Elly’s Lockdown Cooking
MEET ELLY CURSHEN,
ALSO KNOWN AS ELLY PEAR
Elly opened The Pear Café in Bristol for 12 years to 2018, earning a wider following on Instagram as @ellypear. Her three cookbooks, Sunday Times bestseller Fast Days and Feast Days, Let’s Eat!, and Green, feature inventive, meat-free recipes alongside practical cooking tips to keep kitchen waste to a minimum. She is a regular columnist in Weekend, Waitrose & Partners' free weekly newspaper
IMPROVISE IN THE KITCHEN WITH SUPER-FLEXIBLE RECIPES
Shaved Cauliflower Salad
This salad is open to lots of amendments. You can use curry powder instead of garam masala, sherry vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, maple syrup instead of honey (which will also make this salad vegan) – find more suggestions by clicking on the recipe link
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Twice-Baked Cheesy Potatoes
Make more than you need and use this recipe to freeze them for another day. Slaws like this one are a great option if you want to make a salad to keep in the fridge as it won’t go floppy!
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Prasorizo with Wild Oregano, Spring Greens and Feta
You can make this Greek-inspired dish vegan by swapping the feta for chickpeas and use up leftovers by mixing it with beaten eggs for a rice frittata.
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Roasted Panzanella with crispy Salmon
Starting the salmon off in a cold pan gives it the crispiest skin. The salad is a great way to use up stale bread, which works better than fresh in this dish.
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MORE SUPER-FLEXIBLE LOCKDOWN IDEAS
Clear-out-the-fridge Pasta Bake
This is an infinitely adaptable pasta bake to use up whatever you have such as leftover pesto, fresh and frozen peas, surplus cooked meat. Alternative veg that will work include courgettes, aubergine, broccoli and leeks. If you don't have soft cheese, use a basic white sauce.
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Cannellini Bean & Caolo Nero Stew
You can thin this down with extra stock to make a soup – blending some or all of it too. To freeze, divide between 8 freezerproof containers and leave to cool. Defrost in the fridge overnight, then gently reheat in a saucepan over a low heat until piping hot.
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Yogurt & Fennel Seed Flatbreads
Incredibly light and fluffy, flavour them with your favourite seeds. If you have only self-raising flour, use that unstead of plain, adding just 1/2 tsp baking powder. If you don’t have Greek yogurt, use natural plain yogurt instead.
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Jackfruit Gyros
A veggie version of the classic Greek dish – add a few chips to the wraps and serve more on the side. Although it would give the finished dish a very different flavour, you could use all sorts of different spice pastes – madras curry paste would work just as well.
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