Butternut Squash Part 1: Squash and Chickpea Stew

Now that it's well and truly autumn, and we're all settled back into the swing of university life, I thought it was high time I tackled that ultimate seasonal vegetable - the butternut squash. I've always shied away from cooking with these at uni, mostly because they're so damn big, but also because I've never really known how to.

This recipe uses half a squash, hence it's part 1. Cover the other half in clingfilm, chuck it in the fridge and hang on in there, I'll post another recipe for it soon! Chickpeas and lentils provide the protein here. Chickpeas are so cheap - a 400g tin costs as little as 55p so it's so worth using them. I improvised a bit here, but the recipe is based on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's North african squash and chickpea stew from his Veg Everyday book. In terms of spices, the ones I used are ones I had in the cupboard anyway and use for other recipes. It may be worth investing in some because they go a long way, and are great for adding flavour and warmth.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion (red or white)
• 1 garlic clove (if you like using garlic in everyday cooking - entirely optional)
• 2 stalks of celery
• Generous helping of ground black pepper
• Approx. 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• Approx. 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 60g lentils, red or puy - as long as the cooking time on the packet states 15-20 mins.
• 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas - drained and rinsed.
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• Couple of leaves of basil
• Squeeze of tomato ketchup (I swear I put this in everything)
• Handful of fresh parsley leaves (see - we told you those plants would come in handy)
• Half a butternut squash, or about 300-600g... depending on the size of the squash.
• 800g of veg stock - I used 2 stock cubes for this.
• 1 carrot

Recipe - serves 4 (ish):

• Turn your hob onto a medium-high heat, and sauté the onions until just starting to go golden. 
• Turn down the heat slightly and add the celery, garlic (if you're using it), turmeric, fennel seeds and pepper and continue to sauté for a couple of minutes.
• Add the lentils, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, one squeeze of ketchup, basil leaves, and parsley and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.

• Now to attack the butternut squash, and for this you need a big knife. Use a peeler if you can to get the skin off half of it (half being from top to bottom). I ended up using a knife to chop the skin off as close as I could - always using the knife away from me. There's definite injuring-yourself-potential here. Cut it in half using the big knife, and top and tail it. Scoop out the seeds, and cut it into fairly large chunks. This is all a workout in itself!

Carnage

• Once the 15 minutes simmering is up, add the squash, stock and carrot, cover with a lid and leave to simmer gently for about 30 minutes. 

Hubble bubble (ignore where it slopped over the side)

• A little while into this, check the seasoning and make sure you're happy with the flavours. 
• Serve it up straight away, and enjoy!! I'm going to freeze some portions of it so that I can get on and use the other half of the squash before it goes off. 

The yummy finished product. YUM. Perfect for the chillier weather!

Tip of the day: I used to eat so much chocolate and biscuits when I was working at my desk. Sugar is moreish, but doesn't help you concentrate or give you much in the way of nutrition. I still eat them for a treat (every day), but to fill me up and as a less moreish but still yummy snack I eat almonds. They pack a punch with protein too - what's not to like? 

Complimentary tune: Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were - his new album though...

---K

Lentil and Carrot Stew

Here in Exeter, freshers' week is coming to an end and it's definitely been better the second time around. So, for any freshers reading this who have had a disappointing one - don't judge what's to come by it!

This recipe is delicious and full of good stuff to make you feel better about yourself after a week of heavy drinking (it's definitely been one of them). Lentils are packed full of protein and the sweet potato gives you healthy carbs. This is definitely one where it's worth peeling and cutting everything before you begin to avoid burning things. About half an hour preparation time is needed in total.

Ingredients: This serves 4-5 people or one for several days. Keep it in the big saucepan with a lid on it in the fridge (allowing it to completely cool first) and heat up portions in the microwave until piping hot. 

• 200g or 7oz of puy or green lentils. Check on the packet that they're ones you cook for 15-20 minutes as they can vary.
• 1 stock cube - vegetable or chicken.
• 100g or 4 oz (ish) of mushrooms finely chopped.
• 1-2 carrot(s) peeled and grated.
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes (make sure it's just plain tomatoes in tomato juice, without added salt etc.)
• 1 onion, chopped.
• 1 pepper, chopped.
• Half to 1(depending on how big) sweet potato, peeled and cut into fairly small chunks.

Recipe:

• Place the lentils in a large pan (this is where the casserole dish comes in handy - see our Kitting out your Kitchen blog post for an example) and cover with cold water. Crumble in the stock cube and set over a medium-high heat to simmer. When it's boiling, set your timer to 20 minutes.

Crumble crumble

• Once you've done that, fry the onion, pepper and sweet potato in a dash of olive oil over a medium-high heat until the onion is soft.
• If at any point the lentils look like they're boiling dry, add some water from the kettle, but not too soon before adding the tomatoes because otherwise it'll be too wet.
• Add the mushrooms and fry until they're soft. 

