Extract taken from
The Actually Delicious One Pot Cookbook
by Poppy O’Toole (Bloomsbury, £22 Hardback)
Photography © Haarala Hamilton
These Fuss-Free One Pot Recipes Couldn't Be Easier
Good cooking doesn't have to use up every pan in your kitchen. The Actually Delicious One Pot Cookbook shows you how to turn out delicious meals in just one dish
This new cookbook from bestselling author Poppy O'Toole (aka Poppy Cooks) shows you how to step up your cooking without any fuss. Here, she shares three of her favourite one-pot recipes that everyone will love.
Short Rib Bourguignon
Oooo! Doesn’t this sound fancy? It’s one for when the neighbours are coming over and you want to show off a bit. ‘I’ve just thrown together a little bourguignon for tonight,’ you casually say, knowing full well they’re going to think you’re well sophisticated. This dish is a long, slow cook – after it’s been 2 1/2 hours in the oven, you just know it’s going to be worth it.
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 30cm ovensafe sauté pan
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 1kg beef short ribs, at room temperature
- light olive oil
- 100g smoked bacon lardons
- 500ml Pinot Noir or a red wine you have handy
- 1 litre good-quality beef stock
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 3–4 thyme sprigs
- 2 celery sticks, quartered into short lengths
- 200g baby button mushrooms, cleaned
- 4 carrots, peeled and halved
- 4 banana shallots, halved lengthways
- 3–4 tbsp cornflour, slackened with water to form a slurry
- 2 flat-leaf parsley sprigs, torn
- salt, black pepper and white pepper
Method
On a plate, mix the flour with a pinch each of salt and white pepper, then dust this evenly all over the short ribs.
Get the pan over a high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, add the lardons and flour-dusted short ribs and sear for just under a minute or so on each side.
Add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the flavour on the bottom, and leave it to reduce by half (about three to four minutes). Then, turn the heat down to medium and add the beef stock, garlic and thyme. Bring the liquid to the boil. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/Gas 3.
Once the liquid is boiling, add the rest of the ingredients except for the slurry and parsley, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Then, place a circle of non-stick baking paper on top of the contents of the pan to cover and place the pan in the oven. Leave the beef to slow cook for two hours 30 minutes, until the meat is falling off the bones, the vegetables are cooked and the sauce is rich and thick.
Use a spoon to skim the scum and fat from the top of the stew and stir through the cornflour slurry. Bubble for about five minutes on the hob, until thickened, then sprinkle with torn parsley to finish. Serve with hunks of French bread, if you like.
Tuscan Salmon
Forget the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this should be the number-one attraction in Tuscany. Fresh, homely flavours, subtle spices, flaky salmon and… okay, now my mouth is watering. Get me on a flight immediately. Arrivederci, bab!
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 30cm sauté pan
- light olive oil
- 4 x 120g skin-on salmon fillets
- 1 banana shallot, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 125ml white wine
- 200ml chicken stock
- 100g crème fraîche
- 90g samphire
- 1 lemon, zested
- salt and black pepper
Method
Heat your pan over a medium–high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Pat dry the salmon fillets with kitchen paper, then season well with salt. Place them in the pan, skin side down, and pan-fry for five to six minutes, until the skin is crispy.
Carefully turn over the salmon, pan-frying for 45 seconds on each of the three other sides, until nearly cooked. Remove the salmon from the pan and set it aside on a plate to rest – place it skin side up so that the skin doesn’t go soft.
Add a drizzle more oil into the empty pan and throw in the shallot, garlic and cherry tomatoes. Fry over a medium heat for three to five minutes, until the shallot has softened, then scatter in the smoked paprika and dried herbs.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine and pour in the chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper, then leave the liquid to reduce on a medium–low heat for 10 minutes, until thickened slightly.
Stir through the crème fraîche and samphire, then nestle in the salmon fillets with the skin just poking out of the top of the sauce. Sprinkle over the lemon zest and dig in. Crispy potato cubes are my go-to here for an accompaniment, if you want one, but hunks of crusty bread or some rice are good, quick options too.
Shepherd’s Pie with Hasselback Topping
Hasselbacks on a shepherd’s pie? I’m in love. I need to think of a name for this. Maybe a hedgehog pie? What about Hasselhoff pie? Okay, make this and then tell me what it should be called. ‘The Absolutely Best Dinner Ever’ might be an option too. As we’re making everything in one pan, this gets two goes in the oven – the hasselbacks in the pan on their own, then again on top of the filling. If you’re feeling naughty, reduce the overall cooking time by roasting the hasselbacks in a rule-breaking (shhh!) pan while you make the filling in the allowed pan on the hob (I won’t tell, if you don’t).
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 30cm ovensafe sauté pan
- 1kg baby potatoes
- light olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 1 leek, finely diced
- 2 celery sticks, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 500g lamb mince
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 2 tbsp double-concentrate tomato purée
- 125ml any red wine
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 500ml lamb stock
- Worcestershire sauce, to taste
- 200g frozen peas
- 50g cheddar, grated
- salt and black pepper
Method
Heat your oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6.
Cut your potatoes into hasselbacks – lay the handle of a wooden spoon either side of the potato you’re cutting and slice across to make slits along the potato’s length. The spoon handles will make sure you don’t cut all the way through. Drizzle the hasselbacks with olive oil, getting right into the cuts, then tip them into the pan and roast for 20–25 minutes, until golden brown and almost cooked. Scoop the potatoes out of the pan and set them aside for later. Leave the oven on.
Place the empty pan on the hob over a medium–high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Throw in the onion, carrots, leek, celery and garlic. Reduce the heat to medium and fry gently for four to six minutes, until the onion is translucent and lightly golden brown.
Add the lamb mince and use a wooden spoon to break it up. Fry for a few more minutes, until the lamb is browned all over, then season well with salt and pepper. Throw in the bay, rosemary and thyme. Squeeze in the tomato purée and leave it to cook out for two to three minutes, until thick.
Pour in the red wine to deglaze the pan, then sprinkle in the flour and cook it out, stirring, for three to four minutes. Pour in the lamb stock, season well with salt and pepper and add Worcestershire sauce to taste.
Bring the lamb mixture to the boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Leave it to bubble away for 10–15 minutes, until thickened, then remove the bay, thyme and rosemary.
Stir through the peas, then top the lamb mixture with the hasselback baby potatoes, covering the filling in a layer. Sprinkle over the cheddar. Pop the pan in the oven for 20 minutes, until the cheese is golden and the filling is bubbling.
