All language subtitles for Jamies.1.pound.Wonders.S01E01.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX

We're in a time where food prices

and energy costs are going
up and up.

So, I really wanted to be as useful
to you at home as possible

by developing delicious recipes
that you can get on the plate

for under a pound a portion.

Oh!

To do that, I've had to study
hundreds and hundreds of ingredients

across four big supermarkets.

Really go back to basics,
principles, hacks, tips.

Come on!

We might be cooking on a budget,
but this is delicious food.

All the ingredients used have been
costed up and each recipe

comes in at £1 a portion or less.

Clever cooking to keep costs down.

Have a look at that.
Maximum flavour, minimum cost.

This time I've got a delicious
chicken roast that saves time

and money but doesn't scrimp
on flavour...

Everything's there, the smoky bacon
is definitely there.

...and an utterly delicious recipe

that flips humble ingredients
into a beautiful meal.

Oozy, creamy, spinachy ham.

I've got two super tasty family
favourites that are cooked in

cost-efficient and surprising ways.

Have a little go at this -
you won't regret it.

And I've called on my old pal
Gennaro to share some tips

on traditional Italian cooking
to keep costs down and flavour up.

You will love it!

Everyone, even if you're cooking

on a budget, deserves
a delicious Sunday roast,

and, boy, have I got
a good one for you.

My time-saving chicken roast uses
one of the cheapest cuts of chicken

and is filled with a super simple,
delicious stuffing.

With some clever tips to ramp up
flavour, cook faster and cut costs,

this beauty serves six people
for 96p a portion.

So, chicken thighs,
skin on, on the bone. OK?

Often people are getting
it with skin off and the bone out

and you're paying, of course,
a butcher to do that for you,

and they're going to charge
up for that.

So this is the most economic
way to buy your chicken.

It's a beautiful cut, it really is.

We're going to get that skin
really crispy.

That meat's going to be juicy
and tender and falling apart.

And we're going to stuff
it with incredible things that makes

it feel beautiful, exciting and
something a little bit different.

So, first job is actually prepping
some onions, sweet onions.

These are the smaller onions,
which are, by far, the cheapest

you can get in nearly
all of the supermarkets,

and they're out of spec ones, right,

so they're either too big
or too small,

and it helps farmers sell
all of their product,

not just the certain
size and specific ones.

So, I'm going to slice
two of these onions

and then with this third onion,

I'm just going to quarter it
and put it to one side here.

Now, these onions I'm going
to put into a pan.

Let's get that onto a medium-high
heat. OK.

We want these onions to be sweet
and caramelised and delicious,

so we're just going to lightly fry
these off with a little pinch

of salt and pepper, for about five
minutes while we do

a little bit of butchery,
and these are basic skills

that a lot of people have lost,

and there's no real reason
for it because it's so simple.

You can see the bone here, right?

Use your two fingers and just go,
very simply, on the side of

each bone and just,
kind of, chip away.

If you do it badly,
it doesn't matter.

And then we have that, a bone,

which you can make the most
incredible gravy out of.

The idea of taking
a cheap cut of meat,

doing basic things to it
to make it fabulous and stretch

more and allow you to add flavours
to create incredible dishes.

And all the, kind of, challenges
around food prices and energy,

what's amazing is when you can cook,

you can cook around
some of these challenges.

Now, I've got one rasher
of bacon here.

I'm just going to slice it up
and it's going to add a depth

of flavour to our onions
and a smokiness.

So, just one rasher goes
a long way, I promise you, right.

Now, two trays that
we're going to cook in.

First up, we're going to go
in with the chicken bones,

but if you want to extract
more flavour,

then you need to crack them in half.

And to do that, you use
the butt of your knife.

We'll just do one little crack.

You've exposed the bone
marrow and you will get

the most amazing gravy.

So, onions are done, OK?

And they've gone nice and golden,

so we're going to leave
that to cool down.

And now, the quarters of onions
that I put aside, you can put

in this tray with the bones.

The other thing I've got
are these lovely carrots here,

which I am going to peel
and I'll put the peelings

into this tray because that will
give flavour to the gravy

and just drop them in there.

So, that is making good use
of the oven space.

The oven is more expensive
than the electric or gas hob,

so if you're going to use the oven,

it's good to use it properly
and fill it,

and this is the perfect recipe
that will express that.

So, just a little oil in there,
give that a toss up,

and that is actually a really
important job done

because you're going to get amazing

carrots and amazing gravy from one
tray, which we like.

Right, just going to wash my hands
for a second.