Frying 

• Stir this mixture into the lentils and simmer for about 5 minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes and grated carrot.
• Now you season, season, season. Add a pinch of salt, a twist of pepper and a shake of dried herbs. If you've got any fresh herbs - chuck them in too. Taste it and adjust until it's just right. If you've got any tomato ketchup, a squeeze of that doesn't go amiss either.
• Cover, and cook for the remaining time on the timer. The lentils are done when they're tender but not mushy.

Done! 

I normally serve this with some boiled fresh veg such as celery, courgette and peas (chuck them in slightly salted boiling water for 8-10 minutes and the peas for 5 minutes) and some brown rice for extra carbs if I'm hungry/need it. It may not look so appetising after the first day as the lentils are brown by nature, but if you heat it up it's still perfectly good and tasty.

Complimentary Tune: Boom Clap - Charlie XCX

Tip of the day: Get a lamp/fairy lights for your room - believe me it can turn a horribly lit uni room into a warm and cosy-feeling space so easily. It makes all the difference in the world!

Nacho Naughtiness!

I’m putting this out there; I know this isn't healthy. But there are days (like today) when all you need is a solid load of fat and calories.

At our student pub there is a fantastically greasy version of this which leaves you feeling a lot queasier than when you started (especially on a hangover).

This (slightly) healthier, homemade option hits the spot perfectly and is easier and quicker to make than having to walk all the way to get to campus.

All you need is a large baking tray and your average oven so there can be no excuses of not having the right equipment.

We made our own guacamole as we had some very ripe avocados to get rid of, but you are equally welcome to be lazy and buy a store bought version. My housemate Naomi was in charge of the actual making of it today and, as hers was just as good as mine (if not better), I’ve included both of our recipes for it.

Ingredients

1-2 large packs of tortilla chips (depending on if/how many your sharing with)

1 pot sour cream or dip

1 pot salsa

A handful of jalapeno peppers (optional)

1 large block of cheddar

For Naomi’s guacamole:

2 avocados

(The juice of) 1 lime

Handful of cherry tomatoes

Decent seasoning of salt and pepper

For Claire’s guacamole

2 avocados

2-3 tbsp of sweet chilli sauce (add acc. to how spicy you want it)

2 large tomatoes

Decent seasoning of salt and pepper

Such colour #spottheshoe

Recipe

•  Line your baking tray with foil and scatter your tortilla chips so there is an even covering over it.
• Dollop on your salsa generously over the chips, remember even distribution is key for optimum results.
•  Grate as much cheese as you feel suits your current state of hangover (we used a good 300g)
• Bung that all in the oven (it should only take 5 mins) and get on making your chosen guacamole.
•  For both recipes: first, halve the avocados, remove their stones and get a largish spoon to relieve the fruit of its skin. You may have to peel off the skin yourself if it is too unripe to be removed with a spoon.
•  The key is to use the ripest avos you can find for easier mashing. Naomi recommends whisking it but if the avo is too hard for this use a fork to mash it all up.
• For Naomi’s recipe immediately add the lime juice to stop the guacamole from browning too much (I leave the stones in the mixture when not mixing as this has the same effect).
• Then chop up your tomatoes as small as possible (no-one likes a chunky guacamole) and wack them in with the avos
•  For both recipes season well with salt and pepper and stir all the ingredients together.
• You should be checking your nachos in the oven frequently whilst this is happening; they will be done once all the cheese is well melted.
• Again, dollop on your guacamole and sour cream all over the nachos. Feel free to add more cheese if the current levels of fat and carbs are not to your liking.
• Et voila! Perfect hangover cure! You can thank me afterwards.

So proud of our creation

Tip of the day: Our new fave snack is a frozen banana. Peel, chop up, and wack it in a bowl in the freezer. It should be done in a couple of hours and tastes like a mini sorbet. Delicious and nutritious!

Complimentary tune: All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor I know it's American. I know its annoying, but it's so damn catchy and the only thing that's playing in our house at the moment.

---C

Veggie Frittata

It's been a while! The end of summer always gets a bit hectic - making sure you see all the friends and family you can before you go to uni. Anyway, here's a recipe that will you set you up nicely for a day of fresher's. Frittatas are similar to omelettes, but this one is made in the oven as it uses roasted vegetables - I've taken inspiration from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Veg Everyday book here.

Eggs are cheap and valuable sources of protein. Try and buy free-range if you can, think of the poor chicken!

We're now moving on to autumn and winter vegetables - sticking with the old seasonal veg, so basically use whatever you have in your fridge at the time. Sticking with the general rule of the harder the raw veg, the longer it will need to roast. In this case, cut the harder ones up smaller so they roast more quickly.

Ingredients: This will serve two or three people, or one then cold for lunch another day!

