A few of our favourite dinner recipes to try this week – The Independent
December seems like a strange time of year to get excited about new weeknight recipes. There’s just so much to do as Christmas approaches. Lean on standbys! Order a takeaway! You’re busy.
And yet – this is surely a procrastination technique – I’m in full cooking mode, trying recipes I’ve never made a few nights a week, feeling jazzed about new ones. A few of my recent favorites are below.
One pan mushroom parmigiana
This smart weeknight dinner offers all the comforting flavours of a classic parmigiana, but with minimal work. Earthy portobello mushrooms are used here, offering a perfect cradle for the red sauce and creamy mozzarella. Use good-quality, shop-bought marinara sauce, a much-underrated kitchen cupboard item that can turn around a meal quickly. This flexible recipe can be scaled up or down without too much fuss. It accounts for two portobello mushrooms per person, but if you’re serving them with pasta or a salad, you could reduce to one each. The basil-scented breadcrumbs finish the mushrooms with a lovely, herbaceous crunch. Extra breadcrumbs keep well in an airtight container and are wonderful for topping pasta, salads, soups and roasted vegetables.
By: Hetty McKinnon
Serves: 4
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
280g cherry or plum tomatoes, halved
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper
8 portobello mushrooms, stems removed
680g shop-bought or homemade marinara sauce
340g shredded low-moisture mozzarella
120g panko breadcrumbs
15g basil leaves, finely chopped, plus more leaves for topping
Method:
1. Heat oven to 220C. Arrange the cherry tomatoes on a baking tray, along with half the garlic, and drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper and toss to coat the tomatoes.
2. To the tray, add the mushroom caps in between the tomatoes, gill side up, and drizzle each generously with olive oil (don’t skimp here, as the olive oil will add lots of rich flavour). Scatter the mushrooms with the remaining garlic and season each mushroom with salt and black pepper. Fill each mushroom with marinara sauce and top with cheese. Place in the oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly and golden.
3. Meanwhile, heat a medium frying pan over medium-high. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the breadcrumbs, basil and ½ teaspoon of salt. Stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes until golden. Remove from …….