The next thing I'm going to do
is an amazing roast potato.

I've washed these, given
it a little prick with a knife,

and I'm going to put them in the

microwave for 10 minutes
at full whack,

and that's going to par cook them
and a little bit of time in here,

will save time in here,
so it's all clever cooking.

So, as they cook, let's stuff
these incredible chicken thighs.

The first thing you'll be thinking
is, like, a chicken thigh,

one of them isn't enough,
but we're going to stuff it.

We're going to stretch the meat.

We're also going to tenderise it,

and we're going to make
a combination

that is going to slap me
around the face.

It is a delicious thing.

So, how do we do that?

Salt and pepper and then we're going
to add a herb, dried sage.

You can use any herb you like,
but dried is definitely a good-value

way of getting concentrated
flavour into your cooking.

Then I want to tenderise
this chicken and flatten it out.

So, I'll just take a little bit
of greaseproof paper, take something

heavy, like a little small pan
or a rolling pin,

and, two at a time,
I'm going to bash this out.

This just makes it easier
to wrap around the stuffing.

It's a fantastic little
principle to learn.

So, let's talk about the stuffing.

First up, I'm going to go
with cranberry sauce. OK?

So, a little something sweet,
a little sour.

I just take a teaspoon and I plop
it in the middle

of our chicken, like that.

Then if you think about
a traditional stuffing,

what do you always have? Bread.

So, I'm going to take three
slices and some mustard,

and I'm just going to butter
it over the bread,

slice them in half, take the bread,
put it on the chicken,

it will catch and go crispy.

And then last but not least, our
cooled onions with smoky bacon.

HE CHUCKLES
Push it all in and roll it over.

The great thing about the bread
is it helps you stuff the chicken,

but it also soaks up all
the gorgeous juices and becomes,

debatably, the best bit of
the whole dish. Right?

It's the bit that everyone
fights for.

I've got six bits of string that
I'm going to use to secure this.

So, you go underneath the chicken
thigh like that, just crisscross

it and do a little knot
and then I can send one

underneath and back on top
again to secure it.

These simple preparations make
a little go a long way,

but also add flavour and drama
and excitement.

So look, here we go,
into a roasting tray,

we've got our chicken.

Let me just wash my hands.

Let's get our potatoes out...

And they're hot, hoe-hoot!

They're hot and steamy.

So, put the potatoes on here
and squash the potatoes.

It will cook quicker, you'll have
more contrast of textures.

So, this is going to go
in with the chicken

in between the little gaps.

Just give it a little oil,
salt and pepper.

Chicken board will get
a proper wash.

So, the chicken and potatoes are
going to go in for one hour

at 180 degrees Celsius,
which is 350 Fahrenheit.

The carrots and trivet
will go in for 40 minutes,

and then I'm going to cook
the most delicious cabbage

in the most unusual way.

So, this is what they call, in the
supermarkets, a sweetheart cabbage.

I call it a pointed cabbage,
but basically today,

this is the cheapest cabbage I can
get my hands on and it's delicious.

I've given it a wash, then put
the knife carefully,

like this, all the way to the end.

Now, we're going to keep the stalks
on and that's going to hold

the whole thing together.

I'm just going to cut the cabbage,
like that, into a nice wedge.

How beautiful is that? So, we'll get
six out of a whole cabbage.

And instead of boiling it
or steaming it,

we're going to go to the oven...

...we're going to pull out
our carrots and our bones,

and I'm going to lay
our cabbage on top.

And it's going to scald and roast,

the outside layers will go golden
and crisp and the inside layers

will be soft and steamed.

So, back in the oven
for 20 to 25 minutes.

Happy days.

So, the cabbage has had
about 25 minutes.

Before I get it out of the oven,

I want to get an old friend
out of the freezer.

Frozen peas, just under 500g,

I'm going to do nothing
to it at all.

There's enough moisture
already on here to steam them.

I'm going to add on top
of those our beautiful cabbage.

Can you see how it's been roasted
and caught?

So, on the inside it's really
delicate, sweet and steamed.

So, I'm simply going to pick

these up, like that,
and lay them onto our peas.

As I reheat the peas,
just for four or five minutes,

that'll also reheat
our beautiful cabbage.

This chicken's nearly done.

All the lovely bits of the old
cranberry sauce trying to fight

through, the skin is
all golden and crisp.

If I show you one of these potatoes,
can you see how crispy that is?

Come on, sticky bits.

So, we can actually turn, if you
want to, the potatoes around,

any of those juices
that have come out,

we can just drizzle over the top.

