Pescatarian-friendly family recipe ideas

Whiting or similar fish. Fry some onions in a fry pay, push to the side and add the fish fillets, fry for a minute or two, cover with Gruyere cheese, pour on enough cider to cover the fillets, lid on and into the oven for five mins, lid off to allow it to brown for a minute or two

Rather than a pick-the-bits-out you can do two versions of a dish and let people mix and match

I do two versions of this recipe side by side in the oven - one as the recipe and one swapping out the chicken for halloumi (cut in to largish cubes rather than slices) and chunks of mushroom. The chicken adds a stock to the dish as it cooks which the veg version doesn't do so an add a little veg stock to the veg version. The veg version is differnet but just as nice and its nice to mix both on the same plate so make two equal amounts rather than a little veg version - art from those two subbed ingredients  you're not going to the trouble of preparing two recipes, all the rest of the prep and cooking is shared.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/crispy-sticky-chicken-thighs-with-squashed-new-potatoes-tomatoes/

this recipe works with the same substitution but is a bit more fussy - but not terribly so - benefits from a bit of day-ahead prep and letting things marinate over night but not essential. It's a really treat-some dish for the modest effort it takes to prepare.

Again two versions side by side with the hallumi/ mushroom sub is no more bother than making one dish and again they are nice mixed and matched - so you can make two equal amounts even though theres only one veggie being catered for.

They're both nice reheated the next day so make generous amounts and have an easy dinner later in the week.

Probably our most frequently-cooked fish dish, can be simplified a bit from Delia's typically wordy instructions (like we usually omit the breadcrumbs)

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/collections/recipes-for-2/roasted-salmon-fillets-with-a-crusted-pecorino-and-pesto-topping

Prawns in noodles, with chopped mushrooms, peppers, garlic and chillis. Throw in some sauce if you want, soy, sweet chilli, chow mein etc

This is a nice one but you can do a simpler version without the marinade and just use a sweet chilli sauce. We have variations with udon noodles (my fav) or rice, and sometimes wedges. Add garlic roasted broccoli to the mix as well, that is lush
https://www.recipetineats.com/asian-glazed-salmon/

I’m married to a pescatarian and I do pretty much all the cooking so if I’m not doing vegetarian food then this is my life. Latest go to recipe is from NY Times, recipe is behind a paywall but someone has helpfully dropped it in the replies to this post.

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Really quick and easy to make. Also do a really tasty crab macaroni cheese, lots of recipes for this out there so take your pick (I use one from Nigel Slater). Final favourite is seared tuna steak with fennel seed on butter bean mash.

Classic fish pie? can be frozen too, so you can cook a huge one, portion it, freeze it and eat it as and when...

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/family-meals-easy-fish-pie-recipe

bolognese (we do hers separately with Quorn mince),

Is there anything preventing you from just doing the lot with Quorn?

Years back, I went out on what was then a semi-regular drinking session with my mate Dave. The following morning we went to the local greasy spoon for a hangover cure along with one of his mates who I didn't know. Dave ordered a veggie sausage sandwich. His mate goes "I didn't know you were vegetarian!" Dave replies, "I'm not, I just like them" and his mate just couldn't compute it. A couple of weeks later we were back and Dave ordered a pork sausage sandwich, he liked those too.

I'm not playing the "preachy vegan" card but just because you eat meat doesn't make it mandatory. If cutting down on washing up is the goal, you could just eat what she eats sometimes.

Anyway.

Carbs+protein+veg+sauce is pretty much a catch-all. [rice/pasta/noodles/dumplings] + [Quorn/TVP/fish/beef/chicken] + [peppers/onions/carrots/peas] + [curry/sweet&sour/chilli/gravy] = meal.

Hard to beat a home-made chilli or curry to be honest. I can post my chilli recipe if you like?

I’m not playing the “preachy vegan” card but just because you eat meat doesn’t make it mandatory.

I think I've posted this before, but a friend of mine back when I was at college had a gran who lived locally to the uni, so she'd do the grand-daughterly thing  and go over to visit on Sundays. She was a vegetarian so there would be a trad Sunday roast cooked and a separate vegetarian meal of some sort cooked just for her. But - what there would also be was a pork chop - balanced carefully on the edge off the plate "just in case you change your mind".  Nobody else was having pork chops - it would have been cooked especially for her. 🙂

In fact, here.

