THE UNDER £6 A HEAD ONE

A cheap dinner party for your cheapest friends

Menu to serve 6 people

MUSHROOMS AND CHICKPEAS ON TOAST

SPAGHETTI AL SUGO FINTO

HOT BERRY SPONGE

Hello and Happy New Year! In a week or two we will stop saying that, but for now I am very much still in the “confused-about-which-year-it-is” phase, so I am forced to carry on to help me remember. I am thrilled to be back in your inboxes with a January Dinner Party that I think you will all love, because it is quite literally cheap as chips. But before we start, I wanted to notify you of a change to the posting schedule here.

Typically my first post of the month is The Dinner Party (free), and on the same day I also send my first More Please (paid). I don’t know why I decided posting them both on the same day made sense all those years ago when I started this, but I have decided it’s actually probably best to actually spread out the emails a bit more so you don’t miss them and also for my own sanity. So from today the posting schedule will look like this each month ;

WEEK 1 - The Dinner Party (free)

WEEK 2 - More Please (paid)

WEEK 3 - A Seasonal Supper (paid)

WEEK 4 - More Please (paid)

Each post will always be on Monday unless there are exceptional reasons for it not to be.

I can’t promise that every month I will know exactly the recipes coming up, but this month I do! So here is a rundown of what’s to come in January.

Monday 6th January - The Dinner Party (free) - The Under £6 a Head One

Monday 13th January - More Please (paid) - BRASSICAS

• Savoy Cabbage and Cumin Baked Rice

• Cavolo Nero Polenta with Eggs and Anchovies

• Kohlrabi Soup, Baron Bigod Toastie

Monday 20th January - A Seasonal Supper (paid)

• Parsnip Rosti with Eggs, Sour Cream and Dill

Monday 27th January - More Please (paid) - POT ROASTS

• Chicken with Kale, Arborio Rice and Salsa Rossa

• Lamb Meatballs with Marsala, Potatoes and Bay

• Sausages with Pumpkin, Radicchio and Prunes

Ok! Now that little bit of housekeeping is out of the way, let’s get going!!!

I can’t lie, January is always the hardest month to dream up a theme for a Dinner Party. The unofficial “hosting season" is over, it’s the deepest, bleakest part of winter, no one has any money and everyone is telling you to lose weight. This year, I decided to take the fact that we are all feeling our poorest and run with it, so I present to you a 3 course Dinner Party that costs less than £6 a head.

I tallied up all the ingredients on my online shop and actually got it to £5.32 at one point, but then in testing I realised I needed more mushrooms. So, I decided Under £6 was an easier promise to keep. There are of course some caveats ;

1. I bought my ingredients from Waitrose, if you use other supermarkets you may get it all even cheaper. (American readers, Waitrose is basically Whole Foods/Trader Joes vibes).

2. I didn’t include things like olive oil, salt and pepper because I assume/hope you have those in your house already.

3. I didn’t include the wine in the Sugo Tinto because if you are having people over they are legally obliged to bring a bottle of wine over so the cost is cancelled out. (This is taking liberties, I know, but allowing myself more creative license is my 2025 resolution).

So, in all, this is a menu that can serve 6 people for less than £36 and it is actually heavenly. To start with I’ve gone for a really easy riff on a classic British starter - Mushrooms on Toast. Adding chickpeas not only bulks it out but makes it somehow creamier and more lush, and gives you more bang for your buck.

Our main course is Spaghetti al Sugo Finto, which basically means “Fake Sauce”. The idea here is that it tastes like a meat sauce but with no meat in it. It’s a classic tomato sugo packed with a delicious soffritto of carrots, onions, celery, with added rosemary, red wine and olives for the savoury richness you would expect from a good meat sugo. It’s glorious and I am serving it rather untraditionally with spaghetti because truthfully its chunkiness kind of of reminds me of a British Bolognese in style, and therefore spaghetti is the only way.

For pudding we are using one of my FAVOURITE cheap and cheerful ingredients, a bag of frozen berries, to make a simply luscious Hot Berry Sponge. A hot sponge is such a treat and this one is like a cloud on a sweet hot berry soup. Finished with cold cream, there is not much better in this world.

So, it’s time to get a date in for dinner with your pals for a night of cheap and delicious thrills.