So, what I'm going to do
is put the carrots back in

with this to carry on roasting.

This goes back in the oven...

...for, give or take, ten minutes
while I make some beautiful gravy.

So, get a medium heat on and then

a couple of tablespoons of
plain flour.

Go in with some boiling
water, use a spoon to really scrape

all the sticky bits off the bottom
and sides, and then squash

the onions and the carrot to really
get all the maximum flavour

out of that and then simmer
that for, like, 10-15 minutes

until it's the thickness
that you like

and also check it for seasoning.

Around the same time, our carrots,

potatoes and chicken
are going to be ready,

and then I'll show you how
to plate it all up.

OK!

Oh, come on!

Chicken, beautiful potatoes,

I've got the carrots
in there as well.

Look at that. Crispy, golden.

I've got the gravy basically done.

Then you can see here,
I just put a lid on top,

give it a little shake.

Literally, that's just
a little pinch of salt

and a tiny drizzle of oil,

and that's going to be delicious.

Let's plate a portion up.

Lovely potatoes.

Look at that, you can see how
the squashing gives you

the really crispy bits
and nice fluffy bits.

Look at this.

It's such a nice way
to cook the cabbage.

Load it with peas.

Then got the lovely carrot.

Let's get onto the chicken.

So, these are like little gifts,
right, wrapped up.

Just remove that little bit of
string

and then slice the chicken
in all of its glory.

And that thigh meat is just
beautiful, it's juicy,

and you've done a fantastic job of

adding value to this incredible cut
of meat. Right?

We've stretched it.
Even down to the gravy.

Push it through the sieve.

It's nice and thick,
proper home-made gravy.

It's something a little bit
different, but that,

any day of the week,
is a thing of beauty.

So, let's try some.

Let's go straight in
with the chicken.

Oh! The thigh is juicy.

You've got all of that lovely
stuffing in there, the crispy skin.

Everything's there, the sage,
the onion,

the smoky bacon is definitely there.

So, look at the potatoes,
you've got the crispy skin here,

and then on the inside,
it's so fluffy.

Because they've cooked
with the chicken,

they're almost, like, stocky,

and then the cabbage, you've almost
got the roasted side here.

On the inside it's just pearly white
and fresh and tender.

Mm!

That's what roast dinners are
all about.

It's incredible value, but also
it's a beautiful thing

that you can enjoy with
the people that you love.

To deliver you really
reliable pricing,

I've taken the average cost of each
ingredient and quantity used

across four major supermarkets,

and this comes in at 96p a portion.

Come on!

There's nothing simpler to make
than a home-made pancake batter,

and I want to give you the tools
and principles to turn

that into the most delicious
show-stopping dinner.

This cheesy pancake stack uses
humble ingredients to really

make a meal of things.

With layers of pancakes,
delicious spinach sauce,

smoky ham and oozy cheese,

this beauty will make eight people
very happy...

...for 97p a portion!

So, pancake batter is a really
versatile thing to use.

You can go sweet, you can go
savoury, you can go thick or thin,

there's loads of things you can do.

I've got a very simple recipe.

So, starting off with two eggs,

I'm going to go 70ml of milk

and then 70ml of water.

I want a nice little pinch
of salt, I would do that whether

I go sweet or savoury, just to bring
out the flavour of the flour.

So, I'm using plain flour, 120g
goes in, so it's all in one bowl.

It could not be simpler.

So we call it a pancake,

the French would call it a crepe.

Actually, the inspiration
for this dish

comes from a trip I did to Provence.

You go to a little bistro and you'd
have this sizzling dish come out,

and it was basically layer upon
layer of pancakes,

a lovely bechamel cheesy sauce with
spinach and tomatoes and ham.

And, basically, I've replicated
that memory and it's delicious.

The only thing I haven't
got is the tomatoes,

but what I have got is a lovely
little side salad as well.

So this is a lovely lunch,
a really nice dinner,

and I absolutely love it.

So, what I'm going to do now
is get a 26cm pan

on a medium-high heat.

We should be able to get
six pancakes.

I'll just put a little oil
onto there.

So, in there we go.

I'll just move the pan around,

just get it to fill out
on the edges.

Pretty standard that the first

pancake is always
your problem pancake.

So that's going on the bottom,
by the way, of the dish,

but it's about adjusting
the temperature so you get

a really nice colour.

So, the first one is done,

so just put that here, like that,

and then straight in with the next
one...

...all around the edge.

After you've done the first
one you get your mojo,

get your pancake mojo.

