Making Things Go Further Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers

I'm not sure that we're really that good

at making a little bit go a long way.

If I want to do that, I tend to look further afield,

such as the recipes of Italy or France, or of Spain.

They have a history of producing food from very simple,

very basic ingredients with masses of flavour.

Something like a sausage or a salami,

something that's got bags of flavour in it.

It will make all your cheap ingredients flavoursome.

25 years ago, when I first came to England,

charcuterie was practically unknown apart from the odd salami

that you saw in Italian delis,

but now people have travelled a lot and been to Spain, Italy, France,

and they understand charcuterie a lot more.

Even the word they understand now.

This is rillettes, pigeon and pork.

Vincent Castellano has been a charcutier for 36 years.

He's passionate about all things pig.

Charcuterie is a very old word made of two words, really -

"char", it means flesh, and "cuterie", it means cooking,

and it doesn't always involve the heat process,

it's also curing and drying and maturing.

It's sausages, it's pates, it's brawn, it's pancetta, it's chorizo.

Basically the flavour of the pig is fantastic.

It's got fat, it's got lean meat, it goes well together,

and pork, basically, you use every single part of the pig.

To use a cliche, the only thing you don't use in a pig is the oink.

If I say it properly.

Charcuterie is a great basis to make your food go further.

Cooking chorizo here,

which is used to flavour dishes like bean casseroles and stews with lamb.

It's endless, and you don't need very much.

You just need it to season to give the background flavour, the spice,

because as you cook it, the oils are released and that,

with all the turmeric and paprika and the chilli,

the flavour is really concentrated.

And here this one is flavoured with black peppers,

and it's so intense, it just goes on and on.

It's just fantastic.

I'm the biggest fan, I think. This is why I'm making this.

I make it for myself, not for the customers.

Charcuterie has a wonderful ability

to bring the best out of so many other ingredients.

Tonight, I'm going to chuck a spicy sausage in with some veg

to make one of my favourites - a rustic stew.

I love this sort of cooking, it's very... it's very satisfying for the cook.

To bring something to the table that you know hasn't cost much money,

and yet is going to make lots of people very happy,

it gives enormous pleasure, it really does.

There's no real recipe here, just work out how many you're feeding

and think, well, half a carrot per person will be enough

and half an onion.

And to that, I'm going to put in some celery.

The base of my dish is building up,

but I'd quite like something else in there.

Maybe a little bit of oregano.

I've made this so many times,

just opening a can of tomatoes, and it's been great.

I'd happily do that again,

but I've got tomatoes around that need using up.

They are a bit too squashy for a salad,

and I think they'll do well in here.

The strength of the sausage means the flavour goes a long way,

so you don't have to add much more.

Just a few fennel seeds, chilli flakes for warmth

and some orange peel that packs a real punch.

It's funny that you could put so much orange juice in there,

freshly squeezed,

and you'd get nothing like the flavour that you get

from even the tiniest strip of the orange zest.

That's where all the essential oils are.

The heart and soul of the orange is actually in the outside.

So I've got a flavoursome base. I've got the bulk of it, these beans,

and now I want to add the real flavour.

This is probably the most expensive bit of the whole dish.

I'm going to hack it into fairly small pieces.

I could put it in whole, and then slice it at the table.

But I want lots of flavour in this dish,

and I think I will get more flavour by slicing it into small pieces.

You can see the freckles of fat throughout it

and that's where lots of the flavour and the richness will come.

Cover and simmer for as long as you can.

The longer it cooks, the better the flavour.

Just before serving, season and add some fresh herbs.

I'm sticking with oregano.

It's a meaty old dish, and you want something fresh in there,

something brightly flavoured.

What I really like is the idea of bringing that to the table.

There's something very generous about sticking a ladle

into a big cauldron of food, and spooning it out for everybody.

It just feels good.

Make sure everyone gets a few chunks of the delicious sausage

and finish off with some orange zest.

Extraordinarily meaty,

considering it's only got one skinny sausage in there.

Six people will happily feast on that.

And it's cost probably under two quid a head.

It really is cheap, cheap food.

You don't need a lot of sausage

to give this stew real flavour and depth.

A little definitely goes a long way.

