Midweek meals: Five quick and easy dinner recipes you can make in 30 minutes or less

Low-effort dinners that are perfect for busy weekdays

These dinners are ready in no time and will ensure full bellies for the whole family

Tagliatelle with mozzarella and fresh basil

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

A quick, comforting lunch or dinner

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• 350g of dried tagliatelle

• 2 shallots, finely sliced

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed

• 180mls tomato passata

• 1 tsp chopped thyme

• 2 balls mozzarella, cut into large cubes

• A bunch of fresh basil, roughly ripped up

Method

1. Cook your pasta.

2. Sauté the shallots in a dash of olive oil until translucent and add the garlic for the last minute. Add in the passata and thyme. Allow to bubble on a low heat for ten minutes. Season to taste.

3. Toss your pasta in the sauce and toss in the mozzarella and basil. Season and serve.

 

Baked Salmon

Baked salmon is tasty, quick and easy to prepare

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 4 salmon fillets (skin off)

• 200g of bulgur wheat

• 40g of butter

• 2 spring onions

• 1-2 lemons

• 1 red pepper

• 1 carrot

• Black pepper

• Salt

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Cut the greaseproof paper into 4 equal pieces.

2. Pour the bulgur wheat into a large heatproof bowl and pour in enough boiling water to cover it, then cover tightly with cling film and put to one side.

3. Slice the lemon thinly. Place two slices of lemon dead centre in each piece of greaseproof paper. Put a fillet of salmon on top of the lemon.

4. Season with salt and black pepper then place a knob of butter (10g) on top of the salmon. Take the 4 corners of the greaseproof paper and pull them together then twist to seal the salmon into a parcel.

5. Scrunch the paper together so that it is tightly sealed. Place your parcel into an ovenproof dish then put it directly into the oven. Set a timer for 20 minutes.

6. Finely chop the red pepper, spring onions and carrots into equal-sized pieces. Remove the cling film from the bulgur wheat as it should have soaked up all the hot water at this stage. Stir in the chopped vegetables.

7. When the timer goes off, remove the salmon parcels from the oven.

8. To serve, spoon the bulgur wheat salad into a bowl. It can be served warm or cold. Open a parcel and flip the salmon upside down on top of the salad. This will allow the juices captured in the parcel to be used as a dressing for your salad.