This soup is ready in around half an hour and is so cheap to make a big batch for the freezer. You will need a hand blender – Kenwood are my favourite.
Author: Heidi
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Rustic Pork Rillettes
This is a recent Rachel Allen discovery with is great for lunch with some fresh bread but could also be a good starter for an informal rustic dinner party menu and the added bonus it it is really cheap to make but is delicious and impressive. Perfect for the credit cruch dinner party! You need to plan ahead as it needs to cook for 5 hours and cool but it should keep for a few weeks. Don’t be shy about making a full batch – initially I made a half batch and the whole lot went over one weekend.
Don’t worry about how fatty the meat looks as this will all melt away in the cooking leaving a course pate texture. In fact, the fattier the better and you need the belly pork boneless with the rind (ask your butcher to cut it off and pop it in the bag for you). Fresh nutmeg is a must – you could invest in a fab nutmeg grinder as a treat but there are many on the market.
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Roast Duck Leg With Red Wine and Rosemary Sauce
Another easy but impressive dish which is delicious served with fluffy mash and some greens. We had this for Sunday dinner last night without all of the work that goes with a traditional Sunday roast. It is worth buying Gressingham duck legs as they are very meaty.
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Thai Pork Meatballs with Dipping Sauce
This is a great Nigel Slater dish that you can prepare the meatballs in advance (and the dipping sauce) and just fry them 15 minutes before you are ready to eat. We have these with noodles – fry up some spring onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and some pak choi (chicken or prawns if you have some) and stir through some cooked noodles.
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Juicy King Prawn and Chorizo Skewers
These are so simple to prepare but taste totally delicious – the juicy prawns with the sweet paprika in the chorizo sausage work really well together and can be served as canapes on cocktail sticks. You could also throw them on the barbecue in the summer. The secret to this is getting really good quality prawns – the best I have found are at Farmfoods – Jumbo Raw King Prawns 2 packets for £12 with 600g in each. I use Tesco’s Finest Chorizo Ring.
I tend to put the prawns in the marinade the night before but a couple of hours should be enough.
