Dinner

Simple Bolognese

A weeknight bolognese that tastes like it simmered all afternoon. Why you brown the mince properly, and the two cheap additions that…

Fifteen minutes, one pan, and the two rules that decide whether you get a stir fry or a pan of steamed vegetables.

Roast the pumpkin, don't boil it. Which pumpkins are worth cooking with, why the carving ones aren't, and a soup that freezes…

Cheap, filling, on the table in half an hour, and no soaking. The spice step most people skip, and why red lentils…

A slow, forgiving stew with no wine and no browning shortcuts — plus why the meat needs two hours and what happens…

A ten-minute dinner children can help build, with the two rules that stop a quesadilla falling apart the moment you cut it.

One dish, mostly storecupboard, and the sauce trick that stops a pasta bake drying out in the oven. Serves six, assembles ahead,…

Roast the squash rather than boiling it — the reason most butternut soup tastes flat, and the fix that takes no extra…

A clear, light vegetable soup that uses whatever is in the drawer, with the order of adding things that stops everything turning…

A complete dinner in one pan in 35 minutes, with the liquid ratio that gives you cooked rice rather than a wet…

A smooth tomato soup carrying four vegetables, blended so completely that texture stops being the argument. Serves six, freezes well, about 45…

Why day-old rice works and fresh rice doesn't, the food-safety rule that actually matters with cooked rice, and dinner on the table…