I don’t know about you, but with post-Covid(?) life getting back to normal(ish) I feel a bit like Sleeping Beauty waking up from 100 years of sleep.  Suddenly every aspect of life – work, social, family, travel – is as busy as ever it was, but I’m constantly rubbing my eyes and trying to rouse myself out of the torpor of the past couple of years and jump back into the fast lane.  Now that work is really busy again, I’m finding planning meals and keeping the fridge stocked can be a challenge, and on the days when I’ve failed to get to the shops I’m always glad to fall back on these two store cupboard staples which are easy, delicious and made from ingredients that I always have in the cupboard.  I hope these two recipes come to your rescue as often as they do me!

TUNA SPAGHETTI ALLA PUTTANESCA

“Puttanesca” literally translates as “in the style of prostitutes,” supposedly because the pungent aromas of garlic, anchovies, capers, and olives tossed with pasta were how Neapolitan sex workers would lead customers to their doors. While this theory is probably apocryphal, what’s irrefutable is that puttanesca sauce is quick and easy to make and packs a serious punch!  You can tone it down by using tinned tuna in place of the more traditional anchovies.  To make this dish vegan, omit the fish and add extra capers.  If you don’t have any basil, switch it for flat leaf parsley or even rocket leaves at a pinch.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or sliced
• 1/2 – 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 5 anchovies, chopped, or 160-200g tin of tuna in oil or water, drained
• 2 tbsp capers
• 120g pitted black olives
• 300g spaghetti
• Handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped

Serves 4

METHOD

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion along with a generous pinch of salt and fry gently for 10 minutes or until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and chilli, and cook for a further minute. Add the tomatoes, tuna (if using), olives and capers and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 15 mins. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the spaghetti until just “al dente”. Once the pasta is cooked, reserve a mugful of pasta water, then drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Add a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed, stir in the basil and serve with grated parmesan.

OVEN BAKED TOMATO & BASIL RISOTTO

Italians look away now! What this baked risotto lacks in authenticity it makes up for in speed and simplicity, offering a great alternative cooking method when warm and comforting rice is what you crave but you don’t have the time or inclination for all the stirring and attention a traditional risotto requires. We’ve given you a vegetarian tomato and basil dish using ingredients that you’re always likely to have to hand, but you can use this basic method to create your own masterpieces. Pea & bacon, Chicken & mushroom, Pumpkin, sage & blue cheese… the options are endless!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 250g cherry tomatoes
• 250g risotto rice
• 400ml vegetable stock
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 75g Parmesan (or cheddar), grated
• Handful of basil leaves (or parsley), roughly chopped

Serves 4

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F. Put the oil, onion, garlic and cherry tomatoes in roasting tin approx. 26x20cm (or use any suitably sized ovenproof dish). Place in the oven and cook for around 15 minutes until the tomatoes are roasted and beginning to burst.
• Meanwhile, add the tinned tomatoes to 400ml hot vegetable stock and give it all a good stir. Remove the onion & tomato mix from the oven and stir in the risotto rice and tomato/stock mixture. Stir to combine, season well, then return to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring twice. It’s done when the stock has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.
• Remove from the oven and add the grated cheese and basil – you can also add a knob of butter for extra richness. Check the seasoning and serve on its own, or with salad or steamed vegetables.

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Working out how much booze to buy for a party can be a bit of a conundrum.  Miscalculate and you risk running out of drinks just as the party gets going and your thirsty guests are having the time of their lives.  While a quick dash to the off-licence usually saves the day, it’s a stressful interruption that could easily be avoided.  Conversely, a big over-calculation can be an expensive error, and while you might think “we’ll drink it anyway”, the delights of prosecco or a summer rosé might start to wane after a time!

To help you avoid these pitfalls, Forkful Food has put together a simple, downloadable “Party Booze Planner” which helps you work out:

• How many drinks to supply per person
• How many drinks you get from a bottle of wine, fizz, spirits, or a keg of beer
• How many soft drinks to allow
• How many glasses (and what types) you’ll need
• The best and quickest way to chill down your drinks

You can download our Party Booze Planner here, but in a nutshell, this is all you need to know to get your drinks planning right:

1. Allow 2 alcoholic drinks per person in the first hour of the party, and one per hour thereafter
2. Allow 350-500ml of soft drinks per person per party
3. Allow 1.25 glasses per guest – generally you’ll need wine glasses (use 175ml glasses for both red & white wine), hiballs and champagne flutes
4. A 750ml bottle will yield 6 x 125ml flute glasses of fizz, 4-5 glasses of wine (depending on size of pour) and 16 x 45ml servings of spirits (for which allow 100-150ml of mixer per drink)
5. A beer keg contains about 80 pints and a mini keg holds 18-36 pints (keg size varies from supplier to supplier)
6. The best and quickest way to chill drinks down is in a chiller bin filled with a mix of ice and water – a bottle of wine will only take about 30 minutes to reach perfect drinking temperature.

In our experience, this calculation has always served us well and heavier drinkers will be balanced out by non-drinking guests and those that leave earlier.  Deciding what split of drinks to serve will, however, rely on a little educated guesswork on your part.  Are your guests a champagne crowd, or would a keg of beer be more their style?  Whatever you decide, here are a few observations to bear in mind:

1. Generally, if you’re serving fizz, guests will drink it until it runs out, so make half to three quarters of your drink allocation bubbly
2. Fewer people will drink red wine in the summer than in the winter, so weight your wine purchasing accordingly
3. In our view, it’s better to keep things simple rather than try to offer all things to all men. That being said, if you decide to serve only champagne or other fizz, make sure that you’ve got a few bottles of red and white wine available for those who dislike or can’t tolerate bubbly wine.
4. You’ll probably need to hire in glasses, chiller bins and purchase ice. High street wine merchants such as Majestic offer free glass hire (with purchase) rent chiller bins, supply ice and they also deliver.  Some supermarkets, such as Waitrose, offer free glass hire (no purchase necessary).  In both these cases, you get basic quality “party glasses” that you will need to clean yourself before returning.  You will find a wider selection and better quality glasses from catering hire companies which will arrive sparkling clean (not always the case with the free hire glasses) and are returned dirty, so no washing up the following day with a hangover!  However, bear in mind that delivery and collection charges will be relatively high and charges for lost or broken items can quickly rack up.

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