• 300g (roughly) of vegetables - root veg are probably better in this case, so sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, potatoes,. Courgettes and peppers will also work as will celery, but don't cut them up so small. The others should be cut into roughly 2-3cm cubes as an idea.
• 1/2 an onion - red is probably nicer here, also cut into slices/cubes.
• 3 dessert spoons of olive oil
• A handful of herbs if you have them - fresh parsley, thyme, chives etc.
• 3-4 eggs more if you end up having more vegetables.
• About 10-15g of hard cheese (parmesan, cheddar etc), grated.

All that colourful veg

Recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees (Gas 5).
• Prepare your veg - peel the carrots, parsnip etc. cut the skin off the butternut squash, chop and chunk it all!
• Place them in a roasting dish - baking tray, glass or ceramic dish - whatever you have that fits all the veg so they're in roughly one layer.

Couldn't rotate it - but you get the even-layered veg idea...

• Toss them in olive oil and season well with salt and pepper then roast in the oven for 40 minutes, giving them a stir halfway through and adding mushrooms if you fancy.
• 30 minutes in, if you want to serve your frittata with roasted tomatoes (a good combination I promise), place two in a small dish and drizzle a little oil over them. Cut a slit in the top of each and place some fresh basil on top. Bung them in the oven and they'll be done at the same time as everything else. 
• When the veg is nearly done, beat the eggs, chopped herbs and more salt and pepper in a bowl and when the 40 minutes is up (or the veg is soft and looks done), pour the mixture into the roasting dish and wiggle until it's all evenly distributed. 

Whisky whisky (check out that colour coordination)

• Scatter the grated cheese on top, and put it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the egg is set and it's looking golden brown round the edges. With 5 minutes to go, put some peas on to boil if you fancy - add some green to the plate!

Scattering cheese after pouring in egg

You could eat this with a chunk of wholemeal bread, or put potatoes in it for carbs. You could also have it with jacket potato. The beauty of a frittata, is that you can eat it cold the next day for lunch - just put it in the fridge wrapped in clingfilm when it's completely cool.

The finished thing in all its puffy golden glory - yum yum.

Complimentary Tune: Fleet Foxes - Mykonos (I know it's old but I love it)

Tip of the day: Fresher's week is coming up for a lot of people, and if you're moving in to new accommodation and meeting new flatmates - one of the most important tips I can give you is prop your door open and get to know your flatmates and talk to them. They might end up being your best friends or they might not, but either way you'll appreciate having people to go out with and do stuff during the day in freshers week before you meet other people in your clubs or course.

---K

Kitting out your Kitchen

So it’s nearly time to pack up the entirety of your room and fish out those rogue cooking utensils from the back of the attic, and we at Gourmet Student Grub are pretty damn excited!

Today's blog post is something a little bit different. We thought it might be useful for anyone going to uni for the first time to have a list of things we took for cooking and eating that we found useful/needed. It's always helpful to hear it from people who have actually been. 

Whether it’s your first time to enter the world of endless free time and alcohol or you’re now an old hat, we have decided to bestow our endless wisdom by giving our top tips for what to take to uni. In our first years, Kitty was self-catered and Claire was catered for so we hope to offer advice to those of you heading for both types of accommodation.

This is you; metaphorically dipping your toe into the scary waters of uni.

Obviously it varies from uni to uni (#Exeteristhebest), but this is a guideline from those of us who have first-hand experience and can be arsed enough to write it all down for you lovely people (feel free to send us chocolates as thanks).

Self-catered

Crockery: 

• 2 x dinner plates
• 2 x side plates (useful for sandwiches and cake..)
• 2 x cereal bowls
• 3 (or more) x mugs (for if you have people round and for when you have mugs of tea faster than you wash up.. always)
• 3 x water glasses (same reasons)
• 2 each of knives, forks, spoons, teaspoons and tablespoons. I also had 2 smaller knives.

The average uni kitchen

I dug all of these out of old stuff of my parents' except for the mugs which someone gave me, and the water glasses which were £1 each from a supermarket. One of my flatmates knew that she wasn't very good at washing up, so only took one of all her crockery so she had to do it - now there's an idea.

Equipment: (Things in italics are not really necessary - but made my life easier. It all depends on your budget and style of cooking)

• Large lidded casserole-style dish. Useful for those one-pot wonders, and also just for cooking vegetables and stuff. I had to spend a bit more money on this one unfortunately, but it's worth it for one that will last a long time! Mine was from Lakeland.
• Medium saucepan - preferably non-stick. Good for risottos and just frying onions and things. I got mine from Tesco.
• A small saucepan (10 - 15 cm) for cooking a little bit of pasta, boiling an egg (if that's your kinda thing), or some vegetables, also from Tesco I think.
• A baking/roasting tray with sides, as in - not just completely flat, but so that you can roast vegetables in it or make a traybake. This is an example.
• I also had a flat one for pizzas and stuff.

