Whether you’re camping or caravanning, meals you can make in one pan on a one-burner ring are always a winner… Or make them just for fun at home!
We’ve collated our six favourite meals for cooking on a one-ring burner. (On the seventh night, we think you should head to the pub or get fish and chips). Crack out the Travel Scrabble and gather round the teeny kitchen (or the open fire) and cook up a tiny storm!
One-pan Full English
As good at breakfast as it is for lunch or dinner, here’s how to do a cooked breakfast with just one thing to wash up.
Heat the pan high and fry chiplota sausages for around three minutes.
Add bacon, turning repeatedly until in goes crispy
Add chopped mushrooms and cook until soft
Drain any fat and liquid off, then spread the ingredients out evenly across the pan’s surface
Beat some eggs and add to the pan to create a breakfast omelette. Cook for two minutes on a low to medium heat
Scatter over tomatoes and cheese if liked and continue to cook until melted
Serve in wedges once fully cooked
Chilaquiles
A holiday twist on nachos. We’re not saying this meal includes all the major food groups (other than crisps) but it is warming, filling and delicious!
Heat oil high in a pan or skillet and then fry tortilla chips in single layers, draining each layer on kitchen towel as you go
Reduce heat and gently fry some chopped red onion until softened and add some chopped garlic for the last half a minute
Tip in some passata or tinned tomatoes and reduce. Once reduced and simmering, put the fried tortilla chips back in and stir to coat them
Create a well in the middle and drop a few eggs into the sauce, cooking them through gently
Top with chopped herbs, spring onions, grated cheese and whatever else you fancy
One-pot Orzo with veggies
A clever pasta dish, in which the water boils the pasta and the veggies together and then disappears like magic!
Prep your veg. Anything that cooks in less than 10 minutes, like the orzo, is good… Asparagus, peas, broccoli and the like
Put the veg with the orzo, enough water to cover it, a tablespoon of oil and any spices you like to your cooking vessel and bring to a low boil
Once boiling, cook for a further five minutes until orzo and veggies are tender
Reduce heat and add grated cheese, and any of the following you fancy: pine nuts, olives, sundried tomatoes, other deli veg
Chick pea and Chorizo Stew
Hearty, warming and pleasingly simple, this stew is great served with crusty bread or any other carb you fancy it with.
Heat a little olive oil in a large pan and then fry a chopped onion until it softens. Add chopped carrot, celery and herbs such as thyme and bay leaves. Continue to cook for around three minutes, stirring to prevent the veg sticking
Add chopped garlic, chorizo and paprika and continue to fry with the veg for a few minutes
Add a can of chick peas and a can of tomatoes and cook down
Add a couple of handfuls of spinach and let wilt
Remove from heat, season and serve with bread
Bubble and squeak
An oldie but classic. Another recipe that works for any meal from breakfast to supper - and it helps you get your greens in, too.
In your pot, layer a chopped whole cabbage, five medium chopped potatoes and chopped Polish sausage or hot dogs from a jar
Add a cup of water and simmer for 20 mins
Once water is all soaked up and veg are tender, serve up
Black bean burgers
You can customise these burgers to your own tastes with many additions. Serve in big burger baps with ketchup.
Mash a tin of drained, rinsed black beans
Mix in a tablespoon of ketchup and the same of mustard if desired along with a third of a cup of instant oats
Throw in any extras for customisation - chopped onions, leftover diced veg, grated Cheddar etc
Form the mix into patties, heat a little oil in the pan and then fry on each side until nice and crispy
Serve in buns with plenty of sauce
If you think the caravanning life might be for you, don’t miss our Home Tour feature in our August issue, which features this beautiful van (above) in Sardinia, as well another retro van on the Kent coast.
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