Rachel Allen - Easy Meals Text Only

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed or finely grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

For the sauce:

200ml (7fl oz) natural Greek yoghurt

1 tsp turmeric

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cucumber, cut into 2cm (¾in) chunks (optional)

* Place the cardamom pods on a chopping board, lay the flat side of a large knife over the top and press down to lightly crush. Remove the seeds (discarding the pods) and crush to a powder with a pestle and mortar or place in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.

* Place the crushed seeds in a bowl with the lamb mince, lemon zest, onion and garlic, then season with salt and pepper and mix together. To check the seasoning, fry 1 teaspoon of the mixture in a frying pan for 1–2 minutes or until cooked through, then taste to see whether you need to add more salt or pepper to the mixture.

* Using wet hands, form the mixture into 20–24 meatballs, each about 3–4cm (1¼–1½in) in diameter, then leave to chill in the fridge (for up to 24 hours) until you are ready to cook them.

* Pour the olive oil into a frying pan on a medium heat and, when hot, add the meatballs and fry them for 8–12 minutes, tossing occasionally, until well browned and cooked through.

* To make the sauce, simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve drizzled over the meatballs on a bed of couscous.

Chocolate, toffee and peanut squares

One of my guilty pleasures is a tin of boiled condensed milk. The sugars in the milk caramelise to make a thick toffee-like sauce. It’s perfect for cooking or eating straight from the tin (with or without a spoon!). It’s also possible to buy ready-boiled condensed milk, which is sold in jars as dulce de leche. If you want to make your own, boil unopened tins of condensed milk for 2 hours – I like to prepare a few tins at a time and then keep them in the cupboard where they’ll store for months.

Makes about 24 squares (v)

PREPARATION TIME

10 minutes

COOKING TIME

20 minutes, plus chilling

100g (3½oz) caster sugar

200g (7oz) butter, softened and diced

300g (11oz) self-raising flour, sifted

400ml (14fl oz) dulce de leche or boiled condensed milk (see recipe introduction)

125g (4½oz) salted peanuts, roughly chopped

200g (7oz) milk chocolate, broken into pieces

20 x 30cm (8 x 12in) Swiss roll tin

* Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. Line the base of the Swiss roll tin with baking parchment.

* In a food processor, whiz together the sugar, butter and flour for the shortbread base until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rub together the butter and flour in a bowl with your fingertips and stir in the sugar. Tip into the prepared tin and press down with your hands or a palette knife to level out the mixture.

* Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown all over, then remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

* Once it is cool, spread over the dulce de leche to cover the shortbread, then press the roughly chopped peanuts into it, making sure they are evenly distributed.

* Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt. Remove from the heat and pour over the peanut-studded dulce de leche, allowing it to cool, then leave in the fridge for 1–2 hours to set. Once set, cut the mixture into squares in the tin and serve.

Easy lemon cake

As the title of this recipe suggests, this cake is ridiculously simple to make. It’s just a matter of whizzing all the ingredients together in a food processor before tipping the mixture into a tin and baking in the oven. If you don’t have a food processor, it’s still very easy to make by hand and tastes just as delicious, either way!

Serves 4–6 (v)

PREPARATION TIME

10 minutes

COOKING TIME

30–35 minutes

110g (4oz) butter, softened and diced

110g (4oz) caster sugar

Finely grated zest of ½ lemon

2 eggs

150g (5oz) plain flour, sifted

½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp milk

For the icing

175g (6oz) icing sugar

2–3 tbsp lemon juice

20cm (8in) diameter spring-form/loose-bottomed cake tin

* Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. Line the base of the tin with a disc of baking parchment and grease the sides with butter.

* Place all the ingredients for the cake in a food processor and whiz for 1 minute or just until the mixture comes together. Alternatively, cream the butter until soft using a hand-held electric beater, then beat in the sugar and lemon zest, whisk in the eggs one at a time and fold in the remaining ingredients. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin, smoothing over the top with a palette knife or the back of a spoon.

* Place in the oven and bake for 30–35 minutes or until golden on top and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and placing on a wire rack to cool.

* To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add just enough lemon juice to make a soft icing with the consistency of thick double cream. (Too thick and it won’t ‘self-spread’, too thin and it will run off the cake and onto the plate beneath.)

* Place the cake on a serving plate and tip the icing into the middle of the cake, allowing it to spread itself, then cut into slices to serve.

Rachel’s tip

If the icing is a bit stiff and won’t spread easily, dip a palette knife in boiling water and use this to gently smooth the icing over the surface of the cake.

Orange torte

My mum’s friend Maxine gave me this amazingly easy recipe. It uses unpeeled oranges, steamed and puréed, making the cake gorgeously moist with a taste that is unsurprisingly reminiscent of marmalade.

Serves 8–10 (v)

PREPARATION TIME

5 minutes

COOKING TIME

1¼ hours

2 oranges, cut in half and all pips removed

200g (7oz) ground almonds

200g (7oz) caster sugar

6 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

23cm (9in) diameter spring-form/loose-bottomed cake tin

* First steam the orange halves for 30 minutes, in a steamer or in a metal sieve covered with foil and set over a saucepan of simmering water.

* Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. Line the base of the tin with a disc of baking parchment and grease the sides with butter.

* Once the oranges have finished steaming, remove from the steamer or sieve and discard any remaining pips. Place the steamed oranges in a food processor with the remaining ingredients and whiz for 2 minutes or until smooth.

* Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 40–45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to stand in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Orange and almond cake

Fresh from the oven, this rich almond cake is drenched in a sweet citrus syrup, making it fantastically moist and full of flavour. Being so moist means it will keep, covered, for up to a week. The cake is delicious on its own or with a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

Serves 6–8 (v)

PREPARATION TIME

10 minutes

COOKING TIME

1¼ hours

200g (7oz) butter, softened and diced

275g (10oz) caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 2 oranges

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

5 eggs

350g (12oz) ground almonds

For the syrup

Juice of 2 oranges and 1 lemon

75g (3oz) caster sugar

23cm (9in) diameter spring-form/loose-bottomed cake tin

* Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F), Gas mark 3. Line the base of the tin with a disc of baking parchment and grease the sides with butter.