MUSHROOMS AND CHICKPEAS ON TOAST

I call this a riff on a British classic because there was a time in the early 2010s where Mushrooms on Toast would literally be on every café and pub menu. That was before avocados took hold of course. And you know what, I think it’s time we bring them back. What’s not to love? Delicious fried mushrooms in a garlicky, spicy cream on top of a hunk of toast is a pretty good starter by anyone's standards. Adding a can of chickpeas makes it stretch further but also really adds a rich earthiness that works so well with the mushrooms. FYI, like many things I make here, this would work very well as a pasta sauce.

SERVES 6

• 3 tbsps olive oil

• 30g butter

• 800g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

• 4 garlic cloves, sliced

• 1 red chilli, finely diced

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved

• 250ml double cream

• A handful of parsley, roughly chopped

• Lots of salt and black pepper

• 6 slices of sourdough, toasted

• 1 clove garlic, peeled

• Olive oil to drizzle

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. On a high heat, fry the mushrooms in 2 batches - they will take some time to colour as they contain a lot of liquid, so it is best to split them up for more even cooking. When both batches of mushrooms are fried and golden, remove them from the pan, lower the heat to medium and add the butter. Once sizzling, add the garlic and chilli and fry for a minute, then add the chickpeas and about half their liquid. Bring to a simmer, return the cooked mushrooms to the pan and mix well. Season generously with salt and pepper now, then stir in the double cream. Bring the mix back to a simmer, checking and adjusting the seasoning again, then remove from the heat. It should be saucy - if it is too thick add a splash more chickpea water to loosen. Stir in some of the parsley, saving the rest for the top. Toast your bread and then rub each piece with the clove of garlic while still hot. Pop the toast onto your serving plates and then pile on the creamy mushrooms and chickpeas. Scatter over some more parsley, drizzle with oil and serve.

MAKE AHEAD -

• The mushrooms and chickpeas can be made up to 3 days ahead. When you reheat you may need to add a splash more water / cream to loosen.

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• Cannellini or butter beans would work well instead of the chickpeas.

• Use any mushrooms you like except for portobello which will make the sauce black!

• Use plant butter and cream to make this plant based.

SPAGHETTI AL SUGO FINTO

When it comes to cheap meals I find I rely fairly heavily on pasta and Italian cooking, especially for entertaining. This sauce is a classic example of Cucina Povera or the “kitchen of the poor”, where the lack of a certain ingredient is turned on its head, and you make the most out of what you do have. The lack of meat in this sauce is what defines it, but also what makes it great. Plenty of your normal meat sugo ingredients are still here - onions, carrots, celery, herbs, wine, tomatoes, but just in larger amounts. You don’t often see me using red onions as a base for sauces, partly because I think they can be too sweet and partly because of their colour, but here they are exactly right. I’ve also seen a few versions of this with chopped olives in and I love the meatiness they bring, so I’ve added them too.

Serves 6

• 750g spaghetti

• 4 tbsps olive oil

• 2 red onions, diced

• 3 medium carrots, diced

• 5 celery sticks, diced

• 1 parmesan rind (optional), finely diced

• 3 large garlic cloves, sliced

• 6 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped

• 160g kalamata olives, finely chopped

• 250ml red wine

• 690g tomato passata

• Parmesan and fresh parsley, roughly chopped, and olive oil to serve

For the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan with a lid. On a medium heat fry the onions, carrots and celery together for around 15 minutes until starting to brown and soften and get sweet. If using, add your diced parmesan rind here and let it fry for a couple of minutes- it will give a brilliant savoury boost to the sauce. Add in the garlic and rosemary next and fry for a further minute or two until bright and fragrant, then add the olives and pour in the wine. Bring up to a simmer and reduce the wine by half. Pour in the passata, then half fill the empty bottle with water, use it to sluice all the leftover tomato goodness still in there, then add that in too. Season generously with salt and pepper and then cover with a lid. Simmer for 30 minutes covered, then a final 20 uncovered on a low heat. When it’s done the sauce should have thickened and darkened slightly, and will taste a little piquant from the olives, but also rich and vibrant. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Cook your spaghetti in a pan of boiling salted water until al dente, then toss it with the sauce. Pile onto a serving plate and cover with a blanket of parmesan and parsley and a decent drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil. I like letting everyone dig in to one big pile at the table, rather than individual portions.

MAKE AHEAD -

• The sugo finto can be made up to 3 days ahead and freezes excellently too.

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• Leave out the parmesan for a plant based version.

• You could add anchovies too, if you have them, for an even deeper savouriness.

