Saving money on your food can often seem pretty difficult, especially when you've got plenty of mouths to feed!
So, here are three simple, tasty - but more importantly budget-friendly - recipes you can get your teeth into!
Starters - Roasted red pepper and tomato soup
This simple recipe can be used over and over again, you could even add your own ingredients to personalise this signature dish. What's more, if you don't manage to dish it all out straight away, it can be chilled and kept for a few days in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 4 large red peppers
- 6 large tomatoes, peeled
- 4 large cloves of garlic, unpeeled
- 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 850ml of vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
- Bread rolls (one for each person)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees centigrade (gas mark 6) and place the peppers and garlic on a baking tray. Sprinkle both with oregano and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Roast the peppers and garlic for 20-30 minutes (or until the pepper skins have bubbled/blistered). Remove the peppers from the oven and place in a plastic sandwich bag. When they have cooled, peel the flesh and chop the peppers, getting rid of the seeds.
- Place a large pan on the hob and heat one tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion and fry until soft. Chop the tomatoes, getting rid of the seeds, and place into the pan along with the chopped peppers and vegetable stock. Now gently press the soft-cooked garlic from the cloves and add to the pan. Lower the heat and simmer for around 35 minutes.
- Once done, blend the soup in a food processor until it reaches the desired consistency. To serve, simply reheat and pour into bowls.
Main course - Pan-fried sausage and potato tomato casserole
This quick, cheap recipe will create a surprisingly tasty main that will serve up to four hungry diners! What's more, if you don't want to use sausages, you could use chicken, or beef - or even a vegetarian alternative.
Ingredients
- 500g new potatoes, sliced in half
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 450g pork sausages
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 pepper (doesn't matter what colour), diced
- 1 large jar of tomato pasta sauce
Method
- Heat the oil in a large pan and add the sausages and potatoes. Fry until brown (this will usually take around 10 minutes).
- Add the onion and pepper and cook until they have softened. Keep turning the sausages and potatoes to make sure they get cooked thoroughly.
- Once cooked, add the pasta sauce and a small amount of water (only a splash). Cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat and leave to simmer for around 10-15 minutes.
- To serve, simply remove from the heat and spoon onto a plate.
Dessert - Sweet banoffee pie
This delicious banoffee pie is cheap and easy to make, and will go down a treat after the casserole!
Ingredients
- 125g cold butter for the filling
- 175g cold butter for base
- 175g caster sugar
- 400g condensed milk
- 250/300g plain digestive biscuits
- 2 large ripe bananas
- 150ml whipping cream
- 1 bar of milk chocolate
Method - base
- Place the digestive biscuits in a small tub and crush them using the end of a rolling pin (or your hands).
- Melt the 175g of butter in a saucepan and stir in the biscuit crumbs. When combined, press the mix over the greased base of an 8-inch cake tin. Then place the tin in the fridge for one hour to allow the base to set.
Method - filling
- Put the 125g of butter in a pan over a low heat, add the sugar and stir. Once the butter has melted, slowly stir in the condensed milk and bring to the boil. As soon as the mixture boils, turn the heat down and leave to simmer for 5 minutes - making sure you continue stirring. The mixture will be ready when it turns a 'caramel' colour.
- Remove the chilled base from the fridge and pour the mixture into the tin. Put the tin back into the fridge and leave to cool for another hour.
- Remove from fridge after the hour, and cover the top with a layer of banana slices. Then whip the cream using a whisk, and place a layer of cream on top of the banana.
- Now add the rest of the banana slices, a little more cream, then grate chocolate on top and serve.
Of course, the cost of these recipes is down to where you buy your ingredients from, and whether you buy 'budget' products instead of 'branded' ones.
Tips from Think Money.
