeled and crushed
3 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
50g cheese - grated


How to make

Preheat the oven to 180oC / Fan 160oC / Gas 4.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the potatoes for 5 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and layer them in a casserole putting the ham in between each layer.

Mix the cream, milk, mustard, garlic and parsley together and season.

Pour over the potatoes and sprinkle the cheese on top.

Bake for an hour until the potatoes are tender and the cheese is bubbling.

Nice with some leaves and a piece of crusty bread.

Bacon, Veg & Chilli Spaghetti!

This tasty pasta dish uses up spare veg and is quick and easy - I've used what we had in the fridge but you can use other veg instead or as well as e.g broccoli. It took me about 20 minutes to make and costs less than a £1.00 each.

Ingredients

200g dried spaghetti
Jar of Tomato & Chilli pasta sauce - 350g
2 courgettes - cut into small cubes
2 carrots - peeled and cut onto small cubes
3 slices of bacon - cut into pieces
Handful of cheese - grated


How to make

Cook the bacon in a frying pan and when it's just turning brown add the tomato sauce and the veg.

Simmer gently for about 10 minutes until the veg are soft.

In the meantime, cook the spaghetti following the instructions on the packet.

Drain the spaghetti and pile the sauce on top and sprinkle with the cheese.

Gammon Ham, Egg & Chips!

A small joint of gammon (750g) costs about £3.50 but it will go a long way. You can have it with egg and chips like I am doing here, at a cost of about £2.00 each and then use what's left to put into a pie or a sandwich.

Ingredients

Small smoked joint of gammon - 750g
Two handfuls of frozen chips - more if you like more!
2tsp oil
2 eggs
Can of baked beans


How to make

Preheat the oven to 190oC, Fan 170oC, Gas 5.

Put the gammon into a baking tray and cover loosely with foil - cook on the middle shelf for 35 minutes per 500g + 35mins.

Put the chips into another tray and put into the oven 40 minutes before the gammon will be ready.

Remove the foil from the gammon when there is 30 minutes of cooking left.

When the gammon is cooked, remove from the oven and leave to stand for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a small frying pan and when it's hot fry the eggs, at the same time gently warm the beans in a small pan.

Slice the gammon and serve with the chips, egg and beans.

Em's Lasagne!

My brother's girlfriend Emilie sent me this recipe so I tried it and it's good!

Ems “left-overs” Lasagne

For Bolognese

500g lean mince beef

8 big mushrooms

2 onions

Packet flavoring
2 tins of Tomatoes 
- Brown the meat in a frying pan, with onion (1 or 2) and several mushrooms

Lasagne white sauce
Pasta sheets

- Let this cook

- Once cooked add 2 tins of tomatoes to a separate pan

- Pour the packet mix in with this.

- Add the meat and vegetable mix to the pan and stir until hot.

- Once simmering let it simmer for 40 mins

That’s your base done…. And a yummy sauce you can use on anything, from pasta to a jacket potato topping… this made me 8 servings.

Lasagne

- Once simmering, take off the heat. Get your lasagne dish and add on layer of meat, then add a layer of pasta sheets (break them up as you don’t want them to overlap for a quick cook) then add a layer of white sauce. Repeat this process again, then sprinkle grated cheese on top and some mixed herbs,

- Cook till golden brown on top (roughly 30-40 mins)

- And eat - this should serve around 4 people