GIVE your cooking a springtime boost.
With new twists on old favourites, you can make mealtimes more interesting.
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Here’s a meal for midweek, something for the weekend and a
delicious dessert.
Recipes from recipes.lidl.co.uk. Cost per serving is based on the proportion of ingredients used to make the dish.
Prices are correct at the time of going to press.
Slow-cooked Chicken Casserole with Pancetta, Peas and Mint
THERE’S a lovely contrast between the crisp, golden skin and the tender, juicy meat in this slow-cooked chicken casserole recipe, and the addition of fresh mint and peas gives it a wonderfully fresh flavour.
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(Serves four)
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 35 minutes
YOU NEED:
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- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 kg chicken drumsticks, skin on
- 1 tbsp flour
- 2 onions, finely diced
- Half a leek, white part only, finely diced
- 1 stick celery, finely diced
- 200g pancetta, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 350ml white wine
- 400ml chicken stock
- 225g frozen peas
- 10g mint, chopped
- 10g parsley, chopped
- Black pepper
METHOD: Preheat the oven to 150°C/130°C fan/gas mark 2.
Place a casserole dish over medium heat and add a tablespoon of the oil to heat up.
Dust the chicken in the flour, then add to the pan and fry for
eight minutes until golden all over.
Remove from the pan, reduce the heat and add the remaining oil, onions, leek and celery.
Cook for five minutes, until soft, then add the pancetta and cook for a further five minutes on a slightly higher heat.
Stir in the garlic and wine, increasing the heat for a couple of minutes until the wine has reduced by two-thirds.
Add the stock, stir well and bring back up to the boil, seasoning generously with black pepper.
Return the chicken to the pan, arranging the pieces skin-side up
across the dish.
Place in the oven and cook for about 80 minutes, keeping an eye
on the liquid level and topping up with a little extra stock if required.
After this time, add the peas straight from the freezer and increase the heat to 200°C/180°C fan/ gas mark 6.
Remove the lid from the dish and return to the oven uncovered to brown the skin.
Stir in the mint and parsley and allow the casserole to sit for five
minutes before dividing between bowls to serve.
WEEKEND MEAL PER PERSON: £1.85
Spanakopita Rice and Egg Bake
(Serves four)
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Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
YOU NEED:
- 300g white rice
- 2 medium onions
- 2 tbsp oil
- 4 large garlic
- cloves
- 240g spinach
- 7 medium eggs
- 100ml semi-skimmed milk
- 200g Greek-style
- salad cheese
- 200g carrots
METHOD: Cook the rice in plenty of boiling salted water for eight minutes; it should still have some bite.
Drain and rinse in cold water, then drain really well
Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and cook in the oil in a large pan for about five minutes until starting to soften.
Add the garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring, then pile in the spinach, cover and cook for two minutes to wilt down.
Cook uncovered for one to two minutes to evaporate excess liquid, then remove from the heat and snip up the spinach with scissors.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4, and grease a baking dish (about 20cm x 30cm) with a little oil.
Stir the rice through the spinach and onion mixture. Beat three of the eggs with the milk and some seasoning and mix this in too, crumbling in two-thirds of the salad cheese.
Tip into the baking dish and smooth out.
Drizzle the top with a little oil and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the dish from the oven and make four deep divots using a spoon, then break an egg into each one.
Season, then crumble the rest of the cheese all over the top.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until the whites of the eggs have set but the yolks are still slightly runny and creamy.
Meanwhile, use a veg peeler to shave the carrots into ribbons.
Steam or microwave for a couple of minutes until just softened but still with bite.
Serve along with the spanakopita bake.
MIDWEEK TREAT PER PERSON: 97p
All-in-one Apple Pud
THIS is the easiest pud you’ll ever make – a no-fuss base of sweet and juicy spiced apples is topped with a handful of ingredients that magically transform into a spongy cake-like topping. Delicious!
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(Serves four)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
YOU NEED:
- 1.25kg Braeburn apples
- 175g light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp caramel sauce
- 125g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 150g butter
METHOD: Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/ gas mark 6.
Peel, core and chop the apples, then put them in a frying pan (preferably oven- proof) with 50g of the sugar, the cinnamon and two tbsp of water.
Cook for five minutes, or until the apples start to soften.
Leave the apples in the pan if it’s ovenproof. If not, tip them into a baking dish.
Drizzle over the caramel sauce. Mix together the flour, baking powder and remaining sugar and scatter the mixture over the top of the
apples.
Pour over the melted butter, ensuring it soaks up all the pockets of flour.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until it’s bubbling and golden.
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Remove from the oven and let rest for five to ten minutes before serving with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream.
DELICIOUS DESSERT PER PERSON: £1.36
