Recipes

student FrIendlY reCIPes - Ella Myers

ratatouIlle (serves two)

This is by no means an authentic ratatouille, and I’m sure if the restaurant critic from the film Ratatouille tasted this he would not be impressed. However, this is my go-to meal when travelling and need a delicious but low effort meal with lots of vegetables. There is a bit of chopping, but once this is on the hob you barely have to touch it, so it feels easy peasy.

IngredIents: • 1 courgette • 1 aubergine • 1 can of chopped tomatoes • 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped • Mixed herbs • Olive oil • Red wine (optional) • Feta (optional)

method: 1. Chop the aubergine and courgette into medium sized chunks 2. Put a saucepan on medium heat and drizzle in some olive oil (about a tbsp), letting the oil heat for a few minutes 3. Add in the finely chopped garlic and allow to fry for a few minutes, until beginning to become golden 4. Add 1 ½ tsp of mixed herbs and mix 5. Add in the chopped courgettes and aubergines, stirring to mix 6. Add in the can of chopped tomatoes, mix and turn up the heat to medium-high 7. Allow to cook for 30-40 minutes, until the cubes of courgette and aubergine are no longer hard 8. Add in two splashes of red wine and mix, allowing to cook for another 3-5 mins 9. Take off the heat, serve up in bowls and top with crumbled feta!

Note: If you want to, you can totally skip the red wine and feta these are just for some added flavour, but this is perfectly delicious without (and then also vegan and halal friendly!).

This is a student staple for a reason. However, with a few extra touches your pesto pasta can become a sophisticated and balanced meal.

IngredIents: • Pasta • Carrots • Pesto • Salt and Pepper

method: 1. Peel and chop your carrots 2. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil (to salt the water add in about a good few pinches of salt) 3. When boiling, add the pasta to the water and boil for the minimum amount of time suggested on the packet (this should be around 8-10 minutes) 4. 2-3 minutes before the pasta is finished, take a mug of the pasta water and set it aside 5. At the same time, put your carrots into the water with the pasta 6. Once the pasta is done, drain this and the carrots 7. If you want to, you can separate the pasta and the carrots out, but you can jumble them together as well 8. Return the pasta and the carrots to the saucepan (off the heat) and drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and a couple grinds of black pepper 9. Add a few teaspoons of pesto and mix, adding in a couple of teaspoons of the pasta water you collected earlier. 10. The pasta water will help make the pesto creamier. Continue adding more pesto and pasta water until you have a creamy pesto sauce that coats all of your pasta (and your carrots too if you want). 11. Top with some grated parmesan or cheddar (and maybe some more black pepper) and enjoy!

Note: If you want to spruce this meal up, frying some mushrooms, prawns, bacon, or chicken whilst cooking the pasta and then combining with the pasta at the end (when you’re adding the pesto) would work perfectly.

FrenCh toast WIth Plum & CInnamon ComPote (serves one)

You’ll inevitably get a bit bored of the monotony of bowls of cereal for breakfast. This easy recipe will make you feel very fancy and put-together, as well as tasting delicious. Initially created as a recipe to use up stale bread, this works perfectly for using up those last few tired slices.

IngredIents: • 2-4 slices of bread • Eggs • Milk • Cinnamon • Sugar • 3-4 Plums • Maple/Golden Syrup or Honey

method: 1. Chop the plums 2. Put a pat of butter in a frying pan over medium heat 3. Place the plums in one pan, adding some cinnamon and sugar, mixing and then turning down to a medium-low heat once the mixture begins to bubble. 4. Take a flat-based bowl (any bowl big enough for a piece of bread to sit in it will do) and crack an egg in it, then add about three quarters of a mug of milk and a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon. Mix well. 5. Place the first piece of bread in the bowl, allowing it to soak up the liquid. 6. In the meantime, put a medium sized piece of butter in a frying pan over medium high heat. 7. Flip over the piece of bread to allow the other side to soak. 8. Once the butter in the pan is bubbling, add the piece of soaked bread into the pan. 9. After 1-2 minutes, once one side of the bread is golden brown, flip it over so the other side can fry as well. Once done, take this piece of bread off and put it on your plate. 10. Repeat this process with the other slices of bread, making more French toast mixture if required. 11. Once finished, place the plum compote on top of the bread and pour over some maple syrup or any other condiment that you fancy.