One-pan wonders for busy weeknights

Anna Helm Baxter champions delicious home-made meals easy enough to be thrown together after work – and requiring minimal washing up

Iwanted to be certain that these recipes were achievable on a weeknight. Achievable after a long day at work. Achievable when you have little humans nipping impatiently at your heels. Achievable at the weekends, when you don’t want to spend the entire day in the kitchen.

Thus, there are no hard-to-find ingredients or lengthy directions here. What you will find are easy, flavourful, complete meals to share with your loved ones. Because really, that’s the most important part of going to the effort of making dinner.

All these recipes can be prepared in one pan: I use a cast-iron or stainless steel pan with an oven-safe handle, that can be used on the hob, in the oven and under the grill. A common mistake with stainless steel is to not give the pan enough time to heat up before cooking. This will almost guarantee that your food will stick to the surface of the pan and not release easily.

A great way to test if your stainlesssteel pan is hot enough is to use the water test. Heat it over medium-high heat. Add ⅛ teaspoon of water and watch it sit before gradually bubbling away. Add another ⅛ teaspoon of water and it should break into droplets that dance around the pan. Repeat until the water forms a single ball that rolls around. At this point, the pan has reached the perfect temperature to add oil and begin cooking. Adjust the temperature to avoid overheating as necessary.