Easy on the eye and simple to make, thanks to shop-bought ingredients and no fiddly techniques. These recipes can be made ahead or require 30 minutes or less of prep – they’re go-to ideas for entertaining special guests.
Take three jars
This flavour-packed three-course meal makes the most of good-quality storecupboard ingredients
Anchovies with toast and butter
SERVES 2 AS A STARTER | PREP 15 MINS | COOK 5 MINS | EASY
This is an easy starter to prep ahead. Choose a bread with a slightly sour flavour such as sourdough to get a good contrast between it and the salty anchovies, sweet butter and crisp shallot. Anchovies vary in quality and you want a nice firm variety with a good flavour for this.
Toast 4 slices of sourdough and let them cool. Finely slice 1 shallot into rings, soak in cold water for 10 mins and drain. Spread the toast with a thick layer of unsalted butter. Drain the anchovies (use as many as you like) and lay them on top of the butter, spacing them out. Scatter over some shallot rings to serve.
PER SERVING 836 kcals | fat 57G | saturates 26.5G | carbs 59.7G | sugars 4.5G | fibre 3.5G | protein 19.4G | salt 5.6G
Italian sausages with lentils and spinach
SERVES 2 | PREP 5 MINS | COOK 20 MINS | EASY
You can use any type of sausage for this, though Italian-style sausages will be a little firmer when cooked. You can also swap out the lentils for white beans if you prefer, they will cook in the same way.
Fry a pack of 4 Italian sausages flavoured with fennel in a little olive oil in a deep, heavy pan over a medium heat until golden brown. Add a 500g jar of ready-to-use lentils along with most of their liquid, the zest of a lemon, 4 tbsp of tomato passata and some pepper. Bring to a bubble and cook for 10 mins or until the sausages are cooked through. Stir in 60g of roughly chopped spinach and cook for another 2-3 mins to wilt the spinach. Stir in some chopped flat-leaf parsley and squeeze over the lemon juice to serve.
PER SERVING 666 kcals | fat 41.2G | saturates 14.3G | carbs 25.5G | sugars 5.2G | fibre 18.6G | protein 39.1G | salt 2.8G
Cheese with honey-roasted figs
SERVES 2 | PREP 5 MINS | COOK 5 MINS | EASY | GF
This is essentially an assembly idea: the vital part is in buying the cheese. You can skip the roasting of the figs and serve them raw for an even more effortless meal.
Halve 3-4 figs and put them in a small ovenproof dish that you will serve them from. Drizzle over 1 tbsp each of truffle honey and olive oil, and slide the tray under a hot grill – keep watching until the honey starts to bubble and brown. Put the warm figs on a board alongside some cheese, for example a creamy blue cheese, goat’s gouda, Brillat-Savarin or Baron Bigod, some crackers and more honey to serve.
PER SERVING 338 kcals | fat 7.1G | saturates 0.8G | carbs 59.6G |sugars 59.6G | fibre 10.1G | protein 3.6G | salt 0.2G
Honey goes very well with creamier cheeses or blue cheese, so pick a selection or one single cheese for this. You could also bake a camembert or small soft cheese and pile figs into the centre.
buys
You’ll find the finest anchovies, ready-to-use lentils and truffle honey all on shop.olivemagazine.com
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