• Two chopping boards - one wooden and one plastic.
• Measuring jug - half a litre.
• Grater
• Lemon juicer. This isn't a necessity but I had one anyway because I like using fresh lemons in my cooking.
• Small glass bowl - these have many uses! Pyrex is a good brand that's not too expensive.
• Large glass bowl for mixing in. Not just baking, but also for stuffings, salads etc. Again, Pyrex is a good'un. 
• Glass roasting dish like this. It's brilliant, you can bake stuff in it, and keep things in the fridge in it with the lid on or freeze in it. 
• A sieve - this acts instead of a colander as well, so get a large one. It's all about multi-tasking.

 Utensils

• A good peeler - I prefer this kind of shape as I find them easier to use. I just picked a random example here.
• A paring knife - a small one with a flat blade for cutting up vegetables. 
• You could also get a larger one for cutting up bigger things like sweet potatoes or butternut squashes.
• A serrated knife for tomatoes and softer vegetables.
• Bread knife
• Kitchen scissors
• A wooden spoon kit (you can get them in packs of three often with a large one, a small one and a flat one)
• Rolling pin - useful for pizzas and things
• Plastic bag clips - Klippits this is a Lakeland example but obviously if you can find something cheaper or more convenient - get that.
• Ladle also not strictly necessary - if you want one, get it!
• Spatula, if you plan on baking and is just generally useful for scraping out any dish.
• Masher (although a fork will do in most cases if you don't want to get this)

Other things

• Foil and clingfilm
• Freezer/sandwich bags
• Plastic storage or freezer boxes for portions in the freezer and for taking lunch in.

Things to wait until you arrive to buy - A toaster - we didn't get provided with one, but several people brought one anyway, so see what your flatmates have brought and if they're willing to share. Also, some scales - I borrowed my flatmate's all the time. Cake tins for those all-important birthday cakes. 

A note on knives - It's so so worth getting some good ones. I bought some cheap ones from Tesco before I went, and they were rubbish. My mum got me one good one for Christmas and that ended up being the only one I used! A couple of good ones will last through uni and beyond. 

Some food things to stock up on before you go - pasta, rice, lentils, quinoa, cous cous, tinned tomatoes, salt, pepper, herbs, canned beans, baked beans (for emergencies), cereal/other breakfast food. If you can, make some meals before you go and freeze them so you don't have to worry about it during freshers' week!

Catered

At Exeter, catered means being provided with breakfast and dinner on weekdays and breakfast/brunch and dinner at the weekends. In this way, we were pretty fortunate as many universities completely sack off any form of catering at the weekend leaving ill-equipped students to fend for themselves.

Remember not to confuse your washing machine with the oven

For those unfortunate no-food-weekenders food variation will be difficult, as it is very hard to budget when you’re only really cooking for 2 days a week and many tend to resort to a mixture of pasta or pizza.

Breakfast is easy; cereal keeps for ages and doesn’t need to be stored in the fridge, so make sure you stock up on plenty of your favourite before term begins. Obviously milk is also a key component to this, and only keeps for about a week if refrigerated, so keeping a good supply of this is mandatory. Work out how much milk you tend to use per week early on so you can buy the right sized bottle of milk (the amount of times milk stank out my fridge in the first year does not bear thinking about). Remember, wasted food is wasted money (and therefore wasted shots).

I started out the year eating the bare minimum for lunch and trying to hold in my hunger until supper started at 5.15pm. The other well-used tactic was removing a large amount of bread and sachets of Nutella from breakfast and having that toasted as a meal (delicious but not nutritious). When we started getting harder rowing training schedules, I was forced to start adding higher levels of protein and long-lasting energy to my diet.

Le nutella

With only a microwave at your disposal, there's a tendency to be lazy and buy ready meals from a supermarket. However, upon learning the technique of cooking pasta and quinoa in the microwave I realised the possibilities available to me.

Crockery

This is pretty similar to Kitty's list, and in fact I did take two of everything however 1 set is perfectly adequate for your needs. The key thing is to make sure all crockery is microwave-proof as this will be your main cooking utensil.

• 1x large plate
• 1x small plate
• 1x cereal bowl
• Couple of mugs (team tea sessions are great bonding so multiple mugs are important)
• Couple of glasses
• 1 set of full cutlery (knife, fork, cereal spoon, teaspoon)
• A teapot (not compulsory unless you are like me and like a proper cuppa)

Equipment

To make pasta in the microwave, put your pasta in a large microwaveable bowl (100g pp) and cover well with just boiled water. Cover the top of the bowl with clingfilm, and put in microwave on full heat for usual cooking time (as specified on packet). Drain in colander and add ingredients.

To make quinoa in the microwave, place quinoa and suggested quantity of boiled water (usually 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water) in the bowl. As with pasta, cover with clingfilm and cook in microwave for required time. This is only cooked once all water has all been absorbed.