This is a deliberately mild chilli because I have family members with low tolerance for heat. You can control the raw heat by adjusting the amount of cayenne, though what I generally do is leave it mild and serve it with a nuclear garnish that people can add to taste.

For a family of four you might want to double up the amounts, it's better reheated after an overnighter in the fridge and it freezes just fine. I batch-cook it.

2 onions, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
400g tin chopped tomatoes
400g tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
300ml stock

1/4 tsp cayenne
1tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp mild chilli
1/2 tsp coriander leaf
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp Marmite
Pinch of salt
Chunk dark chocolate
Star anise
Pack Quorn mince

Fry off the onions, peppers and garlic until the onions are softening. Chuck in everything else bar the Quorn. Stick it on very low heat and gently simmer for a like an hour. Pull the star anise out after 10 minutes or you'll end up with aniseed soup. Throw the Quorn in 15 minutes before the end.

Serve with rice, or whatever the heck you want. 😁

it would have been cooked especially for her.

That's absolutely mad. What's the thinking there, is this the "yes but bacon" argument? She might not want turkey but who could possibly resist a pork chop?

I know it's petty but stuff like this really annoys me, it's disrespectful. I've been veggie so long that I don't recognise meat as food, I genuinely find it revolting. It's like having a big poo on the side of the plate and then serving it up going "I know you don't eat turds but I thought I'd leave you a nice fresh jobbie just in case you change your mind."

@cougar...2 cloves of garlic????

Two cloves is not enough for any recipe, unless the recipe is "how to cook two cloves of garlic" 😀

You could just have a conversation about why they think it's OK to nosh Fish but not Venison.
Bleedin' Fish and Chip'o'crites

That’s absolutely mad. What’s the thinking there, is this the “yes but bacon” argument? She might not want turkey but who could possibly resist a pork chop?

the whole thing was mad but I guess well meaning in a way. Someone of a generation who couldn't really grasp the concept but politely complying anyway  and imaging there must be some overwhelming urge being resisted that she could cave into at any moment so making sure the veggie had an off-ramp it all suddenly got too much. But a chop seems such an odd choice even then. Easier to balance on the rim of the plate than turkey though I guess.

I've recently discovered how easy it is to cook a lovely paella/risotto that the kids love. Seriously easy. Fry onion and garlic, throw in the arborio (or paella) rice, bit or paprika and mixed herbs, 600ml of stock cube juice, then cook for a while (I use a pressure cooker so 10 mins). At the end put in prawns and microwaved peas for a bit. Grated cheese on top.

Another Jamie Oliver one, this takes 15 minutes or so and doesn't need loads of ingredients. A staple favourite in our house.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/quick-salmon-tikka-with-cucumber-yoghurt-17-minutes/

I usually just stick the Naan in the toaster rather heating up an entire oven just to warm them through.

One of my favourite dishes ever. Garlic and chilli prawn tagliatelle. Get about 25g of butter, melt it. Add crushed garlic and finely diced chilli to your taste (Id go fir about 4 cloves of garlic and two chillis). Fry them gently over a low heat until you can really smell the garlic. Add about two glasses of white wine and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to simmer to reduce the liquid for about 5 minutes. Add prawns (i normally go with about 6 to 8 each). Cook for about two minutes then turn the prawns over. Cook for about 2 minutes on the other side.
In parallel, boil up some tagliatelle. Once everything is cooked, spoon out the prawns and sauce out over the taglietelle and then sprinkle chopped broad leaf parsely over the top. Yum. Making me hungry just thinking about it.

Two cloves is not enough for any recipe

You make a valid point. Adjust to taste.

Someone of a generation who couldn’t really grasp the concept but politely complying anyway

I fetched up at some country pub in the middle of nowhere one time. There was absolutely nothing on the menu which was meat-free, even my hail mary "I'm not really hungry" gambit of chips were fried in dripping. I collared the landlady, told her I was vegetarian, and she looked at me sincerely and went "oh, I am sorry" like I'd just told her I had cancer.

One of my favourite dishes ever. Garlic and chilli prawn tagliatelle.

Ah, Garlic Spaghetti. Far, far better than its modest ingredients would suggest.

• 1 bulb of garlic
• 200g spaghetti
• 60ml good olive oil
• a pinch of red pepper / chilli flakes
• 40g pine nuts
• 25g bag fresh basil, finely chopped
• salt and fresh cracked pepper
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Knob of butter
• grated cheese (the recipe which was the original inspiration for this suggested "Asiago" whatever that is?)