One of the problems with a small garden

is I have to cram in as much as I possibly can.

I get little bits of things that I have to make the most of.

It's funny, you move a few leaves,

it's like finding a treasure chest, just hiding there.

And I've got a few currants, too.

They hang down like... It's like costume jewellery.

I'd grow these even if I wasn't going to eat them,

because they look so beautiful.

I've got some whitecurrants too, these are very beautiful.

I think these are the most elegant currants of all.

They really are like jewels.

The flavour is virtually the same as a redcurrant,

but they catch the light and so they look really beautiful in a tart,

especially when you eat it by candlelight.

And I got my first red raspberries this year.

Literally a couple. What do I do with those?

One of the first trees I ever planted was a mulberry

and it's never fruited.

They take about eight years to actually show their fruit.

Oh, there is one. Oh, there's lots.

I've waited ten years for this.

It's their first year.

They're all hiding.

Oh, this is really special.

My first mulberries.

They really are. Isn't that amazing?

I want to find a way to turn these into a simple summer pudding.

And I think they'll be perfect

with some last bits of fruit in the fridge,

a bit of leftover cake and the last trickles of a lemon liqueur.

This really is about making a little go a long way.

Soften any berries just with a little sugar

and a splash of water until they burst.

Then it's just a case of dribbling the sponge with liqueur,

waiting for the fruit to cool, then folding in the whipped cream.

All that from a few berries.

In terms of making a few good things from the garden go a long way...

..this doesn't look bad.

This tastes like a little bit of my garden.

On a very warm summer's day.

It smells like it too.

This is a great impromptu dessert.

The leftover cake, soaked in liqueur and a splodge of cream or yoghurt

means that you only need a few berries

to make this summery dish sing.

There are several reasons for making something go further.

Sometimes it's because the main ingredient is very expensive.

Other times it's because you simply don't have much of it.

I've got a couple of cooked salmon fillets.

That's not exactly enough to feed the family.

I could make so many things with them,

but I want them to be a filling in a lovely crumbly tart.

I'm going to make these go further

by putting them into the heart of a tart.

The choice of pastry is up to you.

If it was puff pastry, then I'd probably use frozen.

If it's short crust or sweet pastry, I like to make my own.

It's not difficult and sometimes, I make it by hand.

I love that feel of the flour and the butter in my fingers.

But to be honest there are some times

when I just make it in the machine.

Making pastry can be quite fiddly

and it's not the sort of thing I want to do when I come home.

But there are times when I just want to make pastry,

maybe when somebody's coming. But it's not such an arduous task,

it doesn't take that long, even when you make it from scratch.

If you push the pastry right down into the corners,

then it won't tear when you put the filling in.

This is the sort of job that really should be almost a bit of a pain,

but it's not.

It's the pleasure of making pastry and feeling dough in your hands.

It's really... There's something very relaxing about it,

Something...kind of makes me feel quite calm.

To keep your pastry crisp and crumbly,

your case needs to bake a little before the filling goes in.

The best way to do that is to cover the base with foil,

weighed down with ceramic beans.

When I think of salmon, I think of summery ingredients.

Soft green spring onions, little bit of water cress,

flavours that work perfectly with salmon.

We've got very mild, gentle flavours going on here,

and I don't want any sort of browning

or caramelising of the onions. Just enough to soften them.

And that way, when we come to cut it with a knife

it'll just cut straight through instead of tearing the tart.

The filling is so simple - just four eggs and two big cartons of cream.

To be honest, I could have got away with one big piece of salmon

but I want it to be quite full and generous.

And I keep the pieces large so that they stay moist when they cook.

I don't want them to be in little bits.

There are lots of people who could take that to the oven

without spilling it, but I don't quite trust myself.

So I'll almost fill it with the custard.

I'll pour in the rest of the jug-full in the oven.

I used to think this sort of thing was complicated

till I actually had a go.

If you're in a hurry, ready-made pastry will do fine,

but it's worth making your own if you have time.

That pastry's really, really crumbly.

A nice, fine end for a piece of salmon.

Making a tart is a great way to turn a small portion

into a luxurious supper.

Two fillets of salmon really can feed six people.

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