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Recipes

Minestrone Pasta Pesto Soup

Minestrone Pesto Pasta Soup

Minestrone Pasta Pesto Soup

A wonderful taste of Italy, delicious with gooey cheese melted on the top. While there's no set of ingredients for this soup (more what you've got to hand or in the cupboard), we found this combination delicious and it's 4 of our 5-a-day in one go.
It can be tweaked to be vegetarian or vegan by taking out the prosciutto and switching the stock cubes for vegetable, mushroom or garlic and herb ones and swapping the pesto and cheese for vegan versions.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Italian
Servings 5

Equipment

  • Hand blender (optional)

Ingredients
  

  • 6 spray Spray oil
  • 1 whole Leek Trimmed and finely chopped
  • 1 whole Carrot Chopped
  • 6 slices Prosciutto Finely chopped/ripped
  • 3 cloves Garlic Chopped finely (or 15g straight from freezer)
  • 170 g Broccoli stem Chopped thin like matchsticks
  • 1500 ml Water
  • 1 whole Ham stock cube
  • 1 whole Chicken stock cube
  • 1 tin Chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tin Butter beans
  • 75 g Soup pasta Or spaghetti broken into 5cm pieces
  • 2 whole Courgettes Chopped
  • 60 g Peas Frozen
  • 15 g Fresh basil leaves Chopped finely
  • 2 tbsp Reduced fat green pesto
  • 2 tbsp Cheese Grated

Optional Serving Suggestions

  • 4 slice French baguette 2cm thick
  • 200 g Cheese Grated

Instructions
 

  • Mist a large pan with spray oil on a medium heat. Add the leek, carrot and prosciutto and fry for 5 minutes until the leek has softened, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and stir it in.
  • Dissolve the 2 stock cubes in 1l of the water (boiling hot) and add the stock to the pan, along with the broccoli stem and tinned tomatoes. Bring to the boil, and simmer uncovered for aout 12 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
  • Meanwhile, drain the butter beans and add them to the remaining 500ml water, then blend them with a hand blender. If you're using smaller sized beans like kidney or black-eye beans then no need to blend.
  • Add the soup pasta, beany water and courgettes to the big pan, and cook stirring occasionally for about 8 minutes until the pasta is cooked. Stir through the frozen peas and basil and season to taste.
  • Ladle into bowls. Add ½tbsp pesto to the bowls for the people who like it and mix it in. Serve with optional cheese on toast (or "isle flottante") on top for kids, or extra grated cheese for a keto hit.

Notes

This is a great recipe as it can be amended for whatever you’ve got to hand, and the base of tomatoes, garlic and basil with pasta is delicious. We first tried this during lockdown using the broccoli stem due to lack of cabbage, and butter beans as those are our favourite in soup and it went down surprisingly well. 
We wanted to work out how many portions of our 5-a-day of fruit and vegetables this soup was: we think it’s about 4 of our 5-a-day based on a portion based on the NHS advice that “80g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit and vegetables counts as 1 portion of your 5 A Day”.
Here’s the working, please comment if you have a better way to work it out:
Leek 250 g
Carrot 65 g
Garlic 15 g
Broccoli 170 g
Tomatoes 400 g
Butter beans (drained weight) 235 g
Courgettes 400 g
Peas 60 g
Basil 15 g
Total weight of vegetables + beans 1610 g
Number of servings 5 Servings
Veg weight per serving 322 g
5-a-day per serving (80g = 1 portion of 5-a-day) 4.0  of 5-a-day per serving
Keyword 5-a-day, easy, soup, tweak-for-vegan-version, tweak-for-vegetarian-version, winter warmer
  • Minestrone Pesto Pasta Soup
    Minestrone Pesto Pasta Soup
  • Minestrone Pesto Pasta Soup Bowl
    Minestrone Pesto Pasta Soup Bowl
Categories
Recipes

