QUICK FIX

       Say you come home hungry and tired after a long day at work – cooking yourself anything more than a simple meal would be a challenge, right? To put it mildly. On a night like that all you want to do is kick off your shoes, pour yourself a glass of something and get a plate of food in front of you as quickly as you can. Enter the refrigerated supermarket ready meal. Enter the takeaway.

       But the thing with those meals is that they get awfully boring after a while. And do you know why? Because they’re prepared by someone who doesn’t know you. Someone who doesn’t know how hot you like your curry, how salty you like your soup, how velvety you like your mash or how al dente you like your pasta. They’re made for the average palate. They haven’t been created with unique little you in mind. Which is why a home-cooked meal, no matter how simple, is always more satisfying than an anonymous one. The good news is that it’s not that hard to throw something together in 15 minutes – 20 minutes tops. Something that tastes much better and is far more enjoyable …

       Cooking for yourself is a chance to figure out what pleases your palate. Or, to paraphrase Nicolas Cage in Wild at Heart, see it as a symbol of your individuality and your belief in personal freedom.

A kind of pisto Manchego

       Preparation Time

      15 minutes

      olive oil, for frying

      1 small (or ¹/₂ large) onion, sliced into half rings

      ¹/₂ long red pepper, deseeded and sliced into strips

      4 slices of Serrano ham or chorizo, chopped

      ¹/₂ courgette or 1 baby courgette, cut in half lengthways and sliced into half moons

      10 cherry tomatoes, halved

      2 eggs

      a few fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley leaves (or a pinch of dried oregano)

      salt and freshly ground pepper, to season

      bread, to serve

      Heat a small splash of olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and a pinch of salt, and fry for 2 minutes over a high heat until the onion begins to brown. Add the pepper and fry for 2 minutes more. Add the ham or chorizo and fry for another minute. Add the courgette and fry for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes and fry for another 2 minutes.

      Make two depressions in the vegetable mixture and break in the eggs, then cook for 2–3 minutes until the eggs are set, covering the pan for the last 30 seconds. Sprinkle over a little more salt, if necessary, and in any case with a generous amount of freshly ground pepper and finish with basil or flat-leaf parsley.

      Serve immediately with some kind of rustic bread, or just use whatever bread you’ve got on hand.

Spicy lamb pittas with hummus & garlicky yoghurt

      You can make these lamb pittas in the time it would take you to go out and get a takeaway doner kebab – and these are much nicer!

       Preparation Time

      10 minutes

      1 tsp harissa paste

      olive oil, for frying

      125 g lamb fillet

      2 pitta breads

      ¹/₄–¹/₂ garlic clove, crushed or pressed

      2 tbsp Greek or Turkish yoghurt

      a pinch of salt

      100 g hummus

      a small handful of lettuce leaves

      Place a griddle pan over a high heat. Mix the harissa with half a tablespoon of oil and brush this on to the lamb fillet. Set the fillet on the hot griddle and cook for a total of 2–3 minutes, turning regularly – the inside of the meat should still be pink. Place on a cutting board and let it rest.

      Meanwhile, cook the pittas in the same pan and stir the garlic and a small pinch of salt into the yoghurt.

      Cut the rested meat into thin slices. Slice open the pittas and fill them with hummus, meat, lettuce and a dollop of the garlicky yoghurt.

Miso soup with noodles, shiitake mushrooms, spinach & an egg

      Preparation Time

      15 minutes

      100 g Japanese ramen (or other noodles)

      1 egg

      300 ml vegetable stock (from a cube)

      100 g shiitake mushrooms, sliced

      1 scant tbsp red miso paste

      soy sauce, to taste

      a small handful of spinach leaves

      ¹/₂