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News [1]
Opinion [2]
Business [3]
Sport [4]
Life [5]
Entertainment [7]
Travel [8]
Sunday Life [9]

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Donal Skehan dishes up one-pan suppers for tasty summer nights

Whip up a weeknight meal of tasty chicken saltimbocca, roasted white fish or ratatouille

Roasted White Fish with Confit Cherry Tomatoes. Picture: Donal Skehan

One-Pan Chicken Saltimbocca. Picture: Donal Skehan

Roasted White Fish with Confit Cherry Tomatoes

Oven-Roasted Ratatouille. Picture: Donal Skehan

Roasted White Fish with Confit Cherry Tomatoes. Picture: Donal Skehan

One-Pan Chicken Saltimbocca. Picture: Donal Skehan

Roasted White Fish with Confit Cherry Tomatoes

Oven-Roasted Ratatouille. Picture: Donal Skehan

Roasted White Fish with Confit Cherry Tomatoes. Picture: Donal Skehan

Donal Skehan

May 28 2022 07:00 AM

Simple summer suppers are key to savouring the most of the season. Whether it’s a quick chicken dish , a speedy baked fish dinner or a tumble of vegetables roasted until tender with freshly cooked pasta tossed through, one-pan cooking was made for the summer months.

It’s a method I’ve thoroughly embraced as a father of two hungry little boys. Little effort and maximum results. Of course, as any parent will attest, best-made plans often end up on the floor!

This week’s recipes will make light work of your summer weeknight meals with easy methods and most of the work taking place in either the oven or the hob.

First up, I am in love with the classic roman dish saltimbocca, so you will have to excuse me if you’ve seen my various iterations of this recipe previously. It’s a simple method that leaves you with tender chicken with a crisp, salty exterior.

The key to it is the use of salty prosciutto, which the chicken is wrapped in, and sage leaves.

Here, it’s served with courgettes, broccoli and potatoes for a straight-to-the-table supper.

We sometimes serve it with fresh egg tagliatelle for a more substantial meal.

Next, for fish fans, is roasted haddock with confit cherry tomatoes. Roasting whole white fish like hake or haddock really makes an occasion of it. B

y roasting cherry tomatoes with aubergine, peppers and garlic, you create the perfect juicy sauce to enjoy with the tender fish, and it can all be served straight to the table in the roasting tray.

Serve it with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Delicious with a cool glass of white wine or rosé in the garden!

Lastly, a vegetable pasta that’s a favourite in our house and a wonderful way to get plenty of the good stuff on to the plate. A tweak on the classic French ratatouille which, of course, is delicious as it is, but with pasta stirred through the roast vegetables, it makes a very substantial midweek meal.

Go the extra mile and serve with burrata or mozzarella balls for a real treat.

One pan chicken saltimbocca

Time: 50 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 red onion, thinly sliced

400g red-skinned potatoes, thinly sliced

200g cherry tomatoes

2 courgettes, cut into batons

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

200g tenderstem broccoli

100ml white wine

4 small free-range chicken breasts, butterflied

12 fresh sage leaves

8 slices of prosciutto

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas 6.

2. In a large roasting tray, toss the onion, potatoes, tomatoes and courgettes with the oil. Season well and roast for 20
minutes. Add the broccoli and roast for a further 5-6 minutes.

3. Remove the tray from the oven, turn the vegetables and splash in the wine. Place the butterflied chicken breasts on top, scatter with the sage, drizzle with a little more oil and season well.

4. Arrange the prosciutto on top of each chicken breast in a crumpled fashion and roast for a further 15 minutes until the chicken is tender and cooked and the prosciutto is crispy.

Oven-roasted ratatouille

Time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

2 aubergines, cut into 2cm cubes

2 courgettes, halved lengthways and cut into 1cm-thick pieces

2 red onions, cut into wedges

250g cherry tomatoes

2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced

10 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1 tsp chilli flakes

4 sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves stripped

5 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

350g short pasta

Drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar

40g Parmesan cheese (or vegetarian alternative), grated

Handful of fresh basil leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas 6.

2. Toss the vegetables in a large roasting tray (or two) with the garlic, chilli flakes and oregano. Season well and toss with the oil, then roast for 1¼ hours, turning every so often, until lovely and tender and broken down into a glorious mush. Once the garlic cloves are roasted, remove their skins and mash with the back of a fork before returning to the roasting tin.

3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling, salted water for 10-12 minutes until tender, then drain, toss through the contents of the roasting tin and serve in deep bowls. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and scatter with the Parmesan and basil leaves.

Roasted white fish with confit cherry tomatoes

Time: 1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

400g cherry tomatoes

1 large aubergine, cut into 2cm pieces

2 red bell peppers, deseeded and thinly sliced

1 whole garlic bulb, cloves separated but left unpeeled

170ml olive oil

6 sprigs of fresh thyme

500g piece of cod (or another firm white fish fillet)

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground

black pepper

To serve

Crusty bread

Green leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/Gas 4. Put the cherry tomatoes, aubergine, peppers and garlic cloves in a roasting tray, toss with the oil and thyme and season well.

2. Roast for 45-50 minutes, turning occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and caramelised.

3. Season the fish and nestle into the roasted veg, then return the tray to the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until the fish is just cooked. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving with lots of crusty bread to mop up the juices and some green leaves.