Cooking after a long day at work can seem like the hardest thing in the world, I for one never have the motivation, but this year I want to try and be healthier (original I know) which means cooking more meals from scratch which is where 'Jamie's 15 Minute Meals' comes in!
Having bookmarked my favourite recipes (pretty much the whole book...) I finally settled on his Thai Chicken Laksa as my first recipe. Although it didn't turn out 100% how I wanted it still tasted fantastic so I thought it only fair to share it with you guys. Plus look how lovely my new serving board is that I got for Christmas!
Shopping List for the Laksa
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 1 butternut squash (neck only)
- 2 garlic cloves (peeled)
- 1 thumb sized piece ginger
- 1 red chilli
- 1 tsp tumeric
- 4/5 spring onions (roughly chopped)
- 1 heaped tsp peanut butter
- 4 dried kaffir lime leaves
- 1/2 bunch fresh coriander
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 300g medium rice noodles
- 600g asparagus
- 400g coconut milk
- 3 limes
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 1 butternut squash (neck only)
- 2 garlic cloves (peeled)
- 1 thumb sized piece ginger
- 1 red chilli
- 1 tsp tumeric
- 4/5 spring onions (roughly chopped)
- 1 heaped tsp peanut butter
- 4 dried kaffir lime leaves
- 1/2 bunch fresh coriander
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 300g medium rice noodles
- 600g asparagus
- 400g coconut milk
- 3 limes
Shopping List for the Chicken:
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (I used turkey breast)
- 1 heaped tsp Chinese five spice
- salt & pepper
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 red chilli
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (I used turkey breast)
- 1 heaped tsp Chinese five spice
- salt & pepper
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 red chilli
Method
- Toss the chicken in a bowl with the five spice, salt and pepper until evenly coated then place on a sheet of greaseproof paper. Fold over the paper and hammer with a rolling pin to flatten to 1.5cm thick.
- Place the chicken on a hot griddle pan and turn every 3/4 minutes until cooked through and charred.
- Now for the laksa, mix together about 800ml chicken stock and pour into a large lidded pan.
- Trim the neck off the squash and grate the flesh into the pan of stock - you can do this with a food processor if you have the right attachment.
- Using the bowl blade in a food processor blitz together the garlic, ginger, chilli, turmeric, spring onions, peanut butter, kaffir lime leaves, coriander stalks (save the leaves for later), sesame oil, soy sauce and fish sauce into a paste.
- Add the paste and noodles to the stock and replace the lid on the pan.
- Trim the ends off the asparagus and chop in half (or smaller if you prefer) and add to the pan with the coconut milk. Once this boils, season with soy sauce and lime juice as necessary and remove from the heat.
- Drizzle the chicken with honey and sprinkle over the sesame seeds and chilli and serve with the laksa.
I won't lie, this took me 25 minutes as opposed to 15 but I still think that's pretty good for a delicious dinner like this - I really didn't think this was possible. Plus I'm sure that the more you make it the quicker the process will become.
As I said at the start this didn't turn out quite the way I had planned... As opposed to a noodle broth I ended up with less of a broth and more just noodles and a thick sauce... I'm pretty sure this was a combination of too many noodles and not enough stock (I did kind of wing it when it came to measurements/weighing things.
All in all for 25 minutes of pretty easy cooking this turned out great and it went down a treat. If you don't have this recipe book I can't recommend it highly enough, whether you work long hours or simply don'y like to spend hours in the kitchen!
Have you tried any of Jamie's 15 minute meals? I'd love some recommendations of what to try next.
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