So, pancake batter to me
is a really helpful thing

to have in the home.

It's great for Yorkshire
puddings, toad in the hole.

I think, probably, pancakes is one
of the first things I learned

to cook, along with an omelette.

So, there we got the last one.
Six done.

I'm going to use the same pan
to make a nice little sauce.

I want two tablespoons of olive
oil and I'll go in

with some sliced garlic.

So, now is when we can make
things a little bit fancy.

Let's get the flavours of France
going a little bit here.

I don't want to cook it too fast,
I don't want it golden,

just soften up the garlic.

Then I'm going to go in with
four tablespoons of flour,

just regular plain flour.

Then use a spoon to bring
this all together.

Slowly, bit by bit, add some milk.

Every time the milk
kind of cooks into the flour,

we're going to add
a little bit more.

It's a really useful sauce to make,
you know, whether you're using

it for your lasagnes or cannellonis

or, you know,
over a little bit of fish.

You can see it's getting thicker
and thicker and it gets

easier and easier every time you add
a little bit of milk,

last bit of that milk goes in.

So, that's a very rustic version
of a basic white sauce.

Now that memory of mine,
in that Provencal bake,

had spinach, you know,
it had the cheese, right?

We're going to go with that vibe.

And the best way to get spinach
in there is actually not fresh,

it's frozen, and it's also the
cheapest way to get it in there.

So, I'm going to use
just under 250g of spinach.

I have frozen spinach in my freezer
all the time. It's super useful.

I use it in curries, stews,

I use it in lovely little flatbreads.

It's really nutritious, and you take
what you want, you don't waste any.

You can see it starting to defrost
and you've got those lovely,

sort of, laces of green spinach
in the white sauce.

A little pinch of pepper and salt.

One way you can really kick
a little bit of flavour

into this is to add a little
mustard, so you could go French,

you could go English.

So, that little bit of mustard gives

it delicious flavour,
amazing colour.

And I'm just going to let that tick
away for a couple of minutes

until all the spinach has defrosted.

Right, let's put it
all together and make

something really scrumptious.

So, in this recipe, we have got
a nice little side salad,

I'll come to that later.

Cheese and ham.

Now, if you didn't want to use ham,
you could use leftover meat,

you could go vegetarian,
use mushrooms.

It's a really flexible recipe
that will have your back,

no matter what you want,
no matter what you like,

and it's good on the wallet.

The principles are worth
their weight in gold.

So, we've got the sauce, we've got
our pancakes, we've got the ham,

now I'm just going to grate
some Cheddar.

So, look, 250g, I'll leave
a little bit to grate on top,

but you can see why we're going to
love it. Right?

Pancakes, ham, cheese, creamy sauce.

It's going to be a good thing.

So, these things that I'm trying,
to tap into to get these £1 meals,

like, these are old techniques
and finding those ways to create

something really special
out of just humble ingredients.

So, first layer goes in
to a nice ovenproof dish,

we'll then go in with our sauce.

We'll go in with some lovely cheese.

Imagine that melting in the layer.

We'll go in with some lovely ham.

Just repeat now.

Even if you put this together badly,

it's still going to cook up
and be amazing.

Look at that,
who could argue with that?

Creamy spinachy sauce, Cheddar
cheese, lovely smoked ham.

This is totally child's play...

Actually, get the kids involved
in this, they'll love it.

You know, that's
going to taste good.

Every layer will start
to ooze and melt.

And I've still, by the way, got
that last little chunk here.

A little bit more cheese
on this layer.

Look at that, come on!

Cook that in the oven for half
an hour at 180 degrees Celsius,

which is 350 Fahrenheit,

and when it's golden,
blipping and gorgeous,

then you can enjoy it.

Oh! It's looking pretty special.

Let's get her out.

Smells amazing as well.

Here she goes.

My legs used to get up there,

but my trousers are holding me back.
HE CHUCKLES

Look at that! Come on!

Look at all the crispy bits.

Every now and again, it just goes,
blurp...blurp.

So, what I like to do is let that
sit for five minutes,

and it's so much easier to serve.

So, if I put this just to one side
here, I want to show you, probably,

the simplest of salads
that you could possibly do.

With three tablespoons of olive
oil, a pinch of salt and pepper,

one tablespoon of red wine vinegar.

And here I've got what is normally

the cheapest salad leaf,
that and iceberg.

So, this is round lettuce,
it's soft, it's sweet,

and, actually, we eat
the whole thing even the stalk.

We'll just slice that up, nothing
will go in the bin.

So the simplest salad leaf,
beautifully dressed,

served with this beautiful thing.