Le quinoa

Therefore you will need:

• 1 large glass (or other microwavable) bowl
• Clingfilm
• 1x stirring spoon (spatula style ones are useful for efficient decanting)
• 1 colander
• 1x kettle (usually supplied in your kitchen but handy to have one in your room for ease, Tesco does some decent ones for less than £14) 
• Some plastic containers (I took 3 small ones) to refrigerate excess food for later reheating.
• A toastie maker (I took extra bread from breakfast and made tuna and sweetcorn toasties for lunch, or just cheese and tomato is I was feeling lazy!)

Complimentary tune: Walking with Elephants - Ten Walls, if a remix of this isn't played in freshers week then I'm an elephant.

Tip of the day: Listen to us, we know what we're talking about. Be over-prepared, your parents can always take stuff back with them, but it's a lot harder for them to send down more crockery or extra utensils.

Yes; a chainsaw is necessary.

Sausage Rolls

So two comfort food recipes in a row may seem a bit extreme, but we've both been in need of it at the moment!

Kitty's been working herself silly harvesting on her farm and I've been at death's door for the past week so homely yumminess was definitely in order (especially in this weather)!

In saying that, this recipe is 100% healthier than any sausage roll you can buy from supermarkets (each only uses a third of a sausage) and soooooo much better value for money.

This is my Mum's recipe (creds to Jennie B), and is traditionally something she'll give us on Christmas Day around lunchtime to keep us going until the big dinner much later. It's great for her as she can make them well in advance of the rest of the Christmas preparation and then get someone to bung them in the oven when needed.

I would advise serving with a side salad (coleslaw recipe to come #watchthisspace), and/or baked beans. No further carbs are needed because of the pastry and the sausage obviously provides some decent protein (although more can be added if needed through the baked beans).

The actual technique of making these is very easy, but if you choose to make the maximum amount it may take a while. In this way, I would suggest making these when you have an hour free, and then freeze a lot of them to eat another time. To freeze, cook until they are nearly ready and then put them in the freezer, this means they can be browned and crispy (rather than soggy) when you choose reheat them in the oven. Equally, if you don't eat all of the ones you cook fully, just put them in the fridge and microwave them when needed.

As I'm at home, I used my Mum's homemade chutney, but plan on using Sainsbury's plum chutney (£1.30 for 300g) when back at uni as a decent alternative. However, any fruit-based chutney is fine (or even just plain if you've already got some in the cupboard).

A jar of yumminess

Ingredients (makes 12 or 24)

200g puff pastry

12/24 large tsp chutney

1 egg (if not a tbsp or two of milk works fine)

8 sausages

A small quantity of flour (any type apart from self-raising)

Recipe

• First off set up all your ingredients, if you're making 12 sausage rolls divide the pastry into 4 and for 24 make it into 8 (24 is best for value and for general pastryness)

In case you can't count..

• Whisk the egg in a mug and cut all the sausages into three lengthwise with scissors and set aside.
• With raw meat (and especially for this recipe), I would suggest running a large bowl of soapy washing up water before starting, so you can wash your hands after touching it and moving onto the next activity and so you can throw in the contaminated utensils straight away.
• Flour your surface and the rolling pin before rolling out the pastry, aim for a regular rectangle shape with proportions of about 35cm by 15cm (3 sausages should be able to fit easily along the longest side).
• Place the pastry landscape on your surface and line up the sausages comfortably along the side furthest from you (try not to let them touch).
• Add a decent tsp of the chutney slightly in front (but still touching) the middle of the sausage. It's important the chutney is central to minimise leakage (no-one likes a leaky sausage roll).
• Brush a line of your egg/milk along the edge closest to you and then start to roll the pastry.

An excellent layout

• Start the sausage side and carefully manipulate the pastry towards you, n.b. make sure the sausage and chutney are in the same 'roll' for optimum taste.
• Once rolled, divide pastry into three by making diagonal cuts with a knife between the sausages. If you feel like it, neaten off the ends with a similar slicing movements.
• Before placing on the oven tray add 3-4 diagonal slits on top of each individual roll and lightly brush some more of the milk/egg mixture across the top of them.
• Repeat for the rest of the pastry until you are ready to cook them (only put a maximum of 12 on each oven tray each time).

A non-bakers dozen

• Heat the oven to 200 degrees and wack in your sausage beauties, they should only take between 10 and 12 minutes to cook but it depends on your oven so keep checking them.
• Take them out when nicely browned across the tops and leave to cool for a bit before eating them as the chutney will be VERY hot.
• Serve warm and yumminess awaits you!

Jennie B herself

Complimentary tune: Sam Smith - Lay Me Down little bit in love with this song and this man's voice.

