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• Famished
• Paella
• Poor-man's pizza
• Nachos
• Pasta with bread 'sauce'
• 
  

Famished

By : Francis Andrews

 

Britain's finest

The first year is progressing, your wallet is thinning and the hunger pangs are overwhelming. You lie there at night, trembling in the dark at the sound of 60 bass-heavy decibels pumping out from your stomach, wishing you had sacrificed that last, oh so pointless, pint for a trip to the all-night cafe. But now your stomach resembles every cupboard in the house: empty, except for a few bits of loose pasta and a family of defunct, geriatric potatoes. But a meal can be born out of anything, and students have concocted absolute gems in times of hardship. Read on for some survival essentials.

Paella

Seafood Paella

Serves 4

1 onion

100g chunk of chorizo/pepperoni sausage

cheap white wine

1 clove garlic

200g risotto rice

400ml stock

1 red pepper, sliced

100g frozen peas

250g mixed seafood

1 lemon

Slice the onion and sausage, and fry in a giant frying pan or wok with oil. Add a healthy splash of wine along with the garlic and risotto rice and fry until grains become glassy. Then add a bit of stock at a time and stir until it has been absorbed. Add a bit more and continue the process until the rice is soft. This should take 20-30mins, and you need to stir constantly. Chuck in the red pepper, peas and seafood. If you have any tumeric - or anything to turn it yellow - add for colouring. Stir for 2 more minutes until the red pepper is soft and the seafood hot through. Then squeeze in half a lemon and add salt and pepper to taste.

Poor-man's pizza

Stonebaked Pizza (you'll be lucky)

2 slices of pitta (or bread)

Pasta sauce

Cheese

Toast pitta lightly. Spread pasta sauce on top. Grate on cheese. Pop under grill and wait for the sizzle. Add whatever you want on top. Get in!

Nachos

Nachos

Serves 2

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 chilli, finely sliced

250g pasta sauce

1 big bag Doritos

50g cheese

A good midday snack to impress the person you woke up next to this morning. Saute the onion, garlic and chilli in a pan, and add the pasta sauce to simmer. Meanwhile, spread out the Doritos on a baking tray and put in a hot oven for 3 minutes. Take out, pour sauce over and grate some serious cheese on top. Return to the oven for 2 minutes until the cheese melts. If you have any sour cream or guacamole, you can rest assured that she/he will be in your bed again tomorrow morning.

Pasta and bread 'sauce'

Survival essential

 
Serves 2

5 large handfuls of breadcrumbs

200g pasta

olive oil

1 onion (preferably red)

balsamic vinegar

3 cloves garlic, thinly chopped

1tsp sugar

Sounds rough, tastes great (honestly). Either crumb the bread in a food blender or grate on a cheese grater. Put pasta in boiling water. Splash a generous amount of olive oil in a frying pan and add the thickly sliced onion. Once sizzling, dribble in some balsamic vinegar and add a small teaspoon of sugar to caramelise. When onion becomes transparent, put in the garlic, cook for 30 seconds, then add the breadcrumbs. You'll need to top up the olive oil as you go. Fry until the breadcrumbs are fairly crispy, and add salt (you'll need quite a bit) and pepper to taste. Drain the pasta, place in a frying pan and mix. Serve with a can of Strongbow.