Come on, let's get in there now.

Go right to the bottom.

The first one's always the tricky
one.

Let's get in there, let's hope for
the best.

Look at the layers. Layers!

Oh, yes!

Gorgeous, oozy layers.

That with a few little salad
leaves is a thing of joy.

Little pepper.

Right, come on.
Let's go for a bit of edge.

I know this is going to be too
hot...

...but| have a plan.

A cold, tangy lettuce leaf, go on.

That's the mouthful right there.

Mm!

Oozy, creamy, spinachy ham.

Utterly delicious.

Mm!

That is not a compromise.
What I've tried to do for you is

keep the flavour up
and the cost down.

It's the principles
that I think have value.

A good celebration of pancakes,
what you can do with them.

It really is an absolute cracker.

Served with a dressed salad.

This cheesy pancake stack
serves eight people.

And what's not to love
when this beauty makes the most

of humble ingredients to come
in at under a pound a portion?

To work out the costings for
all the recipes in this series

and be super accurate,

I looked at how much of each
ingredient was needed.

Where it was just a pinch of this,

or a tablespoon
or a teaspoon of that,

I've costed only the amount used
in the recipe

rather than a whole jar of mustard.

I found out how much each ingredient
costs in four of the biggest

supermarkets and took
the average price of each.

The only things I've assumed
you already have are salt,

Pepper and oil.

I got the total cost for all the
other ingredients in the recipe

and divided it by the number
of people it serves to get

our final figure.

And this cheesy pancake stack

works out at a tasty 97p
per portion.

I've had a lot of fun
developing the next recipe.

It's naughty, but very nice -

and it's all done in one pan.

My very cheeky home-made pizza
is so fast to make,

you don't even need to
turn the oven on.

With a properly crispy base,
it's topped with tomatoes, onions,

red peppers and oozy cheese.

Served with a crisp salad,
this dish really delivers on flavour

at 80p a portion.

So, this cheese pizza is
brilliant, right?

You can start and finish it
from scratch much quicker

than your average takeaway.

It'll be a fraction of the price,

and we're not even going
to turn the oven on.

It's all happening in the pan.

So, 250g of self-raising flour,

that's going to give you the,
kind of, sponginess, the crispiness.

We're not going to use any yeast,
and have it proving

for hours and hours.
No, no, no, no, no.

A nice pinch of salt.

Then 150ml of cold water.

Get a fork, taking just
little bits of the flour.

You don't want to bust the well,
so go round in circles.

You'll see it getting
thicker and thicker.

Then you can just start bringing
the sides in like this.

And this little dough
that I'm making, this is brilliant

for quick little flatbreads,
for little naans.

This is a brilliant
principle in itself.

Once it's come together, just knead
this dough for a minute or two,

and it's going to be definitely done
from start to finish in much

less time than your average delivery
will come through the door.

So, it's a bit of a win-win, really.

There's your dough.

Let it just relax for a second.

So, flavour - onion and pepper.

I'm going to use half a pepper,

and a runaway onion.

Just take the stalk out
and the seeds,

and we'll slice that up.

I'm going to finely slice...

...the red onion and the peppers.

Obviously the finer you
slice the peppers,

the quicker they'll cook.

The pan is getting hot.

We're going to go in with
a nice glug of olive oil,

and we will scrape
the onions and peppers in.

Now that's getting nice and hot,

just add a little drizzle of water,

and put a lid on.

It's going to cook the peppers
and onions quicker.

It'll bring out the softness
and the natural sugars.

Also by using a lid, it's more
time-efficient and economical

for costs, which is great.

We can give it a nice
little shake, like that.

Let's get some Cheddar cheese.

Grate 50g, which is just
about half of this.

I'll have a little bit just to put
on top when I finish it.

Have a little try.

Yeah, it's already sweet,
super quick.

Just put that on your board,

and then, the pan goes back.

So, this is when things
get quite different.

Wipe out your pan,

get your dough,
and just press it out.

So, look, this dough was so quick.

No proving, no waiting for hours
for the yeast to ferment

and do its business, right?
We're cheating here.

So, just use your hand
to push this out.

We're going to go in now
with the dough.

Hot pan, lid goes on.

You can see there's a little bit
of humidity there.

It's got the heat underneath.

You can see the little bubbles
coming up - that's the raising

agent, the self-raising flour
kicking into action.

So we're ready and raring to go.

So, still fresh pizza, right?
Still got love.

It's just breaking a few rules.

Let's flip it.

Look at that colour.

