HelloFresh cookbook recipes: From honey roasted feta to poppy seed-crusted chicken

Ready in 30 minutes

Serves 2

500g sweet potato, 1cm wedges
​Olive oil
1 echalion shallot (the long one), ½cm dice
250g cherry tomatoes, halved widthways
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100g feta, cut into six rectangles
1 tin cooked puy lentils, drained and rinsed
½ lemon
1 tbsp honey
40g rocket leaves
4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
2 tbsp shelled pistachios
Salt and black pepper

Preheat your oven to 220C. Wash and chop your sweet potato in half lengthways (no need to peel). Rest the flat part on the board and slice into each half lengthways and at an angle to make 2cm thick wedges. Toss the wedges in 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Lay them flat on a baking tray and roast on the top shelf for around 25-30 minutes, or until a little crispy at the edges.

Prep the shallot, tomatoes and garlic. Cut the feta into six long rectangles. Drain and rinse the lentils in a sieve.

Lay some baking paper in another baking tray. Put the tomatoes on one half of the baking tray, coat them in 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with ¼ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Put the feta pieces on the other half and very gently coat them in 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Once the wedges have been in your oven for 20 minutes, pop the tomatoes and feta on the middle shelf for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time.

Put a frying pan over a medium heat with 1½ tablespoon olive oil and the shallot. Cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add your garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the lentils to the pan along with ¼ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir well. Warm the lentils through for around 3 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add ¼ teaspoon salt, a few grinds of black pepper and whisk together with a fork. Once the sweet potato wedges, tomatoes and feta are cooked, remove from the oven and season the wedges with ¼ teaspoon more salt. Turn the grill to high. Add the tomatoes to your lentil mixture, along with the lemony dressing. Drizzle the honey over the feta and pop under the grill for 2 minutes.

Spoon the garlicky lentils into bowls and top with a handful of rocket. Place your wedges and feta on top (if it breaks up don’t worry, it will still be delish). Sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds and pistachios to serve.

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Ready in 45 minutes

Serves 2

2 skinless chicken breasts
Olive oil
½ tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
200g rigatoni pasta
100g frozen peas
1 leek, ½cm discs
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 chicken stock pot
170ml double cream
½ tsp dijon mustard
125g baby spinach
30g panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp poppy seeds
40g parmesan, grated
Salt and black pepper

Preheat your oven to 200C and put a large pan of water over a high heat to boil. Put the chicken in a bowl, season with ½ teaspoon salt and a good grind of black pepper and drizzle over 1 tablespoon olive oil. Pull the leaves from the thyme and roughly chop (discard the stems). Mix half the thyme with the chicken.

Heat a frying pan over a high heat with 2 tablespoon olive oil. When the pan is hot, carefully lay your chicken in the pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side until golden brown on both sides. Transfer your chicken to a deep-sided baking dish and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. Don’t wash the frying pan as we’ll use it later.

When your pan of water comes to the boil, add 1 teaspoon salt along with the rigatoni and cook for 11 minutes, or according to the packet instructions, until al dente.

For the last 3 minutes add in your frozen peas. When your pasta and peas are cooked, drain into a colander and then return to the pan off the heat. Toss in 1 teaspoon olive oil to stop it all sticking together.

As your chicken and pasta cook, remove the root and dark green part from the leek and prep the leek and garlic. Reheat the frying pan you used earlier over a medium heat and add ½ tablespoon olive oil. Add your chopped leek and cook for 7 minutes or until softened. Add your garlic and leftover thyme leaves and cook for 1 minute more.

Add the chicken stock pot with 150ml water and bring to the boil. Pour in the double cream and mustard and bring your sauce back up to a gentle bubble. Taste and add more salt and black pepper if necessary. Mix with your pasta and add the baby spinach.

Next, make the crust. Mix the breadcrumbs with the poppy seeds, grated parmesan and 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Preheat your grill to high. Remove your chicken from the baking dish and leave it to rest for at least 3 minutes (important). Cut the chicken into ½cm slices, then return it to the baking tray and mix together with your pasta and sauce. Sprinkle your poppy seed crust all over. Put the tray bake under the grill and cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

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Ready in 40 minutes

Serves 2

½ onion, ½cm dice
1 courgette, 1cm dice
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 vegetable stock pot
Olive oil
1 tbsp curry powder
150g white basmati rice
1 lemon, zest and juice
3 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
250g raw king prawns
1 beetroot
Salt and black pepper

Boil a kettle of water. Prep the onion, courgette and garlic. Once the kettle has boiled, pour 300ml water into a measuring jug with the vegetable stock pot and stir to dissolve.

Put 1½ tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, around 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and curry powder. Cook for 1 minute more, then add the basmati rice and stir. Add the courgette and stock. Bring to the boil then put on a lid. Simmer for 10 minutes over a medium heat, then remove from the heat and set aside for another 10 minutes. Don’t peek under the lid until 20 minutes are up or the rice won’t cook perfectly.

Zest the lemon and roughly chop the parsley (stalks and all). Put half the parsley in a mixing bowl and add half the lemon zest and 1½ tablespoon olive oil. Roll the lemon firmly under the heel of your hand on the chopping board to loosen up its juices and then cut it in half and squeeze the juice of one half into the mixing bowl.

Put 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the prawns. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt, a few grinds of black pepper and ½ tablespoon lemon juice and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until the prawns are pink on the outside and opaque all the way through.

Peel and coarsely grate the beetroot and add it to the bowl with the parsley dressing. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Taste and add more salt, pepper, lemon juice or zest as you desire. Check that the prawns are cooked and give them a bit longer if needed. Stir the prawns into the pilaf, squeeze in 1 tablespoon lemon juice and add the remaining parsley. Taste the pilaf and season with salt, black pepper or more lemon if you like. Serve a generous amount for each person – making sure the prawns are evenly distributed – and add some beetroot slaw on the side.

HelloFresh Recipes that Work by Patrick Drake, is published by Mitchell Beazley, £20. Photography by Jason Ingram (octopusbooks.co.uk)