1. Slice the top off the garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil, replace the top, wrap in foil and roast in the oven (200'C, 40-60 mins).
2. Simmer the spaghetti until just al dente.
3. Toast the pine nuts in the oven until golden brown, takes a couple of minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb and roughly chop.
5. Add the olive oil to a pan along with the lemon juice, butter, chilli flakes and garlic. Heat the oil to a sizzle, mashing the garlic with a fork or the back of a wooden spoon. Heat for a minute or two, but don't get it so hot that the garlic starts to toast or burn.
6. When the pasta is done, remove it with tongs directly into the hot oil and garlic. Toss well.
7. Add in the basil, add salt and pepper to taste. Stir well again.
8. Serve and optionally scatter with cheese to finish.

“oh, I am sorry”

You may only be hours away from a Pork Chop Epiphany Cougs. 🙂

Must do a veggie burger thread at some point - I'm refining a wee recipe that started from one you posted on here once - I think of it as a veggiebouger as a result (although that works better typed than out loud)

Fish or prawn curry is a winner. As seafood is delicate you just need a really simple coconut curry so as not to over power. It's super quick to make if you use easy to cook veg with the fish eg peppers, courgette, Pak choy or green beans.

I made one recently with sea bass but any not too bony fish would work.

For 2 people Gently fry an onion (finely chopped), 3 large garlic cloves (crushed) and thumb size of ginger (grated) and a medium to mild chilli in a couple of tbs of oil or oil and butter/ghee.

When it's almost all golden and soft add 3 cardamom pods a heaped teaspoon of ground coriander and half a tsp of tumeric and fry for a min or so. Pour in a can of good quality coconut milk and about half a can of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the veggies and when they are a few minutes from being done pop your fish or prawns gently in the top of the curry so they are barely submerged and cook for a few minutes until the fish is only just cooked through.

Serve with steamed basmati rice (star anise is nice whilst steaming) and garnish with coriander and a wedge of lime.

I use a large wok with a lid for this dish. Play around with the spices, fish and veg type to keep it interesting. I could eat this every week easily.

Must do a veggie burger thread at some point – I’m refining a wee recipe that started from one you posted on here once

I know the recipe you're referring to. I'd be interested to hear what you've done with it, I made one substitution from the original (I used kidney beans instead of black beans) and thought "yeah, that'll do."

I’d be interested to hear what you’ve done with it

What grabbed me about it was the part whole, part mashed beans which reminded me of Pasta E Fagioli soup. It has a lovely umami kind of flavour that seems to be more than the sum of the ingredients and that umami makes it quite 'meaty' in its flavours that would suit something burger-like and work nicely with the things burgers are served and garnished with

So - those flavours - especially rosemary -  transferred into your burger recipe, borlotti beans in place of the black beans, and orzo pasta to give a bit of texture too. Need to muck about with it sometime when I've got a bit of time to experiment to get the holds-together-ness of it right though.

Tuna steaks, squeeze a lemon (or a lime if you like) over and sprinkle salt, leave for for five mins then chuck in a hot pan for 3 mins each side whack on the plate with some fresh chopped coriander chucked on top, maybe an extra squeeze of lemon.

I like that with new potatoes, fries or a bit of rice and a pile of salad next to it.

I was a pescatarian for 15 years but ended up quitting within the first year of parenthood as we ended up making so many mixed/separate meals, the boss couldn't bend her mind around more than two days without meat. It's taken the recent press about meats impact to the environment and people's health for her to start re-examining her (our) meat consumption. I have quietly mentioned that I wouldn't mind going back to a pescatarian/veggie diet now the kids are older...

I'm veggie and my partner isn't so we quite often has meals he can add meat to last thing, or he has veggie often (i.e. a good chilli with fake mince or just substituted with lots of squash, beans, sweetcorn, peppers, mushrooms to fill it out).

Spaghetti al-olio is an easy staple and so tasty, plenty parmesan on the side and as said you can add prawns / seafood if you feel you need to.

Do they like spicy / tangy? Moroccan tagine made veggie (aubergine, peppers, apricots) or a tray bake of veggies with some paprika/smoked paprike, garlic to flavour, some couscous, with a roast lamb shank or similar to add meat for those who want it. Like when you make fajitas why not just have one pan with the veggies and another with the meat, distribute the flavour equally and then just dish up her veggies first making sure she gets plenty, it's not much more effort. Same with most quick stirfry or curries out of a jar, it's easy just to cook the chicken separately with a bit of sauce and make the big pan of veggies.