So, we're going to turn
the heat down a little bit now.

And then, we're going to go in
with half a tin of tomatoes,

and you can use your hands
to push this out.

We've got our lovely peppers
and onions.

That cheese - put some on
the edge, as well.

So, a small amount of ingredients
go a long way on a pizza.

Salt and pepper,

maybe a little drizzle of oil.

The temperature's turned down
to medium. Lid goes on top.

Let that cook for about two minutes
until the bottom's crispy

and the cheese is oozy, OK?

Enough time to knock out
a really simple salad.

So, I've got round lettuce.

I'm going to use a carrot
and a speed peeler to turn

the humble carrot into something
a bit more beautiful, right?

How quick was that?

It smells so good!

If you're talking about
being clever,

you know, budget-friendly,

you got an oozy top, crispy base.

So, let's dress up your salad,
a little bit of olive oil,

vinegar, salt, pepper.

You know, this is a cheat's pizza,
and that's what we want

in a busy life, right? I might've
broken a lot of the rules

in this pizza, but I like it - super
quick, incredibly budget-friendly.

Let's get amongst it
and have a little try.

Uh-huh.

MU FFLED: That's hot.

Mm.

You've got sponginess.

You've got a crispy base.

Mm!

The veggies are sweet,

soft, seasoned.

You've got the ooze from the cheese.

Much cheaper than a takeaway,
much faster than a takeaway,

but as a principle, and without
even turning the oven on.

Naughty, but very nice.

And what's not to love when
a few simple ingredients can turn

into a delicious crispy pizza?

Served with a dressed salad,

it comes in at 80p a portion.

This time, it's not just me
in the kitchen.

I've called upon Gennaro,
my old friend and mentor,

to share one of his own
low-cost meals.

Italian cooking is full of
clever ways to create beautifully

tasty food, using whatever simple
ingredients you have to hand.

Perhaps you've got something left,
your brain starts to go!

So, Gennaro's creating the dough
instead of spending it,

making spinach and
ricotta-stuffed tortelli,

filled home-made,
silky-smooth pasta parcels,

finished in a butter and sage sauce.

And the best bit -

this dish comes in
at 88p per portion.

You will love it!

This dish is kind of a classic.

Almost everybody in Italy do
make this one, actually,

this is one we call
many different names -

to rte lli e mag r0.

The word magro means "without meat".

The making of pasta is so simple,
it is super flexible.

You can make almost
anything you like.

Let's start to make the pasta now,
it's ever so easy.

Here, I have 200g of flour.

Just ordinary flour,
nothing special about it.

Just empty all on the
table like that.

You make a little bay.

Then a couple of eggs.

One - fantastico.

Two.

Get a fork, start to mix it.

So easy, you can do it
with your eyes closed, look!

Slowly, slowly, slowly, you add just
a little bit more flour inside,

because you want it to get
thickened up a little bit.

If you've got children at home,

just tell the children
to give you a hand!

They love to get hands
inside the mix.

But look, it starts to thicken up.

OK, all together,

"Go-go, Gadget, go."

Ancl this is where your hands are
going to start to get sticky now.

Ancl then, you start to knead it.

Really knead the dough.

OK, that's good.

Remove everything off your hands.

It's clone.

Look how beautiful it is!

But it needs to have a rest.

So, I have a cloth.

I'm going to put them on the side
here, to have a little rest

for about half an hour.

OK, it's time to make the filling.

Now here I have 400g
of frozen spinach

which I defrosted and
squeezed all the water out.

It's roughly chopped.

I have here 100g of ricotta

with a little pinch of salt.

If you don't have ricotta,
perhaps you have some cream cheese.

If you don't have cream cheese,
don't use it.

This is the principle of
Italian food, is use whatever

you have and make it the best.

Then you need some Parmesans.

It's about 25g.

Put a little bit of...
black pepper inside.

Just mix it.

OK. It's clone.

But...!

The dough needs to relax
a little bit more, so I'll go in,

I'll come back in 20 minutes.

Wow! This is what I'm talking about.

It's clone. This one will feed about
four people,

and I'll start to use one for now.

Let's make sure
they're now covered again.

Just roll it out a little bit.

What I'm doing, you see,
this is - where I come from,

this is what you used to do -
my mother used to do,

my father used to do.

When I make with my hands...

...it's more...part of the culture,

it's more me.

Doesn't matter if it becomes
square or round.

You don't want it too thick.

Now it's lovely and thin,

it's time to start to make
the lovely tortelli.

So, here I have a cutter,
which is about eight centimetres.

