Making Things Go Further Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers

I'm Nigel Slater.

For me creating tasty food is all about making the most

of what you have to hand, either from the garden,

or simply what's left in the fridge or cupboard.

I just started out to make it cheaper.

And it actually made it better.

I don't often follow recipes.

I'm not overly organised,

so more often than not my dishes just evolve.

It's making the most of what I've got,

when I just simply haven't got enough of something to go round.

That's when the imagination sets in and I get excited about cooking,

just seeing how I can stretch things.

So I'm going to make a week's worth of suppers

that show you how you can maximise expensive or sparse ingredients

to make your dinners go a long way and still taste sumptuous.

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

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

gives enormous pleasure.

When I've got a little bit of expensive meat I want to pad out,

it's so easy to just think of pasta or rice

or something that will do the job, but there are other things too.

One of my favourites is to use bulgar wheat.

So for Monday's supper,

I'm going to make some cheap and cheerful lamb patties.

It needs very, very little preparation.

Just a little bit oil in a bowl, and all the cooking it gets

is just a little bit of freshly boiled water

over the top, just enough to cover it, and then it'll soak that up.

As well as the bulgar wheat,

I'm using root vegetables to make the lamb go even further.

I'm going to keep...

the pieces quite coarse,

because I don't just want a mush of ingredients,

I want different textures in there.

The lamb's quite soft.

I'm going to have that crunchy wheat.

So the idea of having

little bits of sweet root vegetable in there is going to be very good.

A warm earthy spice will complement the sweet roots perfectly,

so I'm adding cumin.

There's that lovely dusty, almost...

..almost ancient feel about it.

And it works so well in Middle Eastern cookery.

So it's gonna be very happy with the bulgar wheat.

Just thinking about other things to put in there,

maybe some parsley.

This bulgar wheat has soaked up its liquid.

I think you need about the same quantity of grated vegetables...

..and bulgar wheat as lamb, so it's about half and half.

This is really the whole point, once you start adding vegetables,

maybe something like the bulgar wheat,

you suddenly find that it's going to feed a whole family.

And I like a good coarse-textured patty.

I don't want some perfectly smooth thing

that looks like it's come out of a packet.

It's the whole point of doing things yourself

that you get a chance to get more interesting textures

than you will with processed food.

Leave the patties in the fridge for about half an hour

to marry the flavours, before frying in a little oil.

Whilst they're cooking, I want something to go with them.

They're gonna be a little bit spicy with the garlic and the cumin in,

so I want something quite cooling.

Some chopped mint, plain yoghurt, and a grated cucumber

will soothe and balance the heat and spice of the patties.

I'm leaving the peel on,

because I want this to have quite a coarse texture.

Depending on how much bulgar wheat I've put in,

these might be very crumbly.

If you put the knife under them and quickly turn them over in one go

they stand a better chance of holding their shape

than if you do it very timidly.

That's better than just a lamb burger.

It's got more going on,

the crisp wheat and the soft lamb.

A little bit hot, little bit cool.

I just started out to make it cheaper.

I think I've actually made it better.

Bulking out a meal with bulgar wheat and grated veg

not only looks fantastic,

it enhances the flavour of the lamb rather than diminishing it.

The challenge with growing your own veg is that it's so unpredictable.

You can have a bountiful crop of something one year,

hardly anything the next. I guess it's part of the fun.

There's never any peas for the pot in my house.

I always end up eating them when I'm walking round the garden.

But they're so sweet like this.

I've become a master at finding how to make a few peas go a long way.

But what I do is use the whole plant.

When peas are very, very small you can eat the whole thing,

you can eat the peas inside and the pod,

and even the little shoots on top.

My slim pickings are going to need help

if they're going to stretch to a proper supper.

I don't want to hide their lovely freshness and texture.

A simple pea and pasta supper will do just the job.

If you've only got a little bit of something, it's always tempting

to use them with lots and lots of other ingredients to bulk them out,

but I think sometimes that's a mistake.

Because they get lost.

I still want something like lovely fresh peas

to be the star of the show.

I want them to get top billing,

so I don't hide them with lots of cream and stuff.

There's something so sweet and tender about them.

They're everything I want a vegetable to be,

and shelling them, it's just a joy,

you know, it's something that I do in a quiet moment.

A slightly mindless moment,

you can just clear your head just sitting shelling peas.

You don't have to think.

I'm just going to cook them with a little bit of butter...

..some grated cheese

and then toss them with the pasta.

Peas and pasta can either be wonderful

or it's a disaster waiting to happen.

If you've got long strings of pasta, spaghetti or fettuccine,

then the peas are just going to fall off

on the way from the plate to your mouth.

Any pasta with a dip, a curve or a hollow will keep your peas in place,

and a decent block of parmesan will tie it all together.

Always eaten peas with pasta.

As a kid it was one of my favourite meals,

although it wasn't parmesan in those days.

And of course the peas came from a packet, but it was good.

