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What Lauren Eats What lauren eats at SPAR
Lauren shares her week of dinners for £35 from SPAR!

This weeks recipes include:

  • Bacon and chorizo Mac and cheese
  • Creamy chicken, bacon and leek one pan dish
  • Chorizo and leek carbonara
  • Slow cooker Cuban beef
  • Slow cooker beef satay

 

£35 got all the ingredients for 5 dinners and plenty of leftovers for lunches.

Each recipe serves 4. *The shop doesn't include cupboard staples such as oil, spices and flour

Bacon and chorizo Mac and cheese

You will need:

  • 300g macaroni
  • 40g chorizo chopped up
  • 4 slices bacon chopped finely
  • Half an onion cut into thin slices
  • Teaspoon garlic
  • Teaspoon paprika
  • 30g butter
  • 20g flour
  • 250ml milk
  • 80g grated cheddar
  • 10g grated Parmesan
  • 10g breadcrumbs
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. In a pan fry off your onion, garlic and bacon. When nearly done add in your chorizo and fry off for a few mins. Remove from the heat.
  2. Whilst your bacon and chorizo are cooking, cook your macaroni in water as per packet instructions.
  3. To make your cheese sauce melt butter in pan and add in flour to form a paste. Slowly add in your milk, mixing well as you do. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Add in 40g grated cheddar and 5g grated Parmesan and mix well.
  4. To a baking dish add your drained pasta and bacon and chorizo mix and mix it well. Add your cheese sauce and mix this well.
  5. Top with a mix of the remainder of the cheese and breadcrumbs (40g grated cheddar, 5g grated Parmesan and 10g breadcrumbs of choice). Sprinkle this on top of the mix.
  6. Bake in oven at 180 for 12 mins. Then grill the top for a further 3 mins until golden and crispy

Creamy chicken, bacon and leek one pan dish

You will need:

  • Spar chicken thighs (one packet)
  • Paprika
  • Garlic
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 slices of spar bacon
  • 1.5 leeks thinly chopped
  • Tablespoon butter
  • Half an onion thinly chopped
  • 150ml single cream

 

Method:

  1. Season your chicken thighs with paprika, garlic salt and pepper. Brown your chicken in a pan for 7 mins on each side. Remove from pan and add to a tray in oven at 140 degrees to continue cooking.
  2. To the same pan add your bacon and cook until crispy. Add in your onion and garlic and cook this for a few mins. Add in your butter and leeks and cook this through until everything is cooked. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Add in 150ml of single cream and combine this through. Return the chicken to the pan at this stage.
  4. Serve with potato cubes and green veg or wild rice.
Chorizo and leek carbonara

You will need:

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 50g Parmesan
  • Tablespoon butter
  • 1.5 leeks thinly chopped
  • 60g chorizo cut into cubes
  • 250g dry spaghetti
  • Salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Cook pasta as per packet instructions. Make sure to keep some of the pasta water when draining.
  2. In a bowl mix 3 egg yolks, 40g Parmesan and generous amount of salt and pepper.
  3. In a pan add butter and leeks and cook these off. Add in your chorizo and mix well.
  4. Add in drained spaghetti to the mix and remove from heat. Add in egg mixture and mix well. Add in a ladle of pasta water and mix well until it forms a sauce.
  5. Top with extra Parmesan and parsley.

Slow cooker Cuban beef

You will need:

  • 500g beef (I used half of a beef roasting joint from SPAR cut into pieces)
  • Tin chopped tomato
  • Two tablespoons tomato purée
  • One onion finely chopped
  • Tablespoon oregano
  • Teaspoon cumin
  • Teaspoon chilli
  • Salt and pepper
  • Parsley
  • Beef stock (200ml)

Method:

  1. Brown your beef in a pan. Then add this to the slow cooker.
  2. Add in the rest of your ingredients and slow cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
  3. Shred the beef whilst in the sauce in slow cooker.
  4. Serve with rice.
Slow cooker beef satay

You will need:

  • 500g beef strips (I cut up half a beef joint from SPAR into strips)
  • Onion thinly chopped
  • Teaspoon garlic
  • Three tablespoons spar peanut butter
  • Tin of coconut milk
  • Two tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
  • Two tablespoons dark soy sauce

Method:

  1. Add your ingredients into slow cooker and cook on slow for 6 hours.
  2. Serve with noodles or rice and top with some crushed peanuts, chilli and parsley.