Make sure you do close
to one each other.

One more.

Then, always use your hands.

A little filling.

One.

In it goes, it's so extremely easy.

You grab one, and you close it.

Just put them up together, press it.

Ancl again, you get the other one...

...squeeze it...

Couldn't be easier than that.

We get a fork.

Form each one - they stop the
spinach from escaping.

Look how pretty they are.

See that bit left?
Roll it out. Look!

I've actually clone another four.

See? No dough goes to waste.

So lovely.

Right.

Let's make the sauce.

100g of butter -
salted or unsalted.

I love sage.

A bundled sage, if you can.

A few, you know, just a few leaves.

Let it melt nicely.

A little bit of pasta water.

The water will evaporate.

The butter will stay inside,

and the sage will fill the pasta.

It's fantastic, indeed.

Ah! Oh, yes.

It cooks for about 3-4 minutes.

No more than that.

Give them a little stir,
so they don't stick together.

Ready now.

Oh, my, look at that -
the way they expanded.

I want all that butter and sage
sticking on it.

Right, let's put them inside.

Oh, yes.

Little bit of grated Parmesan.

Ancl we have tortelli al magro,

with the spinach e ricotta.

Delicioso!

I'll swallow.

Mm.

Mm!

Mm...the flavour is incredible.

The sage comes right through
the spinach.

I confess that the ricotta...

I don't know why I'm talking
so slow, because I'm enjoying it.

It's only a fraction of the price
of what you buy in the shop,

and a million times better.

This is the essence
of Italian food.

This is what it's all about.

Maximum flavour and minimal cost.

Lots and lots of love.

Gennaro's homemade tortelli
serves four people.

And the handful of ingredients
to make them come in

at 88p per portion.

The love, though, that's for free.

In the last few months, microwave
cooking has absolutely skyrocketed

because it's one of the most
cost-effective ways to cook.

So, I'm going to use a microwave,
yep, I am -

but I'm going to give you
a family classic that absolutely

does not compromise on flavour.

My microwave chilli con carne is
a brilliant cheat to save

both time and energy with
this family favourite.

A beautiful minced beef
and butternut squash chilli

served with fluffy rice and topped
with a tangy, crunchy salsa.

This super simple dish serves four,

and comes in bang-on budget
at £1 a portion.

I had never made a
chilli con carne in a microwave.

And look, I've made chilli con
carnes in different various ways.

But, like, if the country is really
using microwaves a lot more

because it's incredibly
cost-effective,

then I have to respond to that.

So, how do you get the
best flavour in a microwave?

It is a challenge, but I think
I might've got there.

First up, I've got 250g of
minced beef here.

I need to flavour it now
and brown it -

and I never would've thought that
I could brown meat in the microwave,

but you actually can.

So we're going to go in with a
big pinch of black pepper,

and then, a nice pinch of salt.

And I'm also going to go in
with a little stock cube,

so I'll just crumble that in.

I'm going to put in a heaped
teaspoon of ground cumin.

Now, this spice is something
special, it has this savoury,

really, kind of, quite meaty
depth of flavour.

I'll give it a little bit
of olive oil,

just to, kind of, allow
the spices and seasoning to get

into the minced meat.

So, what I'm going to do is put
that in for ten minutes,

and I may well give it a little
mix-up and, kind of, break it up

as we do that.

So, ten minutes, here we come.

Boom, off it goes.

Now, any good stew or ragu,
or, kind of, chilli needs

a nice vegetable base.

So, I've got one onion,
two sticks of celery,

I've got two fresh chillies,
then two cloves of garlic.

So, we're just going to finely
slice the garlic like that.

Celery - I'll just cut
into little lengths.

Now with this celery here,
put this aside -

and that will come back in a
beautiful way a little bit later.

So, celery done.

Finely slice the onion.

I'm going to just steal
a little quarter of onion here,

and hide that again with the celery.

Then we're going to take
some chilli,

and just use a teaspoon here

just to scrape out that little
white membrane and the seeds.

I'm going to use half the red
and half the green,

and put this aside.

Again, I'll just run
my knife through it.

Now, butternut squash,
be very careful -

just angle it in,
keep your hands away,

cut through.

So, I'll use this for another dish.

I've got 400g here - and what
I'll do is very carefully, again,

put it on a flat edge,
put my knife here,

and just rock it down.

And then, we're going to go through
that half again into quarters,

just tap or cut the skin.

Right? It lets the heat in.

MICROWAVE BEEPS
Look at that, done, perfect timing.

Now, we go in with
all these lovely veggies.