Things you construct at the table or tapas stuff works well, like pitta breads, hummus, halloumi or feta, Greek salad, roasted potatoes, and then some roast chicken legs / thighs for the meat eaters. Or chicken / halloumi kebabs and salad. Or a Mexican selection - fresh lime salsa, guacamole, nachos, flavoured rice, refried beans (if you can find a veggie can), quesadillas which you can get the kids to add their own fillings and toast as you are serving up / sitting down. Mostly shop bought or get the kids involved in making the salsa etc.

I’m not playing the “preachy vegan” card but just because you eat meat doesn’t make it mandatory. If cutting down on washing up is the goal, you could just eat what she eats sometimes.

This puts it very well. With respect (I'm going to sound preachy here aren't I?), I think the problem might lay with you.  But maybe that's what you are trying to address. All but the most repressed or 'traditional' meat eat eaters I know eat vegetarian meals more than they do ones containing meat. It's ok, you're not all going to miss out - there are a bazillion veggie and vegan meals out there that are incredibly tasty and healthy. And cheaper too. And that's before we throw some environmental arguments in.

The Happy Pear books (some veggie, some vegan)

The Bosh books

The Dirty Vegan books by Matt Pritchard (of Dirty Sanchez fame)

The Thug Kitchen books (the language will either titillate your kids or mean it's banned from the house depending on your attitude to bad language).

All have got simple recipes in them that are 'proper food'. Food full of flavour and calories for normal people with normal appetites who like food in a non fussy, preachy lentil balanced on lettuce leaf  whilst doing  yoga pose kind of way. All of which will work for all of you regardless of what you can also eat.

And in terms of getting the whole tribe to eat them.....get them to help and learn to cook them with you. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to get a fussy kid to eat when they've had a hand in preparing it.

Then every now and again, those of you that still want to, splurge out on some meat. Because you've saved a bunch of cash, you can go for the good stuff.

Cougars roasted garlic is an ideal way to make garlic butter to spread on ciabattas, for garlic bread (mixed with butter obviously)

As you say rice/noodles are a go then I would recommend this book. I'm pretty carnivorous, but the majority of our weekday meals come out of it. If you don't want to buy the book then a lot of the recipes have been featured in her weekly Guardian column over the years so just google her name;

My kids love this,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mango_salmon_39588

Omit the chilli if you’re not wanting it and serve with stir fry veggies, rice or noodles.
I’m usually not that keen on salmon but this is great.

Edit, just remembered this,

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/one-pan-lentil-dhal-curried-fish-crispy-skin

I never bother with the crispy skin, just make the dhal and then lay the fish on top of the curry to poach. As above, make as spicy as you like by adjusting the amount of curry powder.

Edit 2, Jamie Oliver’s fish pie is a family favourite.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/fantastic-fish-pie/

Thank you everyone for the ideas - obviously with the teenagers being teenagers, stuff with loads of vegetables in is going to be hard work but there are plenty of nice ideas here thank you (especially that last one - mango salmon – 100% that will go down well.

The reason we don't do things like veggie (Quorn) bolognese is because the other child in the house really doesn't like it (we have tried it several times) and we aren't going to force her to eat it just like we won't force her sister to eat meat.

Last night's salmon tray bake went down reasonably well.

As others have said above, just cook one thing and either eat more veg dishes or add the meat to yours right at the end. I'd be surprised if you miss the meat.

For Bolognese then a bag of TVP (textured vegetable protein) can be used instead of mince. It's a good substitute and I imagine it's cheaper than Quorn.

Three books that are good for family friendly meals are:

One Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones

Keep it Vegan by Áine Carlin

The Hairy Bikers Veggie Feasts

All have simple family meals in them.

Also if you're going to not eat meat for ethical/environmental reasons then farmed salmon is not the substitute to go for!

https://theturnertable.wordpress.com/2017/09/17/salmon-with-chilli-ginger-sauce-hairy-dieters/

The reason we don’t do things like veggie (Quorn) bolognese is because the other child in the house really doesn’t like it (we have tried it several times) and we aren’t going to force her to eat it just like we won’t force her sister to eat meat.

There are plenty of veggie bolognese recipes that don't use the frozen packets of 'fake' mince at all. The Dirty Vegan book has a good one I seem to remember. Alternatively, try different brands to quorn. I don't eat the quorn any more (it contains egg so not vegan) but even when I did I preferred the Linda McCartney one anyway. To be honest, you'd have to be supremely fussy to notice/care. But that can be the teenager MO (when given a bit of leeway)!

