Cheapest meal

Stephen_Leak

This has got to be the simplest and cheapest recipe for the most wholesome and filling end result – ever. My box of dried peas cost 36p, so each serving cost just 9p!

PEA SOUP

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

125g (½ a 250g box) of dried peas
500ml of water
Ground pepper to taste

METHOD

Soak the peas in water according to the instructions.

Put the peas into a saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering).

Put the lid on the saucepan and continue cooking until the peas are soft. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy.

Season with the pepper. Continue to cook for another couple of minutes.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

You can use fresh, frozen or tinned peas. These do not need to be soaked.

You can also make this as Pea & Ham soup, using the leftover cooking water from a boiled bacon joint.

TIPS

Pea soup can be any consistency from a thin liquid with soft peas floating in it to a thick paste you can stand the spoon up in.

little-lou-pink

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

This has got to be the simplest and cheapest recipe for the most wholesome and filling end result – ever. My box of dried peas cost 36p, so each serving cost just 9p!

PEA SOUP

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

125g (½ a 250g box) of dried peas
500ml of water
Ground pepper to taste

METHOD

Soak the peas in water according to the instructions.

Put the peas into a saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering).

Put the lid on the saucepan and continue cooking until the peas are soft. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy.

Season with the pepper. Continue to cook for another couple of minutes.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

You can use fresh, frozen or tinned peas. These do not need to be soaked.

You can also make this as Pea & Ham soup, using the leftover cooking water from a boiled bacon joint.

TIPS

Pea soup can be any consistency from a thin liquid with soft peas floating in it to a thick paste you can stand the spoon up in.

sounds cheap n lovely
could you also add mint to make pea n mint . They make this is college canteen its lovely not sure how much mint to use or if to use fresh of dried ?
any ideas?

zippychick

little lou yes you could add mint - fresh or dried. Dried herbs are stronger so bear that in mind.... I would add a little and just keep adding to taste - very hard to say how much to add.

Not read this thread - will have a nosy. Very interesting to see the price differences between now and then!

Trinny

Hi There

1. Cauliflower Cheese - i do this when cauli are on super six at aldi, some HM cheese sauce, and breadcrumbs made of left over dry bread (usually grate it up and bung it in the freezer ready)

2. Leftovers pie - HM shortcrust pastry lid - filling, left over roast meat, roast dinner veges, onion and some kind of gravy. Serve with HM oven chips or potato wedges.

3. HM leek and potato soup, or HM french onion soup - Mary Berry recipes, do this when leeks are on super six or if i get a sack of onions from farm shop.

Trin

Hippeechiq

Hiya

One of the cheapest and tastiest meals I do is:

SAUSAGE, ONION & POTATO LAYER - SERVES 3

4-5 Medium/Large Potatoes, thinly sliced
6 Sausages (or however many you normally eat pp)
1 Large Onion, thinly sliced
2 Oxo cubes
Pepper
Water

Cover bottom of a large roasting tin with all of the sliced onion
Add a layer the sliced potato on the top, season with pepper and sprinkle with an Oxo cube
Repeat with another layer of potato, season with pepper and sprinkle with an Oxo cube
Slowly add enough water to bring the water level to half the depth of your tin.
Cover tin with foil.

Place in pre-heated oven @ 190C

After 1 & 1/4hrs carefully remove foil, lay sausages on top of the potatoes, re-cover with foil and return to oven
After 45 mins remove from oven, remove foil and return uncovered to oven for a further 30mins until sausages have browned.

Simple but unbelievably scrummy & usually served with broccoli and peas

I usually cook it in my small top oven, but it could be cooked in the main oven while doing some batch baking

Cooking time could possibly be reduced by par-boiling the potatoes first, but this is how my Mum always used to make it, and it tastes too good to be messed with

[Deleted User]

Strange looking at the prices of food from 2005 when the thread started wouldn't it be great if food was as cheap today

marmalize

JackieO wrote: »

Strange looking at the prices of food from 2005 when the thread started wouldn't it be great if food was as cheap today

thats what i thought....just scanning the thread and thought , blimey where do they get their tin beans and tomatoes from...6p and 19p ....then i looked at the date....
ahhh the good old days before the basic tin of tomatoes became a luxury product..lol

zarazara

a bit of grilled smokey bacon would be nice on top of the pea soup,along with some croutons fried in olive oil yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Primrose

I've found that buying Value cheese is a false economy for anybody who likes a good cheesy flavour. It's better to buy quality mature cheese, use far less of it but zizz it up in cooking with a teaspoon full of dry mustard powder.

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

twentypenceoff wrote: »

not to be recommended for long but i have survived for a few days on -

slice of bread with oxo - veg or meat dissolved in water eaten like soup

value powdered mash potato with bovril oxo cube sprinkled on it - surprisingly filling

pasta with butter and sprinkle of mixed herbs

rice with steamed carrots with oxo cube sprinkled on it

slowcooker put lentils and pearl barley in cover with water add butter and currey powder serve on potato or over rice

ahh, that takes me back - it's just how I used to eat when I was homeless and living in temporary housing!