Let’s be honest here, you simply can’t live on takeaways. Not only will that be totally unhealthy, it will eat up (see what I did there?) a huge chunk of your uni allowance and we all know there is better things you could be spending your cash on than overpriced pizza.
Batch cooking may be the last thing you thought you would be doing while living your best life at University but if you’ve got the time and energy you will reap in the benefits later on.
Here we’ve put together some tasty batch cook recipes you can freeze that can be used across a multitude of dishes.
Tomato Base Sauce –
Heat some oil in a pan and ‘cook off’ your veg. 2 chopped onions, 2 chopped carrots, 2 celery sticks and 2 crushed garlic cloves with a Bay leaf or your own choice of herb. Basil goes great with tomato for Italian dishes. Cook on a low to medium heat until all the veg is tender then stir in 4 tins of chopped tomato’s with 150ml water and a pinch of salt and sugar. Simmer for 30minutes then cool and bottle up.
This sauce can be used for pizza, pasta bake, chilli, bolognese or even paella.
Curry Base –
In a bowl mix together 1tbs Turmeric, 1tbs ground cumin, 1tbs coriander seeds, 1tbs fenugreek seeds, 1tbs paprika, grated 1inch piece of ginger, 3 cloves, 1/4tsp ground nutmeg, 2 cardamom pods and 1 bay leaf.
Chop 10 onions (yes I know, it seems excessive BUT curries are ALL about the onions) chop 1 carrot and 1 red pepper. Crush 12 garlic cloves and a 2 inch piece of ginger.
Heat some oil in a pan and add in the spices being careful not to burn. Give them a stir and add in the garlic, ginger and onions. Mix this really well so the spice mix is coating the onions and cook on a low to medium heat until they begin to soften then add in the carrot and red pepper.
Keep cooking until all the veg has gone soft and the onions have reduced in size.
Add in 2 tins of chopped tomato’s and 2 tins of water along with a little salt.
Bring your mixture to the boil then reduce and simmer for around 30minutes with the lid on. Once all the falvours have come together and it has slightly cooled pop it in the blender in batches to get a nice smooth curry base. This base can be used in anything from a korma to a Madras.
Veggie Gravy –
Start by chopping up 1 onion, 2 carrots and 2 celery stick and ‘fry off’ with 2 Bay leaves, 1 large sprig of thyme and a large knob of butter for 10 minutes or until veg starts to brown.
Pop in one tablespoon of sugar so the veg starts to caramelise then stir in 2tbs plain flour (always add flour to a dry pan and not liquid.)
Stir this for one minute then add 1tsp Marmite (optional) along with 1tbs tomato puree and 1 litre of vegetable stock, simmer until gravy has thickened and season.
Pass your gravy through a sieve or if you don’t mind the lumps just cool it down a store it as is.
This yummy veggie friendly gravy can be used for your roast, shepherds/cottage pie and a hotpot.