Lorna’s Banana Pancakes

Lorna’s Banana Pancakes

ScranMa
My friend Lorna gave me this recipe for a pancakes that doesn't need any time for the batter to rest. While they don't rise like normal pancakes, they taste delicious and are ready really quickly. Another tasty way to use up older bananas is this tasty Banana Muffin recipe.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 1

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large Egg
  • 1 medium Banana Ripe – brown or spotty ones are best
  • 1/8 whole Nutmeg Freshly grated
  • 0.25 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 12 spray Spray oil

Instructions
 

  • Mash the banana in a bowl or jug with a lip for easier pouring later. Add in the ground cinnamon, nutmeg and eggs and beat together to form the batter.
  • Spray oil into a non-stick frying pan, warm up the pan then pour in the batter into pancake shapes and cook on one side until solid enough to flip. Flip and cook on the other side until cooked through and golden.

Notes

When the kids mash the bananas they seem to eat more pancakes, they can make the whole recipe themselves (crack the egg into a separate cup so any shell pieces can be more easily removed). This can do one big pancake like an omelette or about 4-5 smaller ones for the kids. Swap cinnamon and nutmeg for mixed space when supplies are running low. You can optionally add some self-raising flour for a thicker batter, and leave it to rest for 15 minutes so they rise to be light and fluffy like normal pancakes and still taste of bananas.
Keyword cheap, vegetarian
Categories
Recipes

Healthy Porridge that tastes like Pudding for Breakfast

Healthy breakfast porridge with cherries in a bowl

My Favourite Healthy Breakfast Porridge

ScranMa
This is my fave healthy breakfast, I've had it almost every day for the last few years and somehow still think it's delicious, amazing and brilliant every day and don't get tired of it. It might be because it tastes like pudding for breakfast, has one of my 5-a-day and has energy from slow release oats that keeps me fuller for longer, whatever it is I don't care, it's yummy!
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Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 2 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine British, Scottish
Servings 1

Equipment

  • Microwave

Ingredients
  

  • 30 g Porridge oats I love the oats with oatbran and wheatbran best as they taste slightly nutty (from Sainsbury's in the UK), but any porridge oats are good
  • 0.25 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 80 g Cherries Frozen, whole cherries
  • 100 ml Skimmed milk Or oat milk is even more delicious, though more expensive

Instructions
 

  • The night before: add the oats, then ground cinnamon, then still-frozen cherries into a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a plate and leave overnight.
  • Add 100ml milk to the bowl and microwave for 2 minutes on high (at 850W, adjust for your own microwave). Stir and enjoy.

Notes

I honestly have eaten this for breakfast over 70% of the time for the last 3 years: it’s that good, plus of course it’s one of my 5-a-day in breakfast.
To make it vegan take the oat milk option instead of cow’s milk, it’s even more tasty (though more expensive).
Keyword 5-a-day, cheap, scranitfortheplanet, tweak-for-vegan-version, vegetarian

Categories
Recipes

Easiest Boiled Rice Ever

Easiest Boiled Rice Ever

I know, it's rice – how hard can it be? It was still a revelation when I learned this method of boiled rice, as it's the least effort and most taste. It's also fine if you get timings a bit wrong as the pan can be switched off and left warm for a few minutes without it going to mush.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 12 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese, Indian
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • Measuring jug, or see-through container like a high-ball glass
  • Pan with a lid

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g Basmati rice Any quick cook rice will work, basmati flavour is our favourite
  • 360 g Water

Instructions
 

  • Weigh out the rice into a see-through measuring jug (or glass). Note the level that the rice comes up to in the jug and pour it into the pan.
  • Measure twice the amount of water as there was rice in the jug, e.g. if the rice came up to 200ml, then measure out 400ml water. Add the water into the pan and season to taste.
  • Put the lid on the pan, bring to the boil then turn down the heat to low and leave for 10-12 minutes. Don't take of the lid, don't stir, just leave it be. The rice absorbs the water perfectly so there's no need to drain or rinse, just spoon onto plates when you're ready to serve.

