Midweek meals: Five quick and easy dinners to make in 30 minutes or less this week

 From pasta to beef, take the pressure off your cooking time this week with these quick and tasty recipes

There are plenty of options for your dinner table here

The Pasta Queen's Cacio e Pepe

This silky pasta dish comes together in a flash

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 3 mins

Cooking Time

 9 mins

Total Time

 12 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• 300g finely ground Pecorino Romano

• 1tbsp coarsely ground black pepper, plus more for garnish

• Sea salt

• 450 grams homemade Tonnarelli or store-bought fresh spaghetti alla chitarra

Method

1. Fill a large pot halfway with water. Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat.

2. While the water is coming to a boil, in a medium bowl, combine the Pecorino Romano and 240 millilitres water and stir passionately, adding more water a little at a time as needed to make a luscious cream.

3. In a large frying pan, heat the ground pepper over low heat, swirling to lightly toast it and bring out its gorgeous aromas, about 30 seconds. Add a splash of water and swirl to infuse it with the pepper’s spicy and smoky aromatics. Remove the pan from the heat.

4. Once the water has reached a rolling boil, season lightly with salt. Drop in the tonnarelli and cook until the pasta is tender, two to two-and-a-half minutes.

5. Transfer the pasta directly to the pan with the pepper. Pour in the Pecorino Romano sauce and toss vigorously until the pasta is drenched in peppery sauce and the sauce is silky and smooth. Add the tears of the gods [the pasta water] a spoonful at a time if the sauce is clumpy and stir passionately until smooth.

6. Serve drizzled with any remaining sauce in the pan and garnish with a scrunch of pepper.
   
   The Pasta Queen: A Just Gorgeous Authentic Italian Cookbook by Nadia Caterina Munno, with Katie Parla, is published by HarperCollins, priced £22. Photography by Giovanna Di Lisciandro. Available now.

 

Fish Fingers with Garlic Mayo

recipe by:Darina Allen

A perfect after-school dinner

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 8 pieces fresh haddock, hake or pollock cut into fingers 11.5 x 3cm (4 1/2 x 1 1/4 inch) approximately

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• white flour, seasoned well with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little cayenne or smoked paprika (optional)

• For the egg wash:

• 2-3 beaten free-range, organic eggs and a little milk

• panko or dried white breadcrumbs

• To serve:

• crunchy little gem lettuce leaves

• For the garlic mayo:

• 225g (8oz) homemade mayonnaise

• 1-4 crushed garlic cloves (depending on size)

Method

1. Add the garlic to the mayonnaise and season to taste.

2. Heat the oil in a deep fry to 180˚C/350°F.

3. Season the fingers of fish with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then, dip the fish, first into the well-seasoned flour and then into the beaten egg and finally coat evenly all over with the crumbs of your choice. Pat gently to firm up…!

4. Heat some olive oil or clarified butter in a wide frying pan over a medium heat.

5. Cook the fish fingers until golden and crispy on the outside and cooked through into the centre. Drain on kitchen paper.

6. I love to wrap them in crunchy little gem lettuce leaves, add a dollop of garlic mayo (aioli) or your mayo of choice and enjoy.