So, celery, garlic, onion.

What I'll do is just place these
pieces of squash on top like that,

and I'm going to stretch
that meat to go a lot further.

And guess where we go now?

Back in the microwave.
Let's get our money's worth.

Ten more minutes.

Now, as that's cooking,
I want to do a little salsa.

So, those little bits of veg
that I put aside is our little

opportunity for colour and a little
flourish, and a little slap around

the face of, like,
tang and heat, and crunch.

Actually, I'll steal just
a little bit of squash,

just get a couple of little
thin slices like that, and then,

slice them one way and slice
them the other way.

And, of course, you could use
anything crunchy that's

in the fridge, but you don't need
much for it to do the job.

So, you want a salsa to be
seasoned with salt,

and then, about a teaspoon
of red wine vinegar.

Now, it's the salt and the vinegar
here that'll lightly pickle this.

And most of this salsa came from
saving back little bits of the base,

right, so we were going to use it
or cook it anyway.

So, it's just being clever
with ingredients.

MICROWAVE BEEPS
All right, stop now.

Have a little look in here.

Take the squash out,
just for a second.

So, I'm going to use
the potato masher to break up

the minced meat and the veg.

This will amplify flavour,

and it will give you a really
interesting, delicious texture -

more similar to a ragu
that's been on a pan,

on a hob for hours and hours,
blipping and blipping away.

We've got three ingredients now
that we go in with.

Two tablespoons of tomato puree,

and then, we'll double up
on the tomatoes

by using chopped tomatoes.

What I do now is use the masher
to mash all of this up,

and really get it nice and smooth.

Next tin - kidney beans,
put all the juice in there.

And if we just put
half of the tin in there,

I want to show you, like,
a little trick.

What you can do in the microwave,
is you can take a humble beam,

and you can pop them like popcorn -

which means you get a really crisp
outside, and then, the inside

just comes out, which is really,
kind of, like, beautiful and fluffy.

So, if I just mix this up now,

this goes back in the microwave
for ten more minutes.

I'll pop the squash back on top.

Every microwave's
slightly different.

So, you're going to use your
common sense on the next cook,

but we're mainly there.

Now I'll give you a little tip
to make the perfect rice.

This is foolproof, OK?

Use the tin from the beans,
and then, just use your hands to

top it up with long grain rice.

Then we're going to fill this up
with water to the top, twice.

Two-to-one, works every time,
in a pan or in the microwave.

Then we take a little pinch of salt.

I need a lid for it, so I'm going
to put a plate on top -

and at the same time,
I'm going to pop these beans.

So, as soon as that chilli is done,

that goes in, and then,
everything's going to come together

in the most beautiful way.

Ha-ha!

Look at that, blipping away.

I checked it at ten minutes,
and it wasn't quite cooked enough.

And then, I just
broke up the squash.

So, this had 20 minutes now -
I'll have a little taste.

It's good flavour, lovely heat.

Correct that seasoning
with salt and pepper.

Just put a plate on top, right,
and we'll put that over here.

That will stay warm, for sure.

Now we're going to cook the rice.

So, beans will pop in about
four minutes, and this rice will

take about ten minutes.

Once it's absorbed all the water,

and it's light and fluffy.
we're good to go.

Ha-ha!

Look at that. We've popped beans.

You can use any beans.

And this, in a salad.

This, at the end of a stew -
brilliant.

And just because it's cooking
on a budget doesn't mean that

it has to compromise on flavour
or creativity.

Here we go.

So, let's just check our rice.

Look how light and fluffy that is.

Let's do a portion.
Nice, big wodge of fluffy rice.

It's still nice and hot.

Look at that. Beautiful.

Then we can finish it with
our little embellishment -

some popped beans go on top.

And then, we've got our
tiny little salsa here.

Vibrance and crunch, and tang.

Beautiful.

Let's get in there.

Oh, it's really tasty.

You know, I was worried about not
being able to achieve depth

of flavour, but I think
browning off the meat,

we've really solved that.

Popping the beans gives
a wonderful texture.

That little salsa is, like,
electric, it's full of life.

That is a really cost-efficient way
of making a chilli con carne.

So, what are you waiting for?

If you've got
that microwave fired up,

have a little go at this.

You won't regret it.

My cheeky microwave chilli
con carne feeds four people.

Served with a tangy salsa
and perfectly fluffy rice,

it comes in at £1 a portion.

If you want to try any of
these great-value dishes and get

inspiration for loads more,

then simply head to the website

and get all the recipes for free,
with love.

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