Make luxury food for less: An Esset guide

Don't know what to cook for the week? Try out one of these three recipes our writers have put together and put away the macaroni with ketchup. These recipes are almost as cheap and easy, but most importantly: we guarantee they are ten times tastier. Mushroom Risotto Author’s attempt at fancification of the dish, end results may vary A risotto is one of those dishes that may seem to be fancy and complicated, it is italian after all and not the kind where you put ketchup, meatballs and pasta in a bowl and call it a day. But contrary to popular opinion, making a risotto is quite simple, albeit slightly time consuming as you have to stir gently throughout the cooking. But this dish is perfect for a date night or if you just want to treat yourself to something nice for once. A recipe for 4 portions 4 dl short grained rice (arborio or porridge rice) 6-8 dl mushroom or chanterelle stock 2 dl white wine 1 dl olive oil 400 g champignon mushrooms 1 yellow onion 2 cloves of garlic 2 dl parmesan or grana padano Sprinkle of chili flakes salt and pepper to taste How to make it: When I did this, I swapped the more expensive risotto rice for porridge rice, it is a similar type of rice only cheaper. I did the same thing with the cheese, grana padano is often cheaper than parmesan. Start by cutting the onion and garlic finely At the same time it is smart to heat up water and dissolve the stock, it should be simmering during the cooking process Heat the oil in the pan and fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes until they get some color and add some chili flakes if you want some spiciness in your food Lower the temperature to medium and add the rice and fry it until you can see the edges of the grains become translucent Now is the time to pour in the wine and let the alcohol boil off Pour in 3 dl of the stock and let it reduce until you can run your spatula through the rice without the sides falling down to know when to add more stock Keep adding 1 or 2 dl of stock and stir to avoid the rice burning on the bottom When the stock is all used up and the grains are soft but not mushy it should be done Remove the pot from the heat and add all cheese and stir until it has melted in Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy this simple but very tasty dinner. Henrik Bergström Curry instant noodles? Yes, please. A bowl, with food in it. Have you been eating instant noodles for the past four days? Yes, I know, it gets boring. I found myself in this situation last Friday as I wasn’t bothered to go grocery shopping; so I rummaged through my kitchen to find some instant curry and mushrooms and thought: why not? The great thing about this recipe is that it is adjustable to whatever you have at home, but here is how I did it: Ingredients: 1 pack of instant noodles 1 pack of instant curry sauce (Or make your own) 1 can of coconut milk 3– 5 Mushrooms A slice of ginger Half or one hot pepper Chili flakes, salt, and black pepper for seasoning Optional: other vegetables What to do: Well this part is quite simple as there isn’t much to it. Just slice the vegetables up and toss them in and you’re through! Prepare the instant noodles as you normally would. Mix the instant sauce with a can of coconut milk in a mixing bowl. Alternatively, mix the way you normally mix curry or follow an online curry sauce recipe. Then slice your mushrooms in whatever size you prefer; I sliced mine largely for minimum effort. After that, slice a thin piece of ginger off. Finally, cut half a piece of hot pepper into smaller bits. Now that you have all your vegetables sliced, throw them into your curry mix and empty it into a pot. Add some water to the mixing bowl to clean up the residue of the curry mix and add the mixture to the pot as well. This will help cook the vegetables without letting the curry mix become too thick. Set the pot on a medium fire and add some salt and black pepper to the boiling curry sauce. Once it is cooked to the desired consistency, mix the cooked sauce and the prepared noodles in a bowl. Then plate it by topping it with some chili flakes and serve yourself luxurious instant noodles. Tip: Extra sauce also goes well with rice. Shakar Garmeny Im-pasta-bily easy dinner If you hate to do the dishes, this is the ultimate meal for you - everything can be prepared in (almost) just one pot! Ingredients (for 4 servings): Oil of choice 1 yellow onion 1 cube of vegetable stock 5 dl water 3 dl vegan cooking cream 400 g crushed tomatoes 350 g pasta 1 dl sundried tomatoes 400 g white beans or chickpeas Chili flakes Fresh basil Salt and pepper How to make it: Peel and mince the onion. Fry it until it softens in some oil in a big saucepan. Add water, cooking cream, crushed tomatoes, pasta, vegetable stock, chili flakes and sundried tomatoes. Boil everything without a lid for about 10 minutes. Cook on medium heat and stir to prevent it from burning. Drain and rinse the beans and put them in the pot. Let everything boil for two more minutes or until you think the pasta is done. It might take a little longer for the pasta to be done than you’re used to. Season with salt and pepper. Now sprinkle with fresh basil for some everyday luxury. Serve! Frida Wistfors