Heading back to university can be an exhilarating yet daunting experience, especially when it comes to food. The questions loom large: What to eat? How much will it cost? And the idea of instant noodles and cans of beans might come to mind, but being a student doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy great meals. In a bid to make life easier for both fresh-faced newcomers and those returning, we’ve created a collection of wallet-friendly recipes all from Sainsburys. Rest assured, you won’t need the skills of a MasterChef contestant to whip up these delectable dishes.
Tuna pasta bake
Nearly entirely made from store cupboard ingredients – comfort food doesn’t get more convenient than this.
Ingredients
300g fresh egg penne
500g tomato and herb pasta sauce
3 x 120g tins tuna steak in springwater, drained and flaked
325g tin sweetcorn in water, drained
390g carton Italian chopped tomatoes
14g fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked, washed and chopped
100g mature cheddar, grated
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then add the pasta and cook for 6 minutes. Drain. Tip the cooked pasta back into the pan and stir through the pasta sauce, tuna, sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes and half the parsley.
Step 2
Tip the mixture into a 1½-litre baking dish and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Cook for 30 minutes;until golden and bubbling. Garnish with the remaining parsley just before serving.
Macaroni cheese
Macaroni cheese is a cult classic that can never go wrong!
Ingredients
350 g macaroni
50 g butter
50 g plain flour
1 litre semi-skimmed milk
125 g grated extra-mature cheddar
50 g grated Parmesan
1.5 tbsp Dijon mustard
You will also need:
1 x 2.5-litre or 20cm-square ovenproof dish
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until just tender (it will finish cooking later); drain. For the cheese sauce, put the butter, flour and milk in a pan and slowly bring to the boil, whisking all the time until it thickens. Simmer for a few minutes and remove from the heat.
Step 2
Season and stir in the cheddar and half the Parmesan until melted, then add the mustard
Step 3
Mix the cooked pasta with the sauce. Tip it into a;2.5-litre or 20cm-square ovenproof dish, scatter over the tomatoes and remaining Parmesan and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Leave to rest for 5 minutes. Serve with a crisp salad. ; Get ahead: assemble ready to cook a few hours ahead, adding 150ml of reserved pasta cooking water to the sauce. Can also be frozen; defrost thoroughly before cooking. In either case, cook until golden and bubbling.
Easy chicken curry
A great curry doesn’t have to take forever to make, as demonstrated in this easy recipe
Ingredients
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp oil
2 x 390g cartons chopped tomatoes
½ tsp sugar
3cm piece root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
400ml tin reduced-fat coconut milk
8 bone-in and skinless chicken thighs
Juice of ½ lime
3 tbsp chopped coriander
Method
Step 1
Whizz the onion in a food processor with the coriander, cumin, turmeric and 100ml water, until a paste is formed.
Step 2
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan or shallow casserole dish. Add the onion paste, tomatoes, sugar and 1 tsp;salt. Simmer together for 5 minutes, stirring.
Step 3
Stir in the ginger, garlic, chopped chilli and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer, then add the chicken thighs. Cover and gently simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 4
Remove the lid, increase the heat and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the lime juice and coriander. Serve with rice.
Naan bread pizza
These pizzas couldn’t be easier to whip up for lunch or supper.
Ingredients
2 readymade plain naans
6 tbsp passata with onion and garlic
75 g closed-cup mushrooms, sliced
0.5 x 198g tin sweetcorn, drained
0.5 green pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
150 g mozzarella, drained and sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
120 g bag mixed salad
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Place the naan breads on a baking sheet. Spread the passata evenly over the naans and scatter the mushroom slices over the top.
Step 2
Scatter over the sweetcorn and chopped pepper and arrange the slices of mozzarella over the top. Drizzle over the olive oil and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and bubbling. Cut each pizza in half and serve with the salad.
