When time is short it's handy to have a meal in the freezer. Check out these delicious recipes.
Roast chicken, squash and leek filo pie
Makes 2 pies, each serves 2 adults & 2 toddlers
PREP TIME: 25 minutes
COOK TIME: 2 hours 10 minutes
1 x Sainsbury’s medium whole chicken (approx 1.75kg)
4 tsp olive oil
750g butternut squash, peeled and deseeded, then cut into 4cm cubes
2 large leeks, washed and thinly sliced
150g Sainsbury’s soft cheese with garlic and herbs
2 tsp cornflour
1⁄2 x low-salt chicken stock cube (eg Kallo) in 200ml boiling water
85g Sainsbury’s breaded ham
80g Sainsbury’s Butterlicious spread
1 x 120g pack Sainsbury’s ready rolled filo pastry
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC, fan 180ºC, gas 6. place the chicken in a roasting tin,drizzle over half the olive oil and season. Roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes. add the squash to the tin for the final half hour of cooking time, turning in the juices.
- Meanwhile, heat a pan with the rest of the olive oil and cook the leeks for 15 minutes. add the cheese, cornflour and stock, then stir over the heat for a couple of minutes. add in the roasted squash,and leave to cool.
- Carefully take the chicken off the carcass, then discard the skin and bones. Shred with a fork and add to the leeks mixture along with the ham slices.
- To assemble the pies, lightly brush some melted butterlicious on the insides of 2 x 5cm deep, 22cm base diameter tins, and brush over one sheet of the filo pastry. Lay the sheet across the base of the tin, overlapping over the side. use all the sheets in the pack (1⁄2 for each pie) to go all the way round each tin like the spokes of a wheel.
- Divide the mixture between the two pies and fold the overlapping filo in over the top of each pie. brush each one generously with butterlicious. Bake one pie for 40-45 minutes and freeze the other one.
Plaice, spinach and potato cheesy bake
Makes 2 bakes, each serves 2 adults & 2 toddlers
PREP TIME: 20 minutes
COOK TIME: 40 minutes
1kg potatoes, peeled, cut into 3cm cubes
2 x 300g bags Sainsbury’s spinach
200ml pot Sainsbury’s soured cream
Bunch spring onions, finely sliced
2 lemons, zested
3 x 300g packs extra-trimmed plaice fillets, skinned (or other white fish)
100g breadcrumbs
80g Gruyère cheese, finely grated
- Cook the potato cubes in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain.
- Preheat the oven to 190ºC, fan 170ºC,gas 5. Cook the spinach in a large pan over a high heat for a few minutes until wilted. squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible, and cool.
- Mix the soured cream, spring onions and lemon zest with some seasoning.
- Take 2 x 2 litre ovenproof dishes and divide the potatoes and spinach evenly between them. lay the fish on top and then dollop the soured cream mixture over, dividing between the two dishes. Mix the breadcrumbs and gruyère and sprinkle over both dishes.
- Bake one dish for 35-40 minutes and freeze the other.
Lamb moussaka with tomatoes and peppers
Makes 2 dishes, each serves 2 adults & 2 toddlers
PREP TIME: 20 minutes
COOK TIME: 1 hour 40 minutes
1 tbsp olive oil
2 x 400g packs Sainsbury’s British lamb mince
2 onions, chopped
2 tbsp Schwartz cinnamon, apricot and date spice mix (or 1 tsp Sainsbury’s ground cinnamon)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
300ml low-salt lamb or veg stock (eg Kallo), made with a cube
1kg bag Sainsbury’s basics aubergines, or 4, cut into 1cm slices
3 red peppers, quartered and deseeded
300g tub Sainsbury’s fresh lemon and dill sauce
2 large egg yolks
80g Caerphilly cheese, crumbled
- Preheat the oven to 220ºC, fan 200ºC, gas 7. heat a large non-stick frying pan and cook the lamb on a high heat in batches, ensuring you get a good golden crust on the mince.
- Transfer each batch to a bowl, then clean the pan. sweat the onions for 10 minutes, covered. add the spice mix and garlic, and cook for a minute. add the tomatoes and stock to the onions, then transfer the mixture to a saucepan. Cover and cook for 40 minutes. leave to cool.
- Place the aubergines and peppers on 2 baking trays, brush with oil and season. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes, swapping the trays round halfway through.
- Remove and reduce the oven to 200ºC, fan 180ºC, gas 6. Assemble the moussakas in 2 x 2 litre ovenproof dishes. Divide half the lamb mixture and all the tomato mixture between the 2, layer over the aubergines and peppers and spoon over remaining mince. mix the sauce and egg yolks and drizzle over the top. Crumble over the cheese and bake one for 40 minutes. Freeze the other.
Freezing tips
Before freezing, dishes must be cooled completely.
Freeze meals in dishes inside freezer bags for up to 1 month.
Defrost and cook as instructed or cook from frozen, but double the cooking time.
Check the item is piping hot in the middle, and cook for a further 10 minutes if not.
