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Capsule Cupboard is a series designed to bring back the Great British Larder, separating the wheat from the chaff and turning your cupboard into a lean, mean culinary inspiration machine.
In this series, we will create the ultimate Capsule Cupboard, filled with only 12 delicious ingredients from my lovely friends at Waitrose & Partners that will keep on giving for 6 scrumptious mealtimes. Gone is the waste from over-shopping, and we’ve done away with the worry of what you’re going to cook each night – all the hard work is done for you, meaning delicious meals, done fast with no fuss and no waste.
Capsule Cupboard does for food what Gok’s Fashion Fix did for our wardrobes – proving you don’t need endless piles of ingredients, just a few fantastic essentials.
YOU WILL NEED…
- 235g spinach
- 500g bread (ideally white)
- 1 bunch of basil
- 800g-1kg tomatoes (ideally plum)
- 1 cabbage
- 3 lemons
- 720g white Fish (or haddock, cod, halibut)
- 80g parmesan
- vegetable stock cubes
- 2 x 400g tins of borlotti beans (or pinto, cannellini, butter beans)
- 2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
- 1 garlic bulb
FROM YOUR CUPBOARD… oil, salt & pepper
YOU WILL MAKE…
RECIPE 1 – Homemade fish cakes with sautéed cabbage
RECIPE 2 – Cheats falafel and softened spinach
RECIPE 3 – Chickpea ragu with lemony steamed fish and a parmesan crisp
RECIPE 4 – Tomato Gazpacho
RECIPE 5 – Roasted Cabbage, tomatoes and borlotti bean tray bake with a parmesan crust
RECIPE 6 – Homemade fish fingers with a fresh tomato salad
Homemade fish cakes with sautéed cabbage
INGREDIENTS
- 1 x 400g borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
- 240g white fish, cubed
- 10g parmesan, grated
- 1 lemon, zest of
- 1/4 bunch of basil, finely chopped
- 1/2 cabbage, cut into 4 lengthways down the stalk
- 1 stock cube
METHOD
Add your beans, fish, parmesan, lemon and basil into a bowl and squish together into a textured, sticky mush. Season with salt and pepper and mould into 4 equal sized patties. Put your patties in the fridge for at least an hour to firm up.
Pop a pan on a medium to low heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook your fish cakes for 12-15 minutes, giving them a flip half way through so they go golden on each side.
Pop another pan on a medium heat and drizzle in a tablespoon of oil. Place your cabbage in stalk side down, and fry until golden. Add your vegetable stock cube and a drizzle of water (50ml) and place a lid on top. Allow to steam and sauté for 5 minutes, checking occasionally to stir in the stock and top up with water if it needs it. Your stock should form a glaze on your cabbage.
Plate up and tuck in! This recipe is a winner!
Cheat’s falafel and softened spinach
INGREDIENTS
- 1 x 400g tin chickpeas (keep the aquafaba for another recipe)
- 80g bread
- 3 garlic cloves
- 235g spinach
- 1 lemon, juice of
METHOD
Blitz your chickpeas, 2 garlic clove and the bread into a mush with a food processor. Add salt and pepper to season. Dig out your store cupboard spices and feel free to pop in some cumin or chilli powder to add another layer of flavour – not compulsory! Roll into small patties and pop into a dry pan and a medium heat. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until each side turns golden.
Cook 1 garlic clove in a tablespoon of oil on a low to medium heat until softened. Add your spinach and 50ml water and cook until your spinach has wilted. Season with salt.
Serve your falafel on top of the spinach and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon!
Chickpea ragu with lemony steamed fish and a parmesan crisp
INGREDIENTS
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained (keep the aquafaba for another recipe)
- 1 vegetable stock cube/pot
- 480g white fish
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 2 sprigs of basil
- 20g parmesan
METHOD
Fry the garlic in a tablespoon of oil on a medium to low heat until soft. Add in the drained chickpeas and a vegetable stock cube diluted with 200ml water. Keep it on the heat until it has reduced to a thick sauce.
Cook your fish en papillote. Put each fish fillet in a large square of greaser proof paper and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Arrange 2-3 thin slices of lemon on top of the fish with a few leaves of basil. Fold the grease proof paper around your fish to create a parcel, sealing the edges with a tight fold to avoid letting steam escape. Bake in the middle of the oven at 200°C/400°F/gas 6 for 12 minutes.
Pour 2 heaped tablespoon of Parmesan onto a baking tray lined with grease proof paper, spacing them at least an inch apart. Bake alongside the fish for 3-5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove and cool.
Serve your ragu with the steamed fish on top and the parmesan fish to finish.
Tomato Gazpacho
INGREDIENTS
- 40g bread
- 6 large tomatoes (~300g)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 lemon, zest of
- 1 tsp sugar
- basil to garnish
METHOD
Soak your bread in cold water and set aside. Lightly score the bottoms of 6 tomatoes with a criss cross. Cover with freshly boiled water for 2 minutes. Drain and allow to cool a little before peeling the skins off. Remove any visible stalks. Add to a blender.
Squeeze out the excess water from your bread and add to the blender with 1 clove of garlic and the zest of half a lemon. Sprinkle in 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and a generous pinch of pepper. Blitz!
Taste for seasoning and, when happy, strain your soup through a sieve and refrigerate before serving. Sprinkle on basil to finish and enjoy!
Roasted Cabbage, tomatoes and borlotti bean tray bake with a parmesan crust
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cabbage, cut into 4 lengthways down the stalk
- 3-4 tomatoes (~135g), cut into quarters
- 1 x 400g borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 stock cube
- 3 slices bread (~120g)
- 20g parmesan
METHOD
Pop a pan on a medium heat and drizzle in a tablespoon of oil. Place your cabbage in stalk side down, and fry until golden. Add your vegetable stock cube, borlotti beans and 100ml of water. Place a lid on and drop your pan to a low heat.
Cook for 15 minutes and decant into a baking tray or casserole dish if your pan isn’t suitable for the oven. Add your chopped tomatoes and bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Blitz your bread, parmesan and 1/2 teaspoon on salt into a fine crumb. Sprinkle over the tray bake and return to the oven for a final 10 minutes, until golden.
Homemade fish fingers with a fresh tomato salad
INGREDIENTS
- 1 x tin of chickpea water (aquafaba)
- 280g white fish
- 100g bread
- 20g parmesan
- 3 tomatoes
- 1/4 bunch of basil
METHOD
Cut your fish into equal sized fingers. Whip your aquafaba with a whisk to form stiff peaks (like whipped egg whites) and decant into a bowl. Blitz your bread and parmesan, with a generous pinch of salt and pepper, into a fine crumb and decant into another bowl. Prepare a pan with 1cm oil on a medium to high heat.
To crumb your fish fingers, dip them first in the whipped aquafaba, then into the breadcrumbs and then place them gently in the oil. Cook until golden on all sides and drain them onto kitchen roll.
To prepare your tomato salad, roughly chop up your tomatoes and toss them with 1 tsp of salt. Leave them to drain in a sieve for 10 minutes. This will result in your tomatoes being less watery and more intensely flavoured, and suppress your perception of bitterness, making the tomato taste even sweeter!
Toss your salted tomatoes with freshly chopped basil and plate up with your fish fingers! Enjoy.