It feels a bit like we’re competing in a national episode of Ready Steady Cook right now, and I for one have been rehearsing for it my entire life.
Store-cupboard roulette is my favourite kind of cooking: for those of us fortunate enough to have such reserves, it’s a challenge in which there are no losers – after all, how bad can macaroni cheese be, even if the macaroni is actually Bob the Builder pasta and the cheese comes wrapped in jaunty red wax? Frankly, this is no time to worry about perfection; enjoyably edible is what I’m aiming for right now.
So, though the recipes listed below – selected to use as few fresh ingredients as possible – may come with the tagline “Perfect”, don’t be afraid to muck about to adapt them to what you have to hand. That’s how some of the world’s best-loved dishes came about, after all. Just think, you could be creating a future classic…
Use frozen or tinned fish (no need to cook it, if so), if that’s all you have – no one will judge you and they’ll still taste ace.
Pea season is imminent, but there’s nowt wrong with frozen, if that’s all you can get your hands on.
What store cupboards are made for.
One of the great mix-and-match classics out there.
Channel your inner nonna with this quintessential pasta sauce; it’s a great one for batch cooking and freezing, too.
There are no hard and fast rules to cooking, so use creme fraiche instead of cream, and swap the gruyère for whatever you’ve got to hand.
Fresh or frozen fruit: who can really tell the difference once it’s baked?
Well, we’re all making this now, aren’t we?
Just add butter and Marmite. Or is that just me?
What applies to blueberry muffins also applies here: use whatever frozen, jarred or tinned berries or cherries you can find.