Category: Simple Supper Recipes

Follow the links for simple, healthy and very tasty simple supper recipes.   Or have a look at the Recipe Index for lots of other brilliant easy recipes!

All the recipes in this section can be made with minimal cooking skill.  Many can be made very quickly and most of them can be made in advance.

In this simple supper section, there are some easy stew recipes, quick pasta recipes and some simple savoury tarts.   The majority are vegetarian.

Stews
Pasta
Tarts, Tartlets and Pies – Savoury

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

  • Creamy Mushroom Pasta
  • Creamy Mushroom Pasta
  • Creamy Mushroom Pasta
  • Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Chestnuts – the perfect week-night supper

This Creamy Mushroom Pasta, with sweet chestnuts and caramelised onions, is just what I want at the end of a busy working day. It is savoury, full of flavour and, even better, is quick and easy to make and the sauce can also be made in advance.

Mushrooms and sweet chestnuts are great flavour partners and are two of my favourite ingredients. The savouriness of this dish is enhanced by using both fresh and dried mushrooms. You can use any type of dried mushroom in this recipe – most of the supermarkets sell a range including porcini, shitake and mixed. They add a real depth of almost meaty flavour to recipes that do not contain any meat! Ready-to-eat sweet chestnuts are also available widely in supermarkets. They are inevitably associated with Christmas but I use them all the year round. They have a sweetness and also a soft but firm texture that is fantastic in all kinds of savoury dishes.

Due to its deep savouriness, this dish is a great one to serve to meat-eaters. In addition to its flavour, it also has a good range of textures and a good “mouth feel” which means the lack of meat is not likely to be noticed! There are several variations that you can make to this recipe depending on your dietary preferences.

  • Vegetarian – I include anchovies in my recipe but, if you are vegetarian, you can leave them out. You may just need to add a little additional salt to the sauce.
  • Vegan – You can replace the butter with an additional tablespoon of oil, omit the anchovies and the cream. In order to make the sauce creamy, crush one third of the chestnuts into a paste and stir this into the sauce.
  • Healthier – Replace the butter with an additional tablespoon of oil and omit the cream. As above, crush one third of the chestnuts into a paste and stir this into the sauce.

You can use any kind of pasta to make Creamy Mushroom Pasta. I generally use a shorter pasta such as gigli (I love gigli!) or penne but I’ve made it with pretty much every type of pasta depending on what I have in my cupboard at the time.

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Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Chestnuts

★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews
  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6
  • Category: Pasta
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Description

This Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Chestnuts is the perfect week-night supper.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 25 g butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 onions
  • a handful of dried mushrooms (any kind)
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tin of anchovies (optional)
  • 485 g fresh mushrooms 
  • 180 g pack of peeled chestnuts
  • 2 tablespoons of double cream
  • Fresh parsley
  • Salt and pepper
  • 350 g pasta

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan.
  2. Peel and finely chop the onions and add them to the pan.  Crumble the dried mushrooms and add to the pan.  Cook over a low heat for around 15 minutes until the onions are sweet and caramelised and the dried mushrooms have softened.
  3. Peel and crush the cloves of garlic and roughly chop the anchovies. Add to the pan.
  4.  Finely chop half of the fresh mushrooms and slice the other half.  This gives some variety in texture to the pasta sauce.   Add the fresh mushrooms to the pan.
  5. Cook for ten minutes until the fresh mushrooms are cooked through.
  6. Roughly chop the peeled chestnuts into large chunks and add them to the pan.   
  7. Stir in the double cream and heat for a few minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.  Chop the parsley and stir into the sauce.   Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as required.  You may not need to add salt as the anchovies will add saltiness to the mixture.
  8. In a separate pan, heat water to boiling point, add the pasta and cook according to instructions on the packet.  When done, drain and stir in the mushroom and chestnut sauce.

 

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Notes

If you want to make this a vegetarian recipe, you can omit the anchovies.  Just make sure that you add a little salt to the sauce to compensate for the loss of their saltiness.

If you want to make this a vegan recipe, you can replace the butter with an additional tablespoon of oil, omit the anchovies and the cream. In order to make the sauce creamy, crush one third of the chestnuts into a paste and stir this into the sauce. 

If you want to make this a healthier recipe, replace the butter with an additional tablespoon of oil and omit the cream. As above, crush one third of the chestnuts into a paste and stir this into the sauce.