Notes

Obviously tweak the amount of rice you want per person. Remember it’s not double the weight of the rice, it’s double the volume of the rice, leave it in the pan with the lid on and no stirring!
Keyword cheap, easy, student friendly, vegan, vegetarian
Categories
Recipes

Spicy as you like it Chicken Jalfrezi

Spicy as you like it Chicken Jalfrezi

ScranMa
This is a great curry, packed with vegetables, and this is a healthy version that can be ready as fast as a take-away would typically arrive. It can be as hot or mild as you like dependent on the chilli level you prefer. It's easy to make double the sauce quantities and freeze it, so it can be put together in 15 minutes on a week night.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Onion Base Mix time 17 minutes
Total Time 37 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian

Equipment

  • Hand blender

Ingredients
  

Onion Base Mix (This can be made ahead of time and extra portions frozen)

  • 2 medium Onion Chopped
  • 1 medium Red Pepper Chopped – or ripped up into bite-size chunks by kids eager to help
  • 2 cloves Garlic Crushed (or 10g straight from the freezer)
  • 5 cm Root Ginger Grated (or 10g chopped straight from the freezer)
  • 6 spray Spray oil
  • 4 tbsp Water

Chicken Jalfrezi Ingredients

  • 1 medium Green pepper Chopped – or ripped up into bite-size chunks by kids eager to help
  • 1 medium Orange pepper Chopped – or ripped up into bite-size chunks by kids eager to help
  • 1 tsp Cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp Garam masala
  • 400 g Passata Use the best quality you can so it's thick
  • 600 g Chicken breast Diced into bite-sized pieces
  • 6 spray Spray oil

Optional

  • 1 whole Chilli Sliced thinly (Optional)

Instructions
 

Onion Base Mix

  • Heat a medium sized lidded saucepan over a medium heat. Spray with the cooking spray and stir-fry the onions for 5 minutes. Add the red pepper, garlic and ginger, spray again with the cooking spray, and stir-fry for another 3 minutes until the vegetables have softened.
  • Take the pan off the heat, add 4 tablespoons of water, and use a hand blender to puree the onion mixture until it's smooth. It's easiest to do this in a measuring beaker or jug, to avoid splattering any of the hot mixture. If you don't have a hand blender you can mash it or try and push it through a sieve.
  • If you're making multiple quantities and have multiplied up the Onion Base Mix ingredients, this is the point to pour the extra portions thick sauce into a portion and let it cool for the freezer (remember to label with date and contents as it looks quite like carrot soup). I normally do triple quantities, eat one and freeze two so that it's easy to take out the night before and defrost in the fridge ready for another week.

Chicken Jalfrezi

  • Spray a large pan with spray oil, and put on a medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry for 5 minutes until browned in places. Add the green and orange peppers and optional chilli, then stir-fry for another 2 minutes.
  • If you're doing rice on the hob, following the easiest-rice-ever-method then measure it out and put it on now so it's ready at the same time as the jalfrezi.
  • Next add the onion base mix to the chicken pan along with the garam masala, cumin seeds and passata. Add the optional chilli at this point, or more if you like it really spicy. Stir, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, part-covered, for 10 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and thickened and the chicken has cooked through.
  • Season and serve with rice, poppadums or mini naans (I take mini naans straight from the freezer, sprinkle with water and put into the toaster a minute before serving, or they can also be grilled to warm through quickly.) On weeknights we love this with mini naans microwave rice for speed.

