Cookery: Quick and easy budget meals…

Miguel Barclay is the king of cost-conscious recipes. This week he shares some brilliant dishes that cost just £1 to make

Falafel burger

Here’s a fun take on a veggie burger, using a homemade pitta ‘ bun’ wrapped around a supersimple pan-fried falafel.

To make one portion

100g chickpeas (from a 400g tin), drained ½ carrot 1 spring onion 1tsp ground cumin ½tsp dried (or chopped fresh) parsley Salt and pepper 1 egg, beaten 70g plain flour, plus extra for dusting Olive oil 28ml cold water A few lettuce leaves A few slices of tomato A few slices of red onion

1 Put the chickpeas, carrot, spring onion, cumin and parsley in a food processor or blender and pulse just a few times to make a rough paste. Tip the mixture out into a bowl, season well with salt and pepper, then stir in half the beaten egg and 2tsp (about 10g) of the flour to give the falafel mixture a firm, mashed-potato consistency (adding a little more flour if necessary). Split the mixture into two and form into patties.

2 Pan-fry the patties in a splash of olive oil over a medium heat for 10 mins, turning after about 5 mins, until golden brown on both sides.

3 While the falafel patties are cooking, make the pitta ‘bun’. Mix the remaining 60g flour, the cold water and a pinch of salt in a bowl to form a dough.

4 Dust the worktop with a little flour, then knead dough on the worktop for a few minutes until smooth. Roll it out into a 15cm x 5cm oval shape. Heat a dry frying pan over a high heat, add pitta and cook for about 2 mins on each side, until nicely toasted.

5 Assemble the burger: fold the pitta around the two patties, alternating them with lettuce, and tomato and onion slices.