Tip of the day: The Great British Bake Off has started! An excellent way to keep you going through a long hard week is to watch this on a Wednesday! #Normanforthewin

---C

Easy Homemade Pizza

Anyone Italian will probably hate this recipe - it's not really a proper pizza, it's just a simple, healthy variation that's tasty and should satisfy any pizza craving you have! It's not as salty or greasy as frozen ,shop-bought, or takeaway ones sometimes are, and doesn't really take that long - as long as you'd wait for a takeaway!

Ingredients for the base (two servings roughly):

• 170g or 6 oz of self-raising flour (something to always have in the cupboard for cake)
• 15g or 1/2 oz butter
• Up to 140 ml or a 1/4 of a pint of milk (whole or semi, doesn't really matter)
• Seasoning and dried herbs.

Recipe:

• Rub the butter into the flour in a medium-large mixing bowl. If you're unsure how to do this, look at the scone recipe here.
• Add a shake of dried herbs, a pinch or two of salt, and some black pepper, and stir it all together.
• Now start adding the milk slowly and stir it until it makes the dough. If it's too sticky add more flour and if it's too dry keep adding milk. You might need to knead it as well. 
• Now flour a baking tray and roll out the dough so that it fits. It should be about 5-10mm thick.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, and start thinking about the top of the pizza.

This is more down to personal preference. I like to put a squeeze of tomato ketchup on the top and spread it out so that it doesn't quite reach the edges as my base. You could also use tomato purée here, but I find that a little strong. I do sometimes mix ketchup and purée though. 

For my toppings, I like to fry 1 rasher of bacon cut up into pieces, a red pepper, and 4 mushrooms in a little olive oil. Start by frying the bacon and pepper over a medium heat for about 4 minutes, then add the mushrooms and continue frying until the bacon is done, and the pepper fairly soft.

Slice raw tomato and lay them on the pizza base, scatter the fried things on top and add lumps of mozzarella and grated cheddar or parmesan on top. Add some fresh basil leaves and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes - until the cheese is molten and slightly browning on top. 

Pre-cooking

Serve with some green leaves and salad dressing. Last year, I ended up buying a bottle of balsamic vinegar (not very expensive) and mixing my own dressing because it was cheaper. I always had olive oil for cooking anyway, so balsamic and olive oil was a tasty (and healthier) alternative. 

The protein in this meal comes from the bacon and cheese, and carbs from the base. This probably goes under the comfort food category, but is still healthy! If you buy one bag of salad, and eat half the pizza each day, you don't have any waste. Add some carrot, celery and any other fresh salad you can buy seasonally and cheaply for a balanced meal.

Those colours though

Tune of the day: Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit - The Box

Tip of the day: Plan your meals for a week and make a shopping list based on that, at least for a while anyway until you get to grips with the sort of things you need, and what you like and what you use up. Also try and overlap ingredients - so if you make something which uses half a pepper, use another recipe which uses half a pepper later in the week, such as a risotto, or the Moroccan Cous Cous in half quantities. 

---K

Stuffed Peppers with New Potatoes, Feta and Pesto

So if you're a keen follower of this blog (as I know you all are), you'll know we've already done a post on stuffed peppers. However, I would say this one is equally great but with an exciting different combination of flavours.

As Kitty said in her recipe, these are great to make a few of and then freeze before cooking to make a great ready meal for times when you just can't be bothered to make something afresh.

Although this does involve a lot of veg already, I would recommend serving it with a leafy salad as it adds to the combination of flavours (and overall healthiness) nicely. 

We're all about the long-lasting energy at Gourmet Student Grub, and this recipe is no different! Potatoes are a great carbohydrate for keeping you going aaall day and aall night.

It's really quick and easy to prepare (although the cooking time is a bit longer), especially for the amount of flavour it provides.

I've nicked this from a book called River Cottage Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall which has loads of great vegetarian recipes in it, although not all of them as student-friendly as this.

Look at him: smugly eating all his vegetables

Ingredients (makes 2 portions)

2 red peppers
100g feta cheese
100g new potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil (or any cooking oil you have to hand)
2-3 tbsp pesto
Some chopped up basil leaves (if you've bought a reduced herb plant!)

Recipe

• Bring a pan of salted water to boil and then wack in the new potatoes
• Boil for 10 minutes until they are tender, then drain and set aside
• Halve the peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds and the dodgy white bits (stalk is optional).

I choose a life without stalk

• Brush outsides with oil and bung them all (tightly packed) on a baking tray that is well lined with baking paper.
• Halve the new potatoes (or quarter if large) and put them in a mixing bowl, with the feta (cubed) and pesto.
• You can always add more pesto, but make sure the combination is all well covered.
• Spoon the filling into the peppers and bake for about 40 minutes, until nicely browned on top.

Perfectly browned

• Sprinkle on the chopped basil and serve with green salad (balsamic dressing always helps).

That presentation though

• Simple and easy, voila!

