One list, five meals

Monday

Pasta with a Meaty Sauce

Serves 4

Pasta for 4, tagliatelle or pappardella

1 onion, finely chopped

A dash of olive oil

2 small carrots, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

1 tsp of ground nutmeg

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

½ a tsp of chilli flakes or powder

3 tbs of tomato purée

160 mls of red wine

250g of minced lamb

Parmesan, grated

Put your pasta into slightly salted boiling water and leave to cook.

Sauté your onion in a dash of heated oil until translucent, add the carrots and celery and continue cooking until they have softened slightly.

Add the nutmeg, cinnamon, chilli, tomato purée and wine. Leave to bubble on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

Blitz with a soup gun to make into a sauce, season to taste.

Brown the lamb mince in another pan in some heated oil.

Add the sauce and leave to bubble for about 15 minutes, or until the lamb is cooked.

Drain your pasta and serve with the sauce and some Parmesan grated on top.

Tuesday

Mussels with an Asian twist

Serves 4

Dash of sesame oil

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

A thumb-size piece of ginger, finely chopped

1 small red chilli, finely chopped

5 kaffir lime leaves, optional

100mls of white wine

½ a tin of coconut milk

1 kg of mussels, cleaned and de-bearded

A small bunch of coriander or Thai basil leaves, chopped

A small bunch of spring onions, white part chopped

Chunky bread to serve

Heat the oil and gently fry the garlic in a large saucepan, once it is starting to change colour add the ginger and chilli and continue cooking for about a minute.

Add the kaffir lime leaves, wine and coconut milk and stir well.

Once the liquid is bubbling place the mussels into the pan, making sure to discard any with open shells.

Tap them on a counter before cooking and if they will still not close throw them out.

Mussels need very little cooking time — about 5 minutes will do.

Remove and discard any shells that do not open during the cooking process.

Serve with a generous spoonful of the sauce and a chunk of bread to soak it up, sprinkle with the coriander and spring onion.

Wednesday

Squash, Prawn and Coconut Curry

Serves 4

A dash of sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 chilli, finely sliced

4 tbsp of Thai yellow curry paste

½ a tin of coconut milk

200 mls of stock

1 butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into bite-size pieces

400g of prawns

Rice or noodles for 4

A small bunch of spring onions, sliced

You can make the stock by boiling the heads of the prawns with half an onion for about 15 minutes.

Strain the liquid and discard the solid matter — it will make a good base for the curry.

If not, a good quality powdered stock should do.

Put your rice or noodles on to boil.

Fry your garlic in a little heated sesame oil.

Once the garlic has started to change colour, add the chilli.

Stir in the curry paste and then the coconut milk and stock.

Add the butternut squash, put on a lid and leave to bubble away gently until the squash is softening.

You may need to add a little more stock as it is soaked up.

Add the prawns and cook until they have turned completely pink and cooked through.

Taste the sauce and see if it needs some black pepper or some more chilli.

Serve with the rice or noodles and with spring onions scattered on top.

Thursday

Onion, blue cheese and sausage pizza

Serves 4

4 onions, thinly sliced

A dash of olive oil

1 tsp of honey

A very small dash of white wine

4 small pizza bases, enough for a pizza per person

6 good quality sausages, chopped into small pieces

150g of blue cheese, I use Cashel Blue

A handful of thyme

Heat a dash of oil and sauté the onions very, very slowly.

This brings out the sweetness and flavour.

Add your honey and wine once they are completely soft and continue cooking for about another 10 minutes to reduce it down.

Season to taste.

Spread the onion mixture on to the pizza base, sprinkle with the sausage, cheese and thyme.

Place in a very high oven until the sausage is cooked, the base golden and the cheese melted.

Friday

Aubergine and Tofu

Serves 4

Rice for 4

1 tbsp of sesame oil

4 tbsp of light soya sauce

1 tbsp of honey

Juice and zest of 1 lime

250g of hard tofu, cut into bite-size pieces — they usually are around 200g

1 aubergine, de-seeded and sliced

1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into bite-size pieces

A handful of young spinach leaves

1 red chilli, finely sliced

Mix the sesame oil, half the soya sauce, the honey and the lime zest.

Add half the lime juice and stir well.

Add the tofu and leave to marinade for at least 20 minutes.

Put your rice on to boil.

Heat another dash of sesame oil and fry your aubergine and pepper.

Add the chilli and the tofu.

Add the juice from the marinade and fry until everything is heated, stir through the spinach.

Taste to see if it needs some black pepper and also add the remaining soya and or lime juice as they are needed.

Serve with the drained rice.