Three recipes to feed your flat that cost less than a tenner

Cooking is easy. Cooking healthily and cheaply is also easy, so it’s a wonder so few people do. Benjamin Lebus thinks that constitutes a gap in the market and set out to educate. “You don’t have to be a foodie to cook well” he tells me, “You do not need to be rich to eat delicious food.”

With that in mind he started Mob Kitchen, publishing simple instructional cooking videos online. His first series of recipes feed four people for £10 or less. Here are three of them.

Sticky miso aubergines

Notes: Make sure you marinate the aubergines for the full 15 minutes to ensure best flavour.

Cooking Time (includes preparation time): 1 Hour 10 Minutes

Ingredients:

100g Sesame Seeds – £0.85

500g Basmati Rice – £0.89

250ml Toasted Sesame Oil – £1.60

1 Jar Runny Honey – £0.99

Itsu Miso Soup Paste (3 Sachets) – £2.00

1 Bunch Spring Onions – £0.49

4 Aubergines – £2.80

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/356ºF.
• Put 4 tablespoons of miso paste, 4 tablespoons of honey and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil into a bowl. Add a small cup of warm water so the mixture is loose, and mix together.
• Halve your aubergines length wise. Score the aubergine flesh, so you end up with diamond cuts across it. (See video)
• Pour marinate into a baking tray and place aubergines on top, flesh side down. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes.
• Then, cover baking tray with tin foil, and place into the oven for 45 minutes.
• 10 minutes before the end, add 1 part rice and two parts boiling water to a pan. Allow this to boil down until the rice has absorbed the water. This method should ensure fluffy, steamy rice.
• Remove aubergines from oven and place on top of the rice.
• Serve with a scattering of chopped spring onions on top.

Chorizo shakshuka

Notes: Fry your chorizo so it is nice and crisp before adding the vegetables

Cooking Time (includes preparation time): 1 Hour 10 Minutes

Ingredients:

Feta – £1.20

1 Bunch of Parsley – £0.70

1 Brown Onion – £0.16

2 Peppers – £1.00

Red Chillies – £0.60

Garlic – £0.30

Chorizo – £2.50

10 Eggs – £1.50

Tinned Tomatoes – £1.90

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/356ºF.
• Finely chop the 1 chilly, the onion and 3 garlic cloves. Cut the peppers into strips, and break the chorizo into little nuggets.
• Add the chorizo to a big pan. Fry until crisp. Then add the vegetables. Fry until slightly softened, for 5 or 6 minutes, and then add your tinned tomatoes. Fill up both tins with water, and pour that in to. Give it a stir and let it to bubble away. You want the sauce to be a thick consistency, so allow it reduce by around half.
• Take the sauce off the heat and smooth out the surface. Then, make  little holes in the sauce and gently drop in the eggs, so the yolks stay in tact.
• Place the whole pan into the oven for 12 minutes.
• Remove the pan, and add crumbled feta and parsley.

Chicken, pepper and almond tray bake

Notes: Scatter on some almonds just before you finish cooking, so they toast on the top.

Cooking Time (includes preparation time): 1 Hours

Ingredients:

100g Flaked Almonds – £1.15

2 Sweet Potatoes – £0.66

1 Lemon – £0.35

1 Bunch Coriander – £0.70

Smoked Paprika – £0.85

Ground Cumin – £0.85

Garlic – £0.30

2 Peppers – £1.00

2 Red Onions – £0.33

Chicken Thighs – £3.00

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/356ºF.
• Place chicken thighs in a tray, skin side up.
• Add chopped peppers, sweet potatoes, onions and a full bulb of garlic (leave the cloves unpeeled.
• Add the zest of one lemon, two teaspoons of cumin, two teaspoons of smoked paprika, and a scattering of almonds.
• Mix everything together, and put into the oven for 40 minutes.
• Take tray out of the oven and mix everything about.
• Place bake into oven for 10 more minutes.
• Serve with a scattering of coriander, and your left over almonds.