Complimentary tune: Deckchairs on the Moon - Bipolar Sunshine, a cheeky little tune to match this cheeky little recipe for you cheeky little people.

Tip of the day: If you've any stale bread leftover then make croutons! Simply cut up into cubes and drizzle with oil (walnut and sesame taste best) and wack in the oven to grill for a couple of minutes. Make sure you flip them over to brown on both sides. A great topping to any salad, n.b. jazzes up a plain leafy salad nicely.

--C

Hearty Bean Stew

This is a favourite of mine in the winter - it's filling, yummy and it's a one pot wonder! I make it if I know I've got a busy few days because you can make a pot and eat it in portions. It's basically just vegetables and beans, so it's all super healthy and CHEAP. It's great if you want a healthy meal on a low budget. It's bulked out with vegetables and I eat it with wholegrain pasta to stretch it further and give me some long-lasting energy. And of course, the beans provide that all important protein!

Ingredients:

This is recipe is so flexible and ideal for using cheaper seasonal veg. It also makes use of the pot-planted herbs we've mentioned in previous posts. As it's summer at the moment, in the pictures in this post I've used summer vegetables, but in winter I use sweet potato and parsnip (very much down to personal taste) as well as other veg I can pick up.

The quantities are changeable according to what you've got, you can't really go wrong as long as you've got plenty of nice vegetables to add flavour and variation! So this is very approximate.

• 1/2 an onion (this is pretty important for flavour)
• 1/2 a pepper (or a whole one if you've got one that needs eating)
• 1/2 - a whole peeled sweet potato (optional/seasonal)
• 1 parsnip (optional/seasonal - see the stuffed peppers for how to cut it up)
• 2 sticks of celery sliced (if you don't like this, it's not essential, but it's such a good flavour giver! Give it a go)
• 2 carrots, sliced into circles
• A few cherry tomatoes if you have them
• 3-4 mushrooms
• Courgette (this is one I always buy - it adds some green)
• French beans, if they're not too expensive - at their best round about now (late July)
• A tin of chopped tomatoes
• Half a chicken or vegetable stock cube.
• A tin of beans - I prefer cannellini beans in this one 

Recipe (serves 4 or lasts 4 days, roughly):

• Start by chopping up all the vegetables - the onion into small chunks, pepper, sweet potato if you're using it etc.
• Depending on the cooking time, it might be an idea to put a bit of wholegrain pasta on to cook whilst you're making it - not much though because this is filling!
• Put a dash of olive oil (or whatever oil you have) in a large-ish casserole dish or saucepan, and begin to fry the onions until softened, then add the pepper and hard root vegetables (parsnip and sweet potato).
• Once they've been frying for a few minutes, add the mushrooms.
• Then add a can of chopped tomatoes, and a stock cube dissolved in a bit of boiling water - this depends on how many veg you have. You want to cover them in liquid, plus a little bit as it boils down.
• At this point, also add the celery, carrot, courgette etc. (any reasonably soft veg that normally takes about 8-10 minutes to boil)

• Season it with about a tbsp of tomato ketchup (magic ingredient this), salt, pepper, herbs (basil is especially nice here), dried herbs, black pepper - whack it all in!
• Allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes, and meanwhile, rinse the beans well (believe me, this bit is worth it...) under running water.
• Add the beans and peas if you fancy it. Taste, check the seasoning and simmer for 5 more minutes - until the vegetables are soft - then you're done!

How easy was that!? It's one to do when you can't be bothered to think. Hardly any washing up either! This can also be frozen in portions in the freezer.

Tip of the day: Try and go for seasonal veg when you're shopping - it's often cheaper, local, and more tasty!

Tune of the day: Hozier - From Eden

Enjoy!

---K

Moroccan Couscous

This is something that can be made in a large batch and reheated in smaller portions when needed. It is highly versatile and the recipe always varies whenever I make it, so different ingredients can be added each time you serve it.

Although couscous itself is not bursting full of nutrients, it is a great alternative carbohydrate to the wheat we tend to choose for most meals. The chickpeas provide you with much needed protein and the fruit and vegetables provide a lot of long-lasting energy.

This is great as a quick lunch option, especially if made in advance and kept in the fridge, but can also be a healthy dinner (perhaps with the addition of some grilled chicken to bulk it up a bit).

Kitty has talked about the use of planted herbs in recipes in a previous blog post, and the tactic of buying at the end of the day in supermarkets when they tend to be reduced. This recipe is a great opportunity for these plants to be used (especially if you don't have a vast quantity of dried herbs and spices in the cupboard), as Moroccan implies a lot of exotic herby flavours.