Keywords: pasta, mushroom, chestnut

This recipe has been shared on #CookBlogShare at Recipes Made Easy
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Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Vegetarian Mushroom and Chestnut Pies

Mushroom and Chestnut Pies

Smoked salmon, fennel and chives

Smoked Salmon Pasta

Feta Quiche with Roasted Peppers

Easy Feta Quiche with Roasted Peppers

Feta Quiche with Roasted Peppers is the perfect easy lunch or supper dish. The peppers are roasted to bring out their sweetness and combined with salty feta and anchovies which provide a big punch of flavour. If you are a vegetarian, or simply don’t like anchovies, salted capers are very good alternative.

I love roasted peppers! I roast my peppers by cutting them in half and putting them cut side down on a sheet of silver foil under a hot grill. Once the skin has blackened and charred, I wrap them up in the foil and leave them to cool. The steam from the hot peppers will loosen the skins making it easy to remove them. The process of roasting intensifies the flavour and sweetness of the peppers and adds an extra smoky taste dimension. I often use this method to produce a simple Roasted Pepper Salad but the it is also a great way of preparing peppers for use in other dishes.

So many peppers…

There are many types of sweet peppers available in stores and in farmers markets today. I particularly like the long, pointed Ramiro Peppers or Romano Peppers. These come in red, orange and yellow and are sweeter and, in my opinion, more flavoursome than the more common Bell Peppers. However, any type of pepper can be used in this recipe and any colour – red, orange or yellow. Just make sure you don’t use green peppers as they do not have the natural sweetness you need in this Feta Quiche.

….and so many quiches!

I make a lot of quiches and savoury tarts. In my view, they are one of the most versatile and useful dishes. They are easy to make and easy to divide into portions, they can be made in advance, they can be served hot or cold, there are a lot of vegetarian options which still seem to please meat-eaters and there are lots and lots of possible flavour combinations. Some of my favourites from this blog include Asparagus Quiche (early summer on a plate), Caramelised Onion Tart (a classic), Carrot Tart (a successful experiment), Garlic Tart (double garlic, what’s not to like?) and Beetroot Tart (love it or hate it!).

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Feta Quiche with Roasted Peppers

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 35
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6-8 1x
  • Category: Quiche
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

This Feta Quiche with Roasted Peppers and Anchovies is an easy lunch or supper recipe  which can be made in advance and served hot or cold.    You can use salted capers instead of anchovies if you are a vegetarian.

Ingredients

Scale

For the pastry:

  • 275 g plain flour
  • 125 g fat (I use a mix of half butter and half Trex as I think this makes the lightest pastry)
  • Salt
  • A little water

For the filling:

  • 4 red peppers
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tin anchovies or 1 tablespoon of capers
  • 100 g feta cheese
  • 100 ml double cream
  • 2 eggs

 

 

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.
  2. Make the pastry. Put the flour in a bowl.  Add the fat and combine –  either by “rubbing in” by hand or processing – until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add a little cold water (2-3 tbsp) and shape the mixture into a dough.
  3. Roll out your pastry and use it to line a 25 cm quiche or flan dish.   Bake for 15 minutes in the oven to allow the pastry to “set”.  This will stop the filling making it soggy and ensure that the base is crisp.
  4. Next prepare the peppers.  Cut them in half lengthwise.  Remove the stalks and seeds.   Place the pepper halves skin-side up on a grill pan covered in foil. 
  5. Place the pan under a hot grill for around 10 minutes until the peppers are black and charred.  Wrap the silver foil that you used to line the pan around the peppers and leave to cool.  The foil will form an envelope around the hot peppers and the steam that they give off will help to loosen their charred skins.
  6. When the peppers are cool enough to handle you should be able to peel off the charred skins.   
  7. Roughly chop the skinned peppers and scatter them over your pastry case. Finely chop the anchovies and crumble the feta cheese and add these to the pastry case as well.   If you are vegetarian, or just do not like anchovies,  capers are a good substitute. 
  8. Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the cream, and beat until combined.  Pour into the pastry case.  
  9. Place your quiche or flan dish in the oven and cook for 25 minutes.

Notes

  • This Feta Quiche can be served hot, warm or at room temperature.

