I don’t know whether it has something to do with my itinerant Forces childhood, or intense laziness, but I always cook for an Army! After all, if you are going to chop one onion, might as well chop 3! I have learned to ask at our nearest Fruit & Veg shop for ‘cooking’ bananas and tomatoes, and they know to offer me trays of spoiled or cheap fruit for Jam.
Freezers have gone out of fashion (we have 5 but then we buy in bulk, live a long way from a shop, have whole beasts in the freezer and are always prepared for flood!) but when we have lent small chest freezers to friends over the past few years they have realised the value of having fantastic home cooked meals on hand for the days when you come home too tired or frazzled to even think about cooking.
But if you don’t have a freezer, you can still reap the benefits of a 3 hour stint in the kitchen which feeds the family for a week. Here are some of our family favourites, always on hand in the freezer for quick, easy and homemade meals.
Passata
This is so easy to make in a big pot and freeze for use as pizza topping, the base for spaghetti bolognese, pasta sauce, or chop zucchini and eggplant into it for ratatouille. Or add stock, chopped vegetables and pasta for minestrone. Or blend it for thick Tomato Soup. Passata is so versatile and easy to make – chop onions and garlic and fry in balsamic and olive oil until soft. I whizz the tomatoes now in a food processor rather than waste time chopping them. Add salt & pepper, a good handful of mixed herbs – chopped fresh or dry and leave to cook on the stove for 8 hours, simmering and reducing slowly.
Lentil Stew
Recipe here
Hommous
This is so easy to make, so much better than anything you can buy in the shops, and lasts for lunches for 10 days. Forever in the freezer.
Rinse and drain two or three cans of chickpeas and blend with 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, plenty of lemon juice, ground cumin, salt, pepper, a few heaped tablespoons of tahini and olive oil as required.
Lasagne
I hated making lasagne until I got the Thermomix but now making a white sauce is so easy I need to make it more often (I always forget about lasagne!). It’s a great way to put sneaky veg in with the passata to thicken it up and make sure recalcitrant family members get their five a day! Make one and freeze one or make one big enough that it lasts for a few days for brown bag and school lunches.
Apple Crumble
Cooking apples are cheap and just need chopping and chucking in a pan, half covered with water, to boil and then simmer for hours. Freeze half for later, and make crumble for now. I use oats, desiccated coconut, pecans or almonds, sultanas and a bit of butter. Whizz before adding the butter and then mix slowly until it forms clumps. Spread on top of the apple and bake for 40 minutes or until sizzling and golden. You will have plenty leftover for desserts during the week and breakfast with yoghurt.
Spaghetti Bolognese
Pull out a passata and defrost in a bowl of warm water while browning an onion in a pan (always use balsamic as well as olive oil when frying onions to give depth of flavour and sweetness). Brown the mince slowly, making chopping motions with your wooden spoon to break up clumps. Add the passata when the mince is all brown and juices released. Add a pinch more salt and pepper and leave to simmer slowly for an hour. Spag Bog one night, mince on toast another.
Moroccan Chickpeas recipe here . . .
And of course, Soup! Whatever is in abundance or suits the season. Current favourite (Leek glut!) is Leek & Potato, but soon it will be Pumpkin and Sweet Potato & Chilli in winter. I love Minestrone, and our neighbour makes a mean Pumpkin and Potato Soup. Any soup served with crusty sourdough is a weekday winner for me & mine!
What are your family favourites that keep giving during the week?