• Thyme or bay leaves would work instead of rosemary.

HOT BERRY SPONGE

I am a big hot sponge fan. It was always the dreamiest pudding at school dinner, and it’s a huge treat to give anyone who comes to your house, plus it’s much easier than a steamed sponge. In my book I have a recipe for a Marmalade Sponge and it is a brilliant blueprint recipe. A raft of tender, warm, moist sponge sat upon something saucy and fruity - there’s not much better. This version involves a super easy, hands-off fruit compote at the bottom, made with a bag of frozen berries and some sugar. It’s just a great pudding - kind of like a Summer Pudding but reverse engineered. While I am here, it is definitely worth mentioning my Hot Chocolate Sponge if you want something richer and more decadent, although it’s definitely not as cheap to make.

For the sponge

• 180g unsalted butter, soft at room temperature

• 250g golden caster sugar

• 250g self raising flour

• Pinch of salt

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 80ml whole milk

• 4 eggs

• Optional suggested flavourings - 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste OR ½ tsp ground cinnamon OR ¼ tsp ground cardamom

For the compote

• 1kg mixed frozen berries

• 150g caster sugar

• 1 tsp cornflour if you are serving immediately, ½ tsp cornflour if preparing in advance.

• Cold double cream, to serve

33cm/22cm brownie tin

Preheat your oven to 170 fan. Lightly grease your tin with butter. Put the frozen berries into a saucepan along with the sugar. Mix well and warm very gently on a low heat. The idea is to defrost the berries without cooking them, so definitely avoid boiling them. Once the mix is syrupy and the berries are soft but still intact remove from the heat. We need to thicken this with cornflour to make it a sauce, but how much cornflour you add depends on when you are serving it. If you are baking the sponge ahead of time with a view to reheating when your guests arrive, only add ½ a teaspoon of cornflour. If you are baking and serving straight away, add 1 teaspoon. The berries will dry more and more as they sit under the cooked sponge, so will need less corn flour if they have a bit of a wait before hitting the table. To add the cornflour take a couple of spoonfuls of the berry syrup and add them to a small bowl along with the cornflour. Stir it in well to create a kind of slurry, then pour this back into the fruit. Stir and then pour into your greased tin.

To make the sponge, combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. You will have seen that I have added some optional flavour enhancers in the ingredients list (only use what you have already or it will knock out my £6 / a head price). If you have vanilla extract or bean paste knocking about, mix this with the milk. If you want to add either ground cinnamon or cardamom (not both in this case) add them into your dry ingredients. Use electric beaters (or a stand mixer) to cream together the butter and sugar for a minute or two until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after every addition. If the mix splits at all, add a spoonful of your dry ingredients to bring it back together. Once all the eggs are combined add ⅓ of the flour mix, stirring well between each addition, then half the milk, then the flour, then the rest of the milk, then the final third of flour. Spoon the finished batter on top of the fruit compote - you don’t have to spread it out very evenly, just a light touch to get an even surface with a spatula is fine. Bake for 45 minutes or so until golden brown and springy to the touch. You can stick a skewer into the sponge - if it comes out clean it’s ready.

Serve immediately in bowls with plenty of cold cream. If you make this ahead of time, reheat it covered in foil at 150 fan for 20 minutes.

MAKE AHEAD -

• The compote can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept in the fridge until needed.

• You can make and bake the sponge up to 6 hours before your guests arrive, just reheat as above when needed.

• If you want to make the sponge just before your guests arrive, I recommend weighing all your ingredients into the right bowls in advance so when it comes to it you can just quickly whip up the sponge with little to no faff. You can even do this the day before, as long as you keep them covered.

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• Jam, marmalade, stewed apples and pears, even caramelised bananas would be lush instead of the fruit.

TIMEPLAN

This first plan should help you see what you can get done in advance, so that for each course on the day you have at least 1, maybe 2 major parts of it taken care of. I appreciate that not everyone’s weeks are easily peppered with dinner party prep, but if you’re hosting after work or on a day where you can’t be in the kitchen, getting ahead is going to save your arse.

MISE-EN-PLACE

This is the fancy name we give to the food prep each section in the restaurant needs to do for their dishes. Hopefully breaking down each dish like this will help you feel organised.

Use the hour before your guests arrive to organise your space too- I find it helpful to group ingredients by dish so it is all in the same place. Little ramekins are really useful for this.