Midweek Meals: Five fantastic family-friendly dinners to try over the midterm break

These comforting meals will go down a treat, especially on duller days

From slow cooking to stewing and a quick pasta dish — there is something to suit everyone.

Pasta & Meatballs

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

A simple, delicious and cost-effective meal

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• 360g Meatballs

• 2 onions, chopped

• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

• 1 tin chickpeas

• 300g dried pasta

Method

1. Preheat your (fan) oven to 180°C. Put the meatballs into an oven-proof dish and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

2. In the meantime, put a large saucepan on medium heat. Pour in vegetable oil, then add the onion and cook until it begins to turn pale and soften, add the chopped and sliced carrots then stir.

3. Pour in the tinned tomatoes, add a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper, and then allow the sauce to come to a simmer. Cover and leave simmering while the meatballs continue to cook.

4. Once the meatballs have cooked, carefully spoon them into the sauce that is still bubbling. Pour in the drained chickpeas and stir.

5. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Once cooked, serve the pasta and meatballs.

Salt and Chilli Chicken

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

You could also make a beautiful version of this with king prawns. Just swap the chicken for raw king prawns and cook as per the method below.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 400g skinless boneless chicken thighs

• 2-3 cm fresh ginger

• 3 cloves garlic

• 30ml rice wine or sherry

• 150g cornflour

• 2 tbsp sea salt

• 1 tbsp ground white pepper

• 2 tbsp chilli powder

• 1 litre sunflower oil

• 1 onion

• 1 red chilli

• Optional chilli and tomato sauce:

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 cm fresh ginger root

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 red chilli

• 2 tomatoes

• 2 tsp honey

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• juice of half a lemon

Method

1. To begin, trim the chicken thighs to remove any excess fat. To do this, just lay the thighs out on a chopping bord and use the edge of a sharp knife to scrape away any white fat. Discard that and cut the thighs into thin strips, about one centimetre wide is perfect.

2. Peel and grate the ginger root and the garlic. Add those to a bowl big enough to hold all the chicken, add the rice wine and the meat. Stir well to combine and set aside for twenty to thirty minutes to marinate.

3. While the meat is marinating, start on the sauce if you want to have that with the chicken. Peel and grate the ginger and garlic. Wash the red chilli and remove the seeds and pith before chopping it finely. Wash and grate the tomatoes using the coarse surface of a box grater, discarding the skins.

4. Heat the sesame oil in a small saucepan over a high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, reduce the heat to low and add the garlic and ginger. Cook for a minute or two, stirring regularly until the garlic and ginger lose their raw smell, taking care not to burn the garlic or it will become bitter. Add the chopped red chilli and cook for another minute until it softens slightly. Next add the tomatoes. Turn up the heat to bring the pan to a soft boil, then reduce to a simmer, add the soy sauce and the honey, and cover the pan and cook for fifteen minutes.

5. Finally, add the lemon juice and cook the sauce for another five minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more soy sauce, honey, or lemon juice to suit your own taste. When the sauce is done, remove it from the heat and set aside until you are ready to serve.

6. In a wide bowl, combine the cornflour, sea salt, white pepper, and chilli powder. Stir well to ensure they are thoroughly combined. If you prefer you can use plain flour instead of cornflour, but I find that cornflour gives a gorgeous crispy crunchy texture to the chicken. Potato or tapioca flour also work well if you happen to have either of those in your cupboards.

7. Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan until it reaches 180 Celsius. Working in batches, take some of the marinated chicken and dredge it through the flour and spice mixture. I cook this recipe in three batches, so start with a third of the meat, and toss that in the flour to coat it well. Shake off any excess flour and then carefully lower the chicken into the hot oil. Fry for just one minute before removing it from the oil using a slotted spoon and allow it to drain on some kitchen towel or a wire rack placed over a roasting tray.

8. Repeat with the final two batches of chicken. Take care to ensure that the oil returns to 180 Celsius between batches. If the oil is cooler than that, you will not get a lovely crispy coating on the chicken, and it may not cook through properly. Frying the chicken twice is what gives you a beautifully crispy finish.

9. Once all the chicken has had its first fry, bring the oil back to 180 Celsius. There is no need to fry in batches for the second fry, you can put all the chicken back in the pan at the same time and fry it for one more minute. When it is done, let it drain again on kitchen towel for a few minutes.

10. Peel and slice the onion and thinly slice the red chilli. Stir fry both together in a little sesame oil until the onion is soft and sweet, just a few minutes will do it. Serve the chicken on a big plate with the stir-fried onion and chillies mixed through. Scatter some fresh red chilli and a few leaves of fresh coriander over the top and serve.