Notes

I usually swap the pepper colours over, one child loves red pepper and hates green, and the other vice versa (of course, but at least they’ll eat one). I tend to put the green into the onion base mix as it’s then blended up and so hidden, and do more of the other colours that are visible in the final step as more gets eaten overall. Since I normally do triple quantities of the onion base mix then freeze two, it’s easy to use a cheap, bulk pack of peppers and decide what to put in the onion base mix depending on the varieties in the pack.
I usually rope in one of the kids to help rip up the peppers for the chicken step: I pop the top with my thumbs and pull out the whites and seeds then they do the rest, as they eat more that way and I’m happy for them to eat the odd bit while we’re cooking if they want to.
Keyword easy, fake-away, indian, kids

Categories
Recipes

Best Bolognese Ever

Best Bolognese Ever

We've tried many combinations of ingredients making bolognese sauce, this version oseems to hit it just right and still gets vegetables into the mix. This makes a big batch, so it's good for bolognese one night, adding chilli and kidney beans the next, and freezing some in portions or using it in a delicious lasagne.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 12

Equipment

  • Big pan

Ingredients
  

  • 12 spray Spray oil
  • 4 medium Onion Diced
  • 6 cloves Garlic Chopped (or 20g straight from freezer)
  • 750 g Lean beef mince (5% fat) Swap for quorn mince for vegetarian tweak
  • 500 g Lean pork mince (5% fat) Swap for quorn mince for vegetarian tweak
  • 3 tbsp Tomato puree
  • 2 medium Courgette Grated
  • 2 medium Carrot Grated
  • 2 tsp Thai fish sauce (I know, smells bad, tastes delicious) Omit for vegetarian tweak
  • 3 tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce Omit for vegetarian tweak
  • 2 tsp Soy sauce
  • 4 tins Chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning Can swap for mixed herbs if preferred
  • 1 whole Ham stock cube Swap for mushroom stock cube for vegetarian tweak

Instructions
 

  • Mist a really large pan with spray oil, add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes until softened. If you've got time, keep going until they're translucent and starting to caramelise (another 15 minutes, adding a touch of water if it starts to stick) as the whole dish is sweeter.
  • Add the garlic and stir in, then push it all to one side of the pan and add the mince. Brown the mince, breaking it up and gradually adding in the onion until the mince has just changed colour, then add the courgette and carrot and fry for another 5 minutes until it's all soft.
  • Add in all of the rest of the ingredients, crumbling in the stock cube rather than adding any extra water – use the best quality chopped tomatoes you can so that it's not too thin a mix. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Serve with wholemeal pasta and optional cheese grated on top, or side salad.

Notes

Half a portion is also good as a topper for a baked potato, especially with cheese melted on top.
It’s best to put this into portions for the freezer to allow it to cool more quickly, and then freeze more quickly. It does last in the pan until the next day (well in Scotland it does) and it tastes even better the second day after the flavours have mixed in, especially if you turn it into this quick chilli.
Keyword 5-a-day, family friendly, hidden veg, reduced fat, tweak-for-vegetarian-version
Categories
Recipes

Banana Muffins

Banana Muffins

ScranMa
This is a great way of getting kids into baking and using up spotty or brown bananas that might otherwise go to waste. Another tasty way to use those older bananas is Lorna's Banana Pancakes (https://scranplan.com/lornas-banana-pancakes).
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 12

Equipment

  • Muffin tray

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g Wholemeal self-raising flour
  • 0.5 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
  • 1/8 whole Nutmeg Grated finely
  • 0.25 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp Salt Optional
  • 3 large Bananas Ripe (spotty or brown is best)
  • 150 g Caster sugar
  • 1 medium Egg
  • 75 g Margarine Melted in a cup in the microwave is easiest (or butter for non-vegans for granny-friendly tastes)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Place 12 paper baking cases in a muffin tin.
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, salt into the "dry bowl", and grate in the nutmeg to taste over the top. Set aside.
  • Mash the bananas in a separate, large "wet bowl" then add the sugar, egg and then melted margarine/butter and mix up all together. 
  • Fold in the flour mixture from the "dry bowl", and very gently mix until just mixed.
  • Spoon evenly into baking cases in muffin tin, using the 2-spoon method.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until muffins spring back when lightly tapped. (Perfect in the oven for 25mins if preheated to 180C.)

