Student Cookbook: Roasted veg

Welcome to my first recipe post of my ‘Student Cookbook’ series! I’m gonna be posting recipes of my own, and some from my friends, to hopefully inspire you to cook something other than beans on toast while at uni. So put down that pot noodle and dig out the vegetable peeler your mum packed for you somewhere, because it’s time to make some real food.

First up is sausages and roasted vegetables – this recipe is super simple but makes a really delicious and filling meal.

You will need:

• a selection of veg – I went for carrots, sweet potato, parsnips and onion
• cooking oil
• sausages
• gravy mix
• mixed herbs and seasoning
• garlic

This recipe is very flexible so you can change the ingredients depending on how hungry you are or how many people you are cooking for. I always find you need more veg than you think because it will shrink down a bit in the oven so bear that in mind.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200c. Add a generous splash of oil to a baking tray and put it in the oven to begin to heat up
2. Peel and chop the veg into chunks 
3. Take out the baking tray from the oven and transfer the veg into it. Remember to also add the garlic.
4. Give the tray a good shake to coat the veg in the oil, you might need to add a splash more here if you feel you haven’t got enough oil.
5. Season the veg with mixed herbs, salt and pepper 
6. Put the tray into the oven. It will take approximately between 45 mins and an hour to cook. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on it, if some of the veg starts to burn around the edges just turn the oven down a bit. 
7. About 15-20 mins before the vegetables are done, start cooking the sausages. This can be done in a number of ways but I find it easiest to grill them
8. Mix up some gravy – if you’re lazy like me, just get instant gravy granules where all you need to do is add hot water.
9. When everything is cooked simply plate it up and enjoy!! 

 

I hope you enjoy this meal if you make it! Keep an eye out for more recipes coming up on my blog soon.

Pizza

I’m gonna be honest, I’m no Jamie Oliver, but in my first year I’ve learnt that being at uni doesn’t mean you have to cook badly. A lot of the time, cooking and baking is somewhat limited by lack of time because there’s so much other stuff going on, but sometimes it’s great to make time and put a bit of extra effort in. I thought I’d share this delicious homemade pizza recipe that I made with my friends at uni after exams had finished.

Ingredients:

• 3oog flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• tomato puree
• cheese
• your choice of pizza toppings (we opted for pepper and sweetcorn)

Preheat the oven to 200c (if you’re using a university combi-oven, press the ‘conv’ button until 200 is displayed and then press start, the oven will beep when it’s preheated)

Step one: Make the pizza base

Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in 200ml of warm water and the olive oil.

Bring the mixture together until it forms a smooth dough. 

Roll out the dough on a floured surface and transfer to an oiled baking tray. 

Step two: Toppings and cooking

 

Cover the dough with tomato puree and cheese and then add any toppings of your choice

Put in the oven for around 15 minutes (careful the edges don’t burn like ours did!)

Cut up your pizza and enjoy!!!