What makes a midweek meal a midweek meal? The term implies that bandwidth is fairly low, so something pretty straightforward is called for. Anything that takes longer than half an hour to make is out of the question for most people, and no one wants to spend ages on the washing-up. That’s why one-pan dishes are so popular, and why ingredients that hit our midweek comfort needs – pasta or cheese, say – feature so often. At the same time, however, midweek meals aren’t just about instant carbs and melted cheese. More often than not, in fact, much depends on what sort of week you’re having. (Spoiler alert: these dishes work very well at weekends, too.)
Butternut squash ‘carbonara’ with crisp garlic (pictured top)
This is a long way from a traditional carbonara, I know, but it’s very much inspired by the original, so I’m sticking to the name. The key here is to manage the temperature of the pasta when you stir in the eggs and cheese. If it’s too hot, you’ll get scrambled eggs, so leave the pasta to cool for a minute before the enthusiastic stirring begins.
Prep 15 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4
Fine sea salt
125ml olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
20g fresh oregano leaves
1 small butternut squash, peeled, pith and seeds removed and discarded, flesh cut into 2cm pieces (630g net weight)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
350g conchiglie, or similar pasta
80g parmesan, finely grated
3 eggs, beaten
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, put the oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and oregano, and fry for two minutes, just until the garlic starts to turn golden. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lift out the garlic and oregano and transfer to a small bowl, leaving the oil in the pan.
Turn up the heat under the pan to high, add the chunks of squash, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and the black pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until the squash is soft and golden brown.
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook for eight minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 200ml of the cooking water, then put the pasta in the squash pan. Cook, stirring often, for two minutes, then take off the heat and leave for a minute: you don’t want the pasta to be piping hot.
Mix the cheese, eggs and three tablespoons of the reserved pasta water in a large bowl; keep the remaining pasta water. Tip the pasta and squash mix into the egg bowl and stir for two minutes, until the pasta is evenly coated in the sauce; if need be, add more pasta water a tablespoon at a time until the sauce turns smooth and silky. Divide between shallow bowls, sprinkle the fried oregano and garlic mixture on top, and serve immediately.
Kimchi soup with braised tofu
This is light, comforting and makes a great standalone soup, but if you want to give it more heft, serve with some fluffy white rice on the side. Play around with the ingredients, too, and use up whatever you have around, be that seasonal greens or different kinds of tofu or mushrooms.
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp gochujang
1 tsp caster sugar
3 spring onions, thinly sliced at an angle (70g)
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks (15g)
160g kimchi – we used Ajumma Republic’s
1 litre chicken (or vegetable) stock
30g dry shiitake mushrooms
450g (ie, 2 x 225g tins) braised tofu, drained – we used Marigold
2 tbsp rice-wine vinegar
200g beansprouts
Fine sea salt
25g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Put the first five ingredients in a large saucepan and set it over a medium heat. Fry, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes, until the vegetables soften, then stir in the kimchi, stock, mushrooms and tofu, and bring to a boil.
Turn down the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for about 15 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft.
Add the vinegar, beansprouts and a half-teaspoon of salt, then take the pan off the heat and stir well to combine.
Stir in the coriander, divide the soup between four large bowls and serve at once.