Treat Yourself

Meal Plan Occasions 1: Special Occasions

Occasion 7 · Treat Yourself

Today at a glance. This is the meal for "I feel like celebrating": for one person, any day of the year, with the quantities easy to scale up for friends. A quick, glamorous pasta, ready in about 25 minutes, and a tiramisu pot that you make earlier and leave in the fridge. Quantities are for one, in metric with UK names.

Main meal

Main meal · Serves 1 · Seafood

Garlic King Prawn and Chorizo Linguine with Garlic Bread

Prep: 10 minutesCooking: about 20 minutesAbout 25 minutes of hands-on workServes 1

Ingredients (1 portion)

  • 100 g dried linguine
  • 100 g raw king prawns, peeled (defrosted if frozen)
  • 40 g cooking chorizo, cut into small cubes
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 100 g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 pinch dried chilli flakes (optional)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 10 g butter
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • ½ small baguette (or 2 thick slices of ciabatta), for the garlic bread
  • 20 g soft butter, for the garlic bread
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed, for the garlic bread
Make it ahead
Make the garlic butter an hour or more in advance (mix the 20 g of soft butter, the crushed garlic and half of the parsley). You can also chop the garlic and halve the tomatoes ahead of time.

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Slice the baguette in half lengthways, or cut it into thick slices without cutting all the way through. Spread the garlic butter on the cut sides, wrap it loosely in foil and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until hot and golden (open the foil for the last 3 minutes).
  2. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the linguine for 1 minute less than the packet says, usually about 9 minutes. Save a mugful of the cooking water, then drain.
  3. While the pasta cooks, put the chorizo in a large cold frying pan, turn on a medium heat and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the fat runs out and the chorizo is crisp. Lift it out onto a plate, leaving the red oil in the pan.
  4. Add the olive oil to the pan, then the garlic and chilli flakes, and cook for 30 seconds. Add the prawns and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until they have turned pink and opaque all the way through. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes more.
  5. Add the drained pasta, the chorizo, the butter, lemon juice and about 4 tbsp of the cooking water to the pan. Toss over the heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sauce coats the pasta and is glossy.
  6. Pile it into a warm bowl, scatter over the parsley and eat it with the garlic bread.
Cook the prawns and chorizo through
Raw prawns must be cooked until pink and opaque all the way through. Cooking chorizo (the raw kind, not the dried, ready-to-eat kind) must be cooked until it is sizzling and no longer pink inside. Defrost frozen prawns in the fridge overnight. Eat the dish straight away, and do not keep leftover seafood.
Scaling up
Multiply everything by the number of people, but cook the pasta in one large pan and the prawns in two batches if your frying pan is small. For 4 people use 400 g of linguine, 400 g of prawns, 160 g of chorizo and a 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes in place of the cherry tomatoes.

Swaps

Chicken pieces in place of the prawns (cook for 6 to 8 minutes). Spinach or peas added with the pasta. A splash of white wine in the pan (optional, not needed).

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Dessert

Dessert · Serves 1

Tiramisu Pot for One (No Alcohol Needed)

Prep: 10 minutesChilling: at least 2 hoursAbout 10 minutes of hands-on workServes 1

Ingredients (1 portion)

  • 50 ml strong coffee (1 shot of espresso, or 1 tsp instant coffee in 50 ml hot water), cooled
  • 3 sponge fingers (savoiardi)
  • 60 g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
  • 40 ml double cream
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar or caster sugar
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder, for dusting
Make it ahead
Make it the evening before or in the morning. It needs at least 2 hours in the fridge, and is even better after 8 hours. You can make several pots in advance for a party.

Method

  1. Make the coffee and leave it to cool in a shallow bowl. Choose a glass or small dish (about 250 ml).
  2. In a bowl, beat the mascarpone, cream, sugar and vanilla with a whisk or fork for about 1 minute, until smooth and thick enough to hold its shape. Do not overbeat, or it will go grainy.
  3. Break the sponge fingers in half. Dip each half in the coffee for 1 to 2 seconds only on each side (they soak up a lot), and lay half of them in the base of the glass.
  4. Spoon over half the mascarpone cream and smooth it. Add another layer of dipped sponge fingers, and finish with the rest of the cream.
  5. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Dust with the cocoa just before serving, through a small sieve.
Chilling and eggs
This version has no raw egg, so it is safe to make ahead. Keep it in the fridge and eat it within 2 days.

Swaps

A splash of coffee liqueur, amaretto or Marsala in the coffee, if you like. Grated dark chocolate in place of the cocoa. Berries in place of the coffee for a fruit version.

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Coming up next
Chapter 8 is the Occasions planner, with the dates for each occasion for the next three years, a make-ahead timeline for each, and a guide to scaling the recipes up or down.