Alternatively, try different brands to quorn.

Came here to say this. We're fortunate enough these days to have multiple options for meat-free meat. Having to eat meat because she doesn't like Quorn is like not eating beef because she doesn't like turkey.

To be honest, you’d have to be supremely fussy to notice/care.

Also, this. In something where meat is the centrepiece of the meal I'd totally understand, but something like a bolognaise it's little more than added protein.

A friend of mine once had a party and made chilli, she did a meat one and a veggie one. Both were hoovered up. She confessed afterwards, they were both identical only the "meat" one had a lug of gravy browning added.

Also, this. In something where meat is the centrepiece of the meal I’d totally understand, but something like a bolognaise it’s little more than added protein.

I've found this, with spag-bol or chilli con-carne, with quorn 'mince' or simmilar...I can't tell the difference, if the sauce is sufficiantly rich and chuck in some chunks of tomato, mushroom, etc.

Also I had what I would describe as a Spicy chicken wrap once, but with tofu instead of chicken, from a food truck called 'vegan AF'. lol

It didn't taste very chickeny, obvioulsy, but by 'eck, it was the tastiest wrap I've ever eaten, hands down!

There are plenty of veggie bolognese recipes that don’t use the frozen packets of ‘fake’ mince at all. The Dirty Vegan book has a good one I seem to remember. Alternatively, try different brands to quorn. I don’t eat the quorn any more (it contains egg so not vegan) but even when I did I preferred the Linda McCartney one anyway. To be honest, you’d have to be supremely fussy to notice/care. But that can be the teenager MO (when given a bit of leeway)!

+1

Quorn mince is rank

The only people I know who eat it are veggie athletes because it's the leanest. And even then they're torn as The vegetarian butcher mince has twice the protein per 100g

The aldi own brand stuff is pretty good by comparison and the meatballs are damn good.

My midweek spaggetti based meal is:

1bag of aldi meat-free balls
Into a baking tray with a big glug of olive oil, chilli flakes, bit of basil, chopped onion, chopped pepper, cherry tomatoes, or any any other vaguely Mediterranean veg. Give it a shake and roast for ~30min.

Pour over a jar of cheap Aldi 75p Bolognese sauce (fine if you want to DIY it, but this is mid weak effort levels and there's enough flavor from the roasting step) and another 1/3 jar of water.

Add a (drained) tin of green lentils. IME they don't taste of "meat" obviously, but they work in the same way to make otherwise sweet tomato based dishes taste more savory, also added texture, protein and fiber.

Back in the oven for ~30min to cook the sauce (at this point I usually turn the oven off and go to the gym)

Cook spaghetti and dig in.

I fetched up at some country pub in the middle of nowhere one time. There was absolutely nothing on the menu which was meat-free, even my hail mary “I’m not really hungry” gambit of chips were fried in dripping. I collared the landlady, told her I was vegetarian, and she looked at me sincerely and went “oh, I am sorry” like I’d just told her I had cancer.

I had the opposite once, asked if they did a veggie version of the carvery, I wasn't fussy, could I literal just have a double portion of the non-meat half of the plate and I'd just pay the usual price.

I'm not a "fussy" veggie, it makes me a little queasy thinking about it too much but it's that or the eye rolling at the in-laws Christmas dinner that "we have to start cooking at 3am because TINAS doesn't want the dripping on his potatoes so we have to do them separate".

But they took about an hour to get the food to the table and I can only assume they sent someone to the co-op to find some veggie gravy or something 😂

We are evil vegans, I quite like this cookbook as it has loads of tastey recipes.

https://pmpress.org.uk/product/another-dinner-is-possible/

I don't suggest you do anything with your diet except have and open mind and try some vegan and vegetarian food.

I don't think people die from lack of fish and meat, but I am not quite sure 🙂

Quorn mince is rank

The only people I know who eat it are veggie athletes because it’s the leanest.

I like it.

The thing with Quorn generally and Quorn mince specifically is, it's easy to overcook. If you're following a recipe for beef mince and substituting Quorn, you'll end up with slurry. Chewy Quorn mince needs like 10-15 minutes hoyed into a sauce at the end, if you want something with a bit more bite then it should be fried off first. If you're going to boil it for an hour then yes, it's rank.

