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5 ingredients, 10 minutes prep, 1 hour till dinner

I’ve sung the praises many times before of Jamie Oliver’s “5 Ingredients” cookbook that my brother gifted me. I wasn’t expecting that it’d be super useful in this year of Dutch ovens. After all, how many things could you make in a Dutch oven with so few ingredients?

I should have known better than to doubt. It turns out, there’s plenty enough.

What caught my eye this week was his salami risotto.

Salami risotto ingredients.

Not just because I love salami and was looking for something without a lot of work. But also because I just needed two ingredients of the 5 (technically 8, because there’s also pantry items salt, pepper, and olive oil that I always have on hand) to make this meal happen.

With the salami and arborio rice acquired, I was ready to go.

I added more salami than called for, and probably same for the Parmesan and sour cream so it’s not quite as healthy as Jamie Oliver would like but meh. I also replaced the mascarpone with sour cream because I had it on hand and it wasn’t worth buying a tub of mascarpone for just one heaping tablespoon. It worked fine, and of course, it’s easy to boot.

Delightfully, even the chopping is easy, as it’s just cutting onions into wedges. I still cried, but it was short.

A short time on the stove-top later, the mix went into the oven and I didn’t think about it again until it was ready to eat. Ah-mazing.

salami, onions, cheese, perfection.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 3 oz. salami
  • 2 onions, wedged
  • 300 g. arborio rice
  • 1 heaping T. sour cream
  • ⅓ to ½ c. grated Parmesan
  • ~2 T. olive oil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1.2 L. boiling water

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the Dutch oven on high heat on the stove top.

Cook the onions on high heat for 3 to 5 minutes until browning. Add the oil, salami, salt and pepper, and arborio rice and cook for a minute more. Add the water, sour cream, and cheese.

Stir to combine, and then carefully place in the oven, uncovered.

Bake the risotto for 40 minutes. Add more olive oil, stir to combine, and then enjoy!

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Bread, beans, and bangers make a mighty meal

It’s turning out that my brother’s Christmas present of Jamie Oliver’s “5 Ingredients” is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only have we found some great recipes in general but it’s always good for a sheet pan recipe when I’m short on time and inspiration.

This week’s meal, a savory pseudo bread pudding with beans and bangers, turned out to be just what I needed.

Sausage bake ingredients.

It may have been recommended for when the weather requires something hearty, but it has the side benefit of being relatively quick in the oven so it worked well in the heat. And let’s be honest, once the Midwest got warm, it got real warm and so the A/C has been going for weeks now.

Despite the 5 ingredients moniker, Oliver does supplement it with up to 5 pantry staples (the same 5, FWIW), and he suggests that the base ingredients can be added to. So, I tweaked his a bit.

First of all, our garden has been just full of green beans thanks to a freebie of provider beans from Seed Savers, so I figured I could throw them in and add some more veggies. And second of all, I couldn’t find rosemary focaccia for some reason, so I used olive and pepper varieties but still supplemented with rosemary because who doesn’t love rosemary.

Also, it calls for a British sausage that I can’t find and didn’t bother to try to replicate. Instead, I turned to my favorite meat-monger and bought another British sausage, bangers. I think any sausage will work; bangers certainly did. Oh, and British measurements are hard to get right without extra work, so I changed them to clip up everything.

Other than all those changes, I mostly followed the recipe and had a delicious dinner in no time. I’m bookmarking it for the winter when I’ll surely turn to it again.

Despite what you’ve heard, British food can be freakin’ fantastic.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 2 (15 oz.) cans great northern beans (or similar variety)
  • 2 (pint) containers of cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
  • 4 large bangers (8-12 sausages, or 12 chipolatas if you can find them), cut into bite-size pieces or slightly larger
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 small loaf (about 300 g.) focaccia, rosemary or whatever variety, torn or cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 1 T. red wine vinegar
  • Any garden veggies or herbs you want to add (optional)

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the tomatoes and garlic on a large rimmed sheet pan. Top with bread, and then pour the beans (with their juices) on top. Add a splash of water (I used the bean can to get a little more bean juice). Drizzle the oil and vinegar over the top of the mixture, and then dot with the sausage pieces.

Bake for 45 minutes, until golden and bubbling; let cool slightly and enjoy!