Two quick kitchen cheats

During the holidays any culinary aspirations I have go right out the window. This week my kids have subsisted on foods which can either be bunged in the oven (ie fishfingers and oven chips) or gleaned from a jar (ie pasta and pesto). Shocking, I know, but wouldn't you rather be out in the garden or staying out late at the local park of a summer's evening? More structured, healthy eating can be re-established when they're back at school (hopefully!)

The weird thing is I do actually enjoy cooking but my children aren't easily pleased. They're not exactly fussy eaters but they can be awkward about mealtimes. Oldest son has ridiculously high-brow tastes and would happily dine on seafood each night, yet turns his nose up at, say, a simple macaroni cheese. My younger son only really gets excited about scrambled eggs and won't let a morsel of meat pass his lips. You can see it's limiting and takes the joy out of family cooking, somewhat. 

But recently I have hit on two real kitchen 'cheats', which are relatively healthy, add some variation to mealtimes and couldn't be easier to prepare. I have Nigella to thank for these two discoveries, which can be found in her book 'Kitchen'. Firstly, spaghetti with marmite - an improbable combo, I know, but - and I've tried it - it really does work. Plus the recipe was conceived by legendary Italian cookery writer Anna Del Conte - if the Italians eat it, it must be good! You don't even have to really like marmite. Bung some spaghetti in to cook then heat about 50g of butter in a pan. When it's nearly melted add in a teaspoon of marmite, plus one tablespoon of the pasta cooking water till it all emulsifies and goes loose. Add the sauce to the drained spaghetti and mix well. Plate up and serve with plenty of parmesan. I'm biased because I love marmite but even if you're not so sure, give it a try just once!

Secondly, an easy accompaninment to meat or fish. Even though I sometimes make my own chips and even the oven variety aren't really that bad for them, I do sometimes feel a bit gulity about chips being the standard potato-based dish in our home. So, for something a bit different try roasted or fried gnoochi. Again, these babies take literally minutes to prepare - you simply throw them into a frying pan with some olive oil and gently fry on both sides for about four minutes. Alternatively bake them in a roasting pan with some oil for about twenty minutes. 

I'm not sure Annabel Karmel would approve but sometimes life really is too short to spend slaving over a hot stove...