A work in process

Ingredients (makes 5 large portions)

500g of Couscous
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 can/carton of chickpeas (drained)
A large handful of herbs of your choice (coriander/parsley etc)
or
A large tsp of dried herbs (ground cumin/ground coriander etc)
1-2 tbsp of lemon juice (or any fruit juice you have)
2-3 carrots (grated)
1 pepper (optional but adds colour, espec. if red)
150g of raisins
150g of sultanas (or just 300g of one of these if cheaper)
2 cups boiling chicken or vegetable stock (about 2 stock cubes worth, follow ingredients on packaging)


Recipe

• In a large saucepan (you need to be able to fit in all the rest of the ingredients as well) fry the chopped up onions and crushed garlic cloves on a low heat.
• Stir in your boiling stock once the onion has browned (make sure cubes are completely dissolved before adding)
• Turn down the heat to as low as possible (or just remove from heat) and add couscous (and more boiling water if needed).
• Make sure you keep stirring well, as the couscous is liable to stick to the bottom of the pan without sufficient movement and lubrication (insert lols here).
• Once couscous is properly fluffed, chop up and add the rest of the ingredients (I would advise adding raisins/sultanas first, as allows them to plump up slightly with the steam from the boiled water).

• The best way to chop up fresh herbs is with a large non-serrated knife, place your hand flat on the farthest end of the knife and make a levering motion back and forth across the herbs (repeat in contrasting directions).

Action shot

• Add a decent amount of salt and pepper before finishing to taste (if you don't feel you used enough stock then add more salt to compensate)
• And there you have it, a simple but exciting recipe to keep you going for days (OK, maybe just hours).

Complimentary tune: Love On Top - Beyoncé, I know you all know this song so please belt it out like the belter outer it is for maximum summery happiness.

Tip of the day: If you're cooking meat off the bone, make sure to use the leftover meaty bones as stock. Do this by placing leftovers in a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring this to a simmer and then turn down to a low heat for a couple of hours (between 2 and 6), the longer its left the better the flavour will be. Strain the mixture and store in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze and use when needed. Make sure you label well though so no-one uses it as an ice cream sauce.

That colour variation though

---C

Sweet Potato Stuffed Peppers with Cous Cous

This recipe is a bit more time-consuming, but delicious and fairly easy to make as well as being cheap. I made this last year at uni quite a lot as it makes a change from something pasta or rice based. It's also super healthy and full of goodness. The protein comes from cheese and pumpkin seeds (or any other nuts or quinoa), carbs from the sweet potato and vitamins and anti-oxidants etc from the vegetable and fruit content.

Ingredients

• 1 pepper (I prefer red)
• Half a large sweet potato or a whole small one
• One small parsnip (if you like parsnip)
• 2-4 tbsp of Philadelphia, other cream cheese, cottage cheese or a soft cheese. (I always have this in stock because I love to eat it in sandwiches with sliced tomato and fresh basil, or on its own if I'm feeling lazy. It can be put in any cheesy sauce and just perks up quite a few dishes).
• Parsley
• Optional 2-3 mushrooms,
• 3 tbsp of cous cous or quinoa or brown rice
• Lemon juice to flavour

Recipe

• Put a saucepan of water on to boil, and put a shake of salt in it. Set the oven to 200 degrees.
• Peel the sweet potato and the parsnip and cut them up into medium chunks. To cut up the parsnip, you'll want to core it as the core is tough. To do this, very carefully cut it in half length-ways, then turn it flat-side down and cut it into quarters. Then hold it angled side up so you have the ridge pointing upwards, then push a knife into the line between the core and the rest of the parsnip, and wiggle it so that the core comes away.
• Once you've done this, cut the parsnip up into chunks and place both this and the sweet potato into the boiling water. Cook them for about 20 minutes over a medium heat, or until a knife poked into a chunk feels soft.
• Once they're done, drain them, place them in a small mixing bowl and mash them with a fork. Add the cheese, parsley chopped up, season with black pepper and a bit of salt, and continue to whiz with the fork.Taste the mix and add more of anything to taste.
• Cut the pepper in half from top to bottom (not round the middle) and put the stuffing in - piling it up a little. Scatter some pumpkin seeds on top and grate some hard cheese too if you have some.
• Smear about a tbsp of oil round a baking tray or dish, and place the two halves of the pepper in it. Put them in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes.
• While they're cooking, decide what you're going to have with it. I sometimes have brown rice and vegetables. This can be a bit dry though, so here I've suggested cous cous. Follow the instructions on the packet, and add lemon juice and vegetables and a bit of olive oil and seasoning and it should be yummy!!
• You can eat half the pepper, and put the other half in the fridge to eat another day.

Here's one we prepared earlier!

Tip of the day: If you ever see cream on offer in the supermarket, buy it and then freeze it individually in an ice cube tray. Whenever you're making a sauce that needs enriching, wack in just one of those cubes and voila! 

Complimentary tune: Sia - Chandelier (Night Cruise Remix) we love the original tune here at Gourmet Student Grub, and we love this remix even better.

---K