Pour over a jar of cheap Aldi 75p Bolognese sauce

I picked up a jar of "totally not our own brand budget label" pasta sauce from, of all places, Sainsbury's the other day. It was diabolically bad, it was little more than red water of a disturbing consistency. I salvaged it in the end but I'd have been better served by starting from a jar of passata.

TINAS doesn’t want the dripping on his potatoes so we have to do them separate”.

No they don't.

This kinda irritates me if I'm honest. The thing with potatoes is, fundamentally, it's a vegetable. Someone looks at a potato and thinks "You know what this needs? Lard." then that's a Them problem. I'm all for owning being veggie and I appreciate that it's a pain in the arse for others, but there's just no need here.

You go into a restaurant expecting / hoping for vegetarian vegetables and people think you're mad, yet companies market plant-based tomato soup and the bottom half of the Internet goes full-on Piers Morgan.  We can't win.

I can only assume they sent someone to the co-op to find some veggie gravy or something 😂

Gravy from a jar/tub is increasingly becoming veggie-friendly. I think the regular Bisto granules are veggie now, even.  Bisto Best onion gravy is the bomb with a dollop of Marmite thrown into it.

a dollop of Marmite thrown into it

Is nearly always the answer to add some 'meatiness' to a veggie/vegan meal.

"Umami."

Marmite is my secret weapon when cooking anything that might be a meat analogue. That and a relatively recent find, Henderson's, essentially veggie-friendly Worcester Sauce. Oh, and Maggi liquid seasoning. The holy trinity.

Follow this and if you've never had a cauliflower steak you will be amazed:

Better than most "real" burgers, and certainly better than any fake meat thing I've tried: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mushroom-chickpea-burgers

If chickpeas and cauliflower are acceptable then that's the start of a good curry too (and you can take curries in different directions so easy not to get too bored).

Mushrooms are really the most amazing food. Nature's recycling machine but totally delicious, and with many options. Rissotto, stroganoff, fried with cinnamon and lemon - all totally different.

You can take the flavour ideas from fancy recipies and make "weekday" equivalents that are 85% as good, e.g. https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/swede-gnocchi-with-miso-butter you can use off the shelf ready made gnocci has make that easily at home and its pretty amazing.

Thats without considering any fish or seafood options. I'm a fully sworn in meat eater - but I could quite easily survive a month as a pescetarian never cooking the same dish twice and neither missing meat nor having to eat a bloody aubergene or a courgette!

I picked up a jar of “totally not our own brand budget label” pasta sauce from, of all places, Sainsbury’s the other day. It was diabolically bad, it was little more than red water of a disturbing consistency. I salvaged it in the end but I’d have been better served by starting from a jar of passata.

I'd generally agree that I can make something better myself, but between the added flavor from roasted meatballs + veg + herbs and seasoning, and this being implicitly a mid-week meal (it's 10min prep, in the oven, get shit together for the gym, add sauce, back in the oven, switch oven off and leave it to slow cook for a couple of hours while I'm out). Passata + minced carrot , celery etc would work too it's just turning 10min prep time into 30min stood at the stove.

Yup.

Really though, pasta sauce isn't hard. Tomatoes of some form (canned chopped, crushed, passata, whatever) as a base, dried basil, dried oregano, few twists of pepper, garlic puree, tomato puree and half a ladle of cooking water from the pasta and you've got something easily comparable or better than anything you'll get out of a branded jar at three times the price.

Anything involving effort I'd batch-cook. I do a world-class pizza sauce which I'm really proud of, but I'll turn out a litre at a time and freeze it in dollops.

I did this at the weekend, superb - don't need an AGA.

https://www.agacookshop.co.uk/hot-prawn-mango-stir-fry.html

Really though, pasta sauce isn’t hard. Tomatoes of some form (canned chopped, crushed, passata, whatever) as a base, dried basil, dried oregano, few twists of pepper, garlic puree, tomato puree and half a ladle of cooking water from the pasta

To put an interesting spin on pasta and tomato sauce.. Assassin's Spaghetti is really nice, as an ingredient list its pasta and tomato sauce but bumped in a really interesting direction in the way its cooked - you don't boil the spaghetti first but braise it in the sauce, adding a little at a time like making risotto. Results in a rich, dense sticky coating on the pasta rather than a sauce -  Its a bit like the nice chewy bits around the edge of a lasagne.

Needs a nice bigs flat frying pan and if you're cooking for two it works best cooking its in two pans at the same time

That spaghetti looks interesting. Might have to give that ