When time is of the essence in the run-up to Christmas, recipes that are impressive yet require less effort come into their own. Making cooking simpler became Rick’s aim while he was recuperating from open heart surgery in summer 2022. After “a lifetime making ingredients from scratch”, he embraced ready-made ingredients, delighted at how high-quality they’d become. He worked on simplifying his sauces and cutting out unnecessary steps, and discovered the wonders of tinned beans and frozen fruit and veg. The result is new book Simple Suppers, from which these recipes come. And when Rick Stein does simple, you know it’ll still be special
PHOTOGRAPHS JAMES MURPHY FOOD STYLING AYA NISHIMURA AND JAN SMITH STYLING PENNY MARKHAM
Garlic and chilli prawns on puréed butter beans
Serves 2 Hands-on time 30 min
For the butter beans
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 400g tin butter beans, drained
• Juice ½ lemon
For the prawns
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• Handful flatleaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 50ml olive oil
• ¼ tsp chilli flakes
• 225g raw peeled (or with tails on) sustainable prawns
• Crusty bread to serve
1 Warm the oil for the butter beans in a pan and add the garlic. Cook for a minute, then add the beans and cook for 3-4 minutes until warmed through. Add 2 tablespoons water and the lemon juice, then blend to a purée in a blender or food processor.
2 Season the purée with salt and pepper and keep it warm while you cook the prawns. Add a little more water if you need to adjust the consistency.
3 For the prawns, chop the garlic together with the parsley to form a coarse paste. Pour the oil into a wide pan and, when it’s hot, add the chilli flakes and the garlic mixture and cook over a gentle heat for a minute until sizzling and fragrant. Increase the heat a little, then add the prawns and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
4 Serve the purée topped with the prawns and oil, and have some crusty bread on the side to mop up the juices.
Per serving 576kcals, 32g fat (4.6g saturated), 32g protein, 32g carbs (no sugars), 2.1g salt, 14g fibre →
Tomato, mozzarella, black olive and artichoke faux pizza
Serves 4-6 Hands-on time 10 min Oven time 15-18 min
• 2 x 320g ready-rolled puff pastry sheets
For the topping
• 300g tomato sauce for pizza/pasta, such as Mutti
• 2 x 125-150g mozzarel