Notes

Kids can actually do most of this themselves, including mashing the banana with a fork, and weighing out the ingredients once they can recognise numbers. They just need a grown up to help with the oven bits.
Once cooled, these can be frozen for up to 3 months, and are great taken out of the freezer in the morning and put into a snack box for school as they’re defrosted nicely by play time.
Keyword vegetarian

Categories
Recipes

Apple Roses

Apple Roses Plate

Apple Roses

Beautiful to look at, delicious to eat and deceptively easy to make. They are delicious hot out of the oven with ice cream or cream drizzled on top.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine British
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Muffin tray
  • Microwave
  • Pastry brush

Ingredients
  

  • 325 g Ready Rolled Light Puff Pastry
  • 2 tbsp Apricot jam With 2 tbsp water
  • 2 medium Apples Red-skinned ones look best in the finished roses
  • ½ medium Lemon Juiced
  • 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 1 pinch Ground ginger
  • 12 spray Spray oil Or butter or margarine for greasing the muffin tray

Instructions
 

  • Grease 6 holes of the muffin tray with butter, margarine or spray oil.
  • Half and core the apples, leaving the skins on as it adds to the finished look. Slice them really thinly, around 1mm thick. Put into a microwave safe bowl half filled with water with half the lemon squeezed in (no pips). Microwave for about 3 minutes then drain the water out gently.
  • Unroll the puff pastry and use a knife to gently cut it into 6 evenly sized strips along the longer edge.
  • Add the apricot jam to a small bowl or ramekin with 2tbsp water and microwave for 1 minute and stir together. Use a pastry brush to paint the jam mix along each puff pastry strip.
  • Lay a piece of apple over the puff pastry so the flat edge is parallel to the line of the pastry but about 1cm below the top of the pastry, and with the top of the crescent going over the top of the pastry about 1cm. i.e. the apple extends over the top of the pastry and sticks on the bottom. Put the next crescent of apple half on top of the apple slice before in the same orientation, and keep repeating until there is apple all along the length of the pastry.
  • Sprinkle â…™ of the ground ginger and cinnamon over the apple pieces. Fold up the puff pastry along the length so the apple pieces are sandwiched between the folded puff pastry piece, then roll up from one end to make the rose.
  • Put the completed rose into a muffin tray then repeat for the remaining 5 strips of pastry and softened apple. Bake at 190C for 40-45 minutes.
  • Serve with a little icing sugar over the top and vanilla ice cream for extra decadence.

Notes

My daughter loves laying the apples along the pastry and rolling them up, and also loves eating them.
Keyword 5-a-day, fruit, vegetarian
  • Apple Roses Family Plate
    Apple Roses Family Plate
Categories
Recipes

Cheesy Beanos

Cheesy Beanos

This is a Scottish twist on the classic student dish of Beans on Toast. Not only does it give you a balance of carbs and protein provided by the bread and the beans, it also buffers your insulin response to the carbs and protein by adding fat from the cheese. This is a super cheap meal that can be used as a snack, lunch or even dinner. It'll keep you going when you're low on cash, and for some, it'll even be a favourite due to the combination of the moreish cheddar, sweetness from the beans and crunchiness from the toast.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 4 minutes
Course Main Course, Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 2

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Slices Bread
  • 1 Tin Baked Beans
  • 50 g Cheddar Cheese

Instructions
 

  • Empty tin of baked beans into a pan
  • Heat the beans gently on the hob and heat through
  • Toast the bread under a grill or in a toaster until toasted to desired level
  • Slice or grate the cheese
  • Place one slice of toast per plate
  • Spoon beans onto toast
  • Place cheese over the beans
  • Place plate in grill and grill on low heat until cheese has melted
  • Serve quickly and be careful of the hot plate
Keyword cheap, kids, student friendly