5 Simple Student Recipes to Master

You don’t have to be Gordon Ramsey to enjoy a good meal, as a student. Cooking is a life-long skill, one of the most valuable you can learn while staying at Point Campus. Our kitchens include all of the appliances, utensils and crockery needed to make a delicious meal. We’ve come up with 5 simple dinners that even the worst chef can make, and we’ve included vegetarian/vegan options as well!

Make the most of the lockdown and master these 5 recipes.

Carbonara

Ingredients:
100g dried spaghetti
30g Grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
Bacon/smoked salmon (optional)

Method:
Boil a pot of water and season with salt. Once boiling, carefully drop the spaghetti in and turn down to a medium heat. While the pasta is cooking, crack the eggs into a bowl. Season well with salt and pepper and mix in 25g of grated parmesan cheese. Congrats, you’ve made an authentic Carbonara sauce! You may notice there is no cream or milk in this recipe, that’s not the Italian way. Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain the water and pour the sauce onto the pasta. Mix well, serve in a bowl and top with the last of the cheese.

P.s. If you would like to add meat to this dish, simply add smoked salmon or chopped up and fried bacon to the final serving.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients:
100g dried spaghetti
Jar of Dolmio Bolognese Sauce
250g beef mince
1 small carrot
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp vegetable oil
20g cheddar cheese

Method:
Boil a pot of water and season with salt. Once boiling, carefully place the spaghetti in the water and turn down to a medium heat. While the pasta is cooking, take another saucepan and heat the oil. Chop the garlic and onion and fry until soft. Chop the carrot and cook until it begins to soften. Now it’s time to get meaty! Put the mince into the saucepan and break up with a large spoon. Cook the meat until there is no raw/red mince left to be seen. Empty the Dolmio jar into the mixture, give it a good stir and cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes.

To serve:
Once the pasta is cooked, spoon a portion onto a plate followed by a serving of the Bolognese sauce. Top with cheddar cheese and if you want to get really fancy, a leaf or two of basil!

Vegetarian Lasagne

Ingredients:
Lasagna sheets
2 aubergines (or courgettes)
250g ricotta
2 garlic cloves
150g of spinach
100g Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180°. Slice your aubergines into thin, long strips. Grab a saucepan and heat the oil on a medium heat. Crush the garlic with the flat side of a knife and fry until soft. Add the ricotta and give a good stir until it has a smooth consistency. Add half of the Parmesan cheese and melt before adding the spinach. Cook on a low heat, making sure to stir constantly until the spinach is wilted (soft). If you can, find the garlic cloves and remove from the saucepan at this point!

Now it’s time to assemble your lasagna. Take a roasting/baking pan and spoon a layer of your sauce on the bottom. Now layer the strips of aubergine, followed by a layer of lasagna sheets. Repeat this until you have run out of sauce and top with the rest of your Parmesan. Cover with tin foil and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the foil with 10 minutes to go to get a delicious crust on top!

Green Thai Curry (vegan-friendly)

Ingredients:
100g rice
Green Thai Curry paste
Tin of coconut milk
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp soy/Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 carrot
1 small chill
Asparagus
Green beans
1 large sweet potato

Method:
Boil a pot of water while you chop the sweet potato and carrot into bite size pieces. Drop the vegetables into the boiling water (ensuring it doesn’t splash on you). Bring down to a simmer and allow them to cook for 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, heat up the coconut oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat and quickly fry 2 teaspoons of the curry paste and the chilli. Add your carrot and sweet potato and make sure they soak up all the delicious flavours of the paste. Ater 3-4 minutes of cooking, add the tin of coconut milk and reduce the heat. Add the sugar and soy sauce and stir. Add the asparagus and green beans, cover with a lid and allow to cook for a further 20-30 minutes. While the curry is cooking, use this time to cook your rice and to clean up the kitchen!

To serve:
Place a portion of rice and a portion of the curry into a bowl and serve with a side or naan bread or sour cream/yoghurt if you find the curry too spicy! You should have some curry left over for tomorrow’s lunch or dinner, make sure you store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Frittata

If you’ve read our previous blog, ‘Foods You Should Never Be Without’, you will know that eggs should be a staple in your fridge. Frittatas are incredibly versatile dishes, you can put virtually anything in them! While all you need are eggs and veggies, here is one of our favourite frittata recipes.

Ingredients:
4-6 eggs
Broccoli
Smoked salmon
1 tbsp vegetable oil
40g cheddar cheese

Method:
Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk. Season well before adding the smoked salmon and half of the cheese and set aside. Heat the oil in a pan on medium temperature. Chop the head of broccoli from the stem and slice into thin pieces. Add to the pan and cook until soft (if you have any other veg you would like to add, now is the time for that.) Add the egg to the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until you can slide a spatula under the bottom without it falling apart. Add the rest of the cheese to the top of the frittata. Take the pan and place it under the grill or in the oven and cook for a further 5-8 minutes until all of the egg is cooked through. When removing from the oven/grill, make sure you use a towel and don’t touch the handle directly.

To serve:
Remove from the pan and cut into wedges before serving with a side salad.