It's a combination that works.

I don't want them to fry,

I merely want them to soften, to become tender.

So into that I also put...

..pea shoots.

What I'd really like in there is a little tiny bit of fresh basil.

So a little bit of basil. I know basil is unusual with peas

but it's just something that I think works.

It's not one of those traditional pairings

that's very well known, it's just something that I did a while ago

and thought, that really works.

Add all the ingredients to the pan,

and out of hardly anything, you've got a bountiful supper.

And there really weren't many peas there,

and even fewer pea shoots,

and yet somehow, we've got supper for two.

It's everything I want a plate of pasta to be.

It's soothing, it's filling, it's also got a freshness to it.

And I like the idea of bringing the store cupboard

and the garden together.

This really works for me.

This is a great dish if you're trying to make

a handful of goodies from the garden go further.

Because the star ingredient is so fresh,

keep whatever you're adding really simple.

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 inside 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.

I think all allotments are beautiful.

Some are very organised, very well planned,

and others just have a sense of fun,

things planted everywhere, higgledy piggledy,

just to see what works and what happens.

I think those are the ones I really love.

I've come to meet mother and daughter Mary Anne and Evie,

who have been tending to this allotment for five years

Do you know what I love about this garden?

The way that it's full of surprises.

-Yes.

-It's not planned, we assure you!

I turn a corner and there's just something else.

Just stuffed in there.

So this is a sort of bits and pieces,

cos I'm afraid I don't plan anything.

Sometimes I'll have a bit left over

and think, "I'll just shove that there". So it's all over the place.

Some chillies in there, a couple of peppers.

I tend to sort of shove it in as we move on.

Good healthy stuff. You don't seem very bothered by slugs and snails.

What we have is lots of slow worms.

-Oh, do you?

-I can show you some.

-I'm not very keen on them.

-I might jump into your lap.

-OK.

-Oh, you so have.

But they're doing good things, good things.

So we'll just cover those up again. I normally use gloves.

What I love about Mary Anne's hotchpotch of veg

is that she's always got something on hand to feed her family.

We don't always know how many people will be round the table.

Ah, yes, one of those families.

You know it could be five children, it could be eight or nine.

The good thing about here is that

if I have suddenly got two or three extra,

we can always pick a bit more.

Of course, much better than having to go to the shops.

The art of improvisation is knowing how to make

seemingly ordinary ingredients that you would put on the side

become the main event.

A common-or-garden beetroot

can be transformed into a delicious main-course supper.

Should we try and do something with that?

-Let's go for that.

-Let's dig some of that up and have a go.

-And if I could nick an onion as well...

-Yep, onion's good.

He looks quite good, doesn't he?

-Look at that.

-That's all right.

-And did you say you've got some garlic?

-Lots of garlic.

Have you got any chives?

Yes, we do.

So lovely.

Simplicity is the key, the beetroot is bursting with flavour.

It's going to be the hero in this al fresco experiment -

a twist on your traditional bhaji.

These are wonderful, I want to make them go as far as possible.

So I'm going to peel them and then grate them.

Beets this size could easily feed four people.

I mean for its size...

So I've got chives, I've got beetroot, I've got onion.

-Beginning to look a bit delish, isn't it.

-Yeah.

And a bit of bit of salt and pepper maybe.

-Oh, you gave me a garlic, didn't you?

-I did indeed.

I'm going to shallow fry the veg in batter, but it needs to be light.

Strange as it sounds, I'm going to put

a little bit of sparkling mineral water in.

I think it makes fritters really light. You know how some people...

-Some put beer.

-Yeah, they put beer - exactly the same principle.

Right, so I'm just gonna mix it up in the batter a bit.

Once the oil is hot enough,

add spoonfuls of the mixture and create your own beetroot fritters.

Did I hear you say chutney? Or was I imagining it?

No, I've got chutney. Courgette, marrow.

-Oh, please could we?

-Of course, let me get some.

Look at that.

-Really tasty.

-Oh, yum. It's lovely.

-That's all right.

-Oh, we'll do this again.

-Nice beetroot.

-It is good, isn't it?

-So Saturday menu.

-Yeah.

-Out here, picking. That'd be good.

We'll see what everyone thinks of it. We like it.

Any root vegetable could replace the beetroot.

Just adapt the recipe to what you fancy.

If you're looking for some tasty inspiration for your allotment,

have a look at my exclusive recipes and tips.

I share Mary Anne and Evie's mish-mash approach to growing,

although my back-garden crops are a little on the smaller side.

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.

I've made a week's worth of scrumptious suppers

that prove how easy it is to make a little go a long way.

Whether you're feeding the masses or just treating yourself,

there are a very tasty way to make things go that little bit further.

Next time, I'll be helping you to make the most

of your treasure chest of spices,

with five delicious meals that will fire up your taste buds

like never before.

Oh, that's so good.

There's all sorts of flavours going on. Quite spicy.

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