Keywords: feta cheese, peppers, anchovies, quiche, tart

Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Asparagus Quiche

Asparagus Quiche

Roasted Pepper Salad

Roasted Pepper Salad

Spinach Tart with Nutmeg

Spinach Tart

Carrot Tart

Roasted Carrot Tart

Baked Eggs with Cheese

Baked Eggs with Cheese

These Baked Eggs with Cheese are so easy to make

If you are looking for easy, nutritious comfort food which can be whipped up quickly for breakfast, lunch or supper, then look no further than these Baked Eggs with Cheese. I think that this recipe is a brilliant example of the miraculous transformation that you can achieve by cooking familiar ingredients in a slightly different way. Somehow, oven-baking makes two eggs and a bit of cheese into a sustaining and filling dish which is also a bit of a treat. It is absolutely what I want to eat on a lazy weekend morning, particularly after a late night, or when I get home exhausted after a day at work.

Baked Eggs with Cheese is also one of those versatile, flexible dishes which it is always handy to know. They are a vegetarian but fall into the “vegetarian-by-stealth” category in that that non-vegetarians do not seem to notice the lack of meat. Also, you can make as many portions as you need according to how many people you need to feed. So you can have a meal-for-one or a meal for ten (or more!) according to your requirements.

Baked Eggs with Cheese

Variations on Baked Eggs with Cheese

This recipe is perfect for adaptation according to your particular taste preferences and available ingredients. I love recipes like this as I enjoy experimenting with different flavour combinations. The basic recipe uses eggs, cheese and herbs. In this version, I use cheddar and chives but there are so many other cheese and herb combinations that you could try. Other good combinations are:

  • mozzarella and basil
  • goat’s cheese and dill
  • ricotta and thyme
  • feta and oregano
  • blue cheese and chervil

Baked Eggs with Cheese

Other easy Cheese recipes

I love eating cheese just as it is. I will eat a few cubes with a glass of wine or put a slice or two in a sandwich or on top of a cracker. I also think it is a fantastic cooking ingredient. What better than savoury, melted gooey cheese to add that extra dimension of comforting deliciousness to your savoury snack or simple supper recipes?

In addition to this recipe for Baked Eggs, here are some of my other favourite cheesy recipes.

Baked Eggs with Cheese

Other easy snack recipes

I love savoury snacks. Whether I am box-set watching in front of the television or having a party, my evening is not complete without them. I will sometimes open a packet of crisps or a jar of olives. However, if I am thinking ahead, I will try and make some home-made nibbles.

Making your own snacks is often healthier and cheaper than buying ready-made snacks. They are also really delicious.   I try and keep them fairly healthy, without compromising on taste. Therefore, I aim to keep them relatively low fat and with low salt levels compared to shop-bought snacks.

All my snack recipes can be made in advance and most of them will store for a few days.  If you are a big fan of cheese, like me, you might like my crisp Cheese Biscuits or my Marinated Feta Cheese. My Moroccan-style Dukkah is a seed mix which can be eaten as a snack or sprinkled on hummus or salads. Most of my snack recipes are vegetarian. However, I have a few others such as my quick and easy Smoked Salmon pate recipe.

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Recipe for Baked Eggs with Cheese

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Baked eggs with cheese

Baked Eggs with Cheese

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 15
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 1 serving 1x
  • Category: Lunch
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

Easy and versatile. Quick and sustaining.  Herby Baked Eggs with Cheese is a go-to recipe for a luxurious breakfast or an after-work supper.

Ingredients

Scale

For each serving:

  • A little melted butter or oil
  • 25 g (1 oz) of cheese such as mature cheddar
  • A small bunch of chives
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons of double cream (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For each serving you will need a small ramekin or oven-proof bowl.

Baked eggs with cheese

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 200 C or Gas Mark 6.
  2. Lightly grease the inside of each of your ramekin with melted butter or oil. 
  3. Grate the cheese and put it in the bottom of the ramekin.
  4. Chop the chives and scatter half of them over the cheese.
  5. Break the eggs into the ramekin.
  6. Spoon the double cream over the eggs.   Using the cream makes the dish taste richer but you can leave it out if you want a lighter and healthier meal.
  7. Season with salt and pepper.  
  8. Put the ramekin on a baking tray and put in the oven.  Bake until the whites are set.  Baking times will vary according to your oven and how you like your eggs.  It is a good idea to check every now and then the first time that you cook them.   In my oven, it takes 12 minutes for runny yolks, 15 minutes for soft cooked yolks and 20 for hard yolks.
  9. Remove the ramekin from the oven.  Scatter the rest of the chopped chives over the top.  
  10. Serve immediately with some crusty bread if you want to make it a bit more substantial.

Baked Eggs with Cheese

Notes

  • You can make this recipe with different cheese and herb combinations.   I also like mozarella and basil, goat’s cheese and dill, ricotta and thyme, blue cheese and chervil  but there are lots of possibilities and it is fun to experiment!

Keywords: eggs, baked eggs, herbs, chives, cheese

Spinach Tart

Spinach Tart with Peas, Feta and Pine Nuts

This Spinach Tart is an easy, vegetarian lunch or supper dish. The filling consists of fresh spinach combined with peas which add a note of sweetness plus nuggets of salty feta cheese. The tart is topped with toasted pine nuts which add a crunchy texture as well as their delicious, nutty flavour.

Nutmeg

Pretty much all of my recipes use some kind of herb or spice. I love the way that they transform simple ingredients. If you choose flavourings that really work with your ingredients, adding herbs and spices is a way to make your recipes extra-special with very little additional effort.

In this Spinach Tart recipe, I have used nutmeg as the main flavouring as I think it goes particularly well with spinach. If you have only used ready-powdered nutmeg, I really recommend that you buy a jar of whole nutmegs, which can be found in every supermarket. When you have done this, use an ordinary kitchen grater to grate a little piece off one of the nutmegs. Hold the shavings in your hand and inhale. That is the real scent of nutmeg! You can shave a little nutmeg into your dishes whenever you need it and it will have that wonderful, spicy aroma and taste.

Although nutmeg is often associated with sweet dishes and desserts, such as Bread and Butter Pudding or Baked Custard, I think it works very well in savoury dishes. I think it is particularly good in savoury dishes with a hint of sweetness such as Caramelised Onion Tart which uses slow-cooked onions.

  • Spinach Tart with Nutmeg

Other savoury tarts and quiches

Savoury tarts and quiches are a fantastic, cook-ahead simple supper or lunch. They are easy to make and are great either hot or at room temperature. They can also be easily divided into portions if you are feeding a large number of people. Easily transportable, they also make a good addition to lunch-boxes or basis for a picnic. Some of my favourites are listed below.

Recipe for Spinach Tart with Peas, Feta and Pinenuts

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Spinach Tart with Nutmeg

Spinach Tart

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 35
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 1 tart 1x
  • Category: Savoury tart
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

This Spinach Tart combines fresh, green spinach with the sweetness of peas, salty feta and crunchy pine nuts.  It is perfect for a vegetarian light lunch or supper.

Ingredients

Scale

For the pastry:

  • 275 g plain flour
  • 125 g fat (I use a mix of half butter and half Trex as I think this makes the lightest pastry)
  • Salt
  • A little water

For the filling:

  • 1 onion
  • 300 g fresh spinach
  • 100 g frozen peas (defrosted)
  • 125 g ricotta
  • 100 ml double cream
  • 2 eggs (beaten)
  • Grated nutmeg to taste
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 50 g feta cheese
  • 1 tablespoon pine nuts

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.
  2. Make the pastry. Put the flour in a bowl.  Add the fat and combine –  either by “rubbing in” by hand or processing – until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add a little cold water (2-3 tbsp) and shape the mixture into a dough. 
  3. Roll out your pastry and use it to line your quiche or flan dish.   Bake for 10  minutes in the oven to allow the pastry to “set”.  This will stop the filling making it soggy.  
  4. Peel and chop the onion.  Heat the butter and oil in your frying pan.   It helps if the pan is good quality with a thick bottom as this will disseminate the heat evenly and prevent burning.  Add the onion to the pan, season with salt and pepper,  and cook at a very low heat for about 10 minutes until soft.
  5. Place the spinach in a saucepan with a little water and cook gently, with the lid on, for about 5 minutes until the leaves are wilted.  Remove the spinach leaves from the pan and, as soon as they are cool enough, squeeze to remove excess moisture and then roughly chop them.
  6. Put the softened onion, chopped spinach and defrosted peas into a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the ricotta, cream and eggs.   Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg.   
  7. Spread the mixture in the pastry case.   
  8. Crumble the feta cheese and sprinkle on top of the mixture.
  9. Place your quiche or flan dish in the oven and cook for 25 minutes.  After it has been cooking for 15 minutes, sprinkle the pine nuts on top and return it to the oven.

Keywords: spinach, tart, quiche, feta, pine nuts, peas, vegetarian

Carrot Tart

Carrots, Orange and Ricotta

I came up with the idea for this Carrot Tart with Orange and Ricotta on a particularly grey and rainy February day. I felt that I needed to make something that would bring a burst of colour and flavour into my life – and that is exactly what this Tart does. It uses ingredients found in the winter – carrots, orange, coriander – to liven up both your taste-buds and your table!

I love the natural sweetness of carrots, which is enhanced by sharp, citrus flavours. In this recipe I use the zest and juice of orange to bring out the sweet, earthy flavour of the carrots. The carrots are set on a pillow of creamy ricotta, flavoured with orange zest and coriander which adds a mouth-filling creaminess as a counterpoint to the sweet and sharp topping. Lemon is also a great flavour-enhancer for carrots as in Spiced Carrots with Honey and Lemon. If you like the flavour combinations in this Carrot Tart, I strongly recommend it.

As I felt a need to banish the greyness of February when I was making this recipe, I chose “heritage carrots” from my local greengrocer. You can make this Carrot Tart with any type of carrots. However, I would recommend buying the ones with the green fronds still attached as you know they are fresh and they generally have a lot more flavour. Carrots in a range of colours are now quite widely available and combining red, yellow and purple with orange will make your tart look particularly beautiful.

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Carrot Tart with Orange

Carrot Tart

  • Author: Tastebotanical
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Description

This Carrot Tart will bring zest to your taste-buds and your table.  Beautiful, sweet, earthy carrots, flavoured with orange and coriander, set in creamy ricotta on a crisp pastry base will brighten up those grey winter days!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 320 g frozen puff pastry
  • 1 egg
  • 150 g carrots
  • Salt and pepper
  • 125 g ricotta
  • 50 g feta cheese
  • 1 orange
  • Small bunch of fresh coriander (finely chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 200 degrees C/gas mark 6.
  2. Roll the frozen pasty into square or rectangle.  Using a sharp knife, cut it into four evenly sized squares or rectangles.    Cut a 1 cm strip of pastry around the edge of each of the squares or rectangles.  
  3. Break and whisk the egg.  Using a pastry brush, paint the beaten egg around the edge of each square or rectangle.   Place the strips of pastry around the edge of each square or rectangle.  These will form the “walls” around each of your tarts.
  4. Put the pastry squares or rectangles onto a baking sheet.
  5. Prepare the carrots either by peeling them or scrubbing them to remove any dirt.  If they are large, cut each one in half lengthwise.   Place the prepared carrots in a saucepan of boiling salted water and simmer for around 10 minutes.  You want them to be slightly softened but not fully cooked.  Remove the carrots from the saucepan and run under cold water to cool them enough so they can be easily handled.
  6. While the carrots are cooking, mash together the ricotta and feta in a medium-sized bowl.  Add the grated zest of the orange and the finely chopped coriander.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Spread the cheese mixture onto each of your four pastry squares or rectangles.
  8. Arrange the carrots on top of the cheese mixture on each of the four pastry squares or rectangles.
  9. Put the tarts into the oven and cook for about 15 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.
  10.  While the tarts are cooking, put the juice of your orange, sugar and balsamic vinegar in a small pan.   Cook gently uncovered until the liquid has reduced by half.   This will form a glaze for the tarts which will add flavour and also give them an attractive sheen!
  11. When the tarts are cooked, remove them from the oven and paint the glaze over the carrot topping.
  12.  The tarts can be eaten either hot or cold.  If you are planning to eat them cold, place on a baking rack to cool so that the pastry remains crisp.

Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Carrot salad

Spiced Carrots with Honey and Lemon

Beetroot Salad

Roasted Beetroot Salad with Yogurt and Tahini

Fried Aubergine with Soy, Honey and Chilli

Aubergine with Soy, Honey and Chilli

Tomato Tart

Tomato Tart

Spinach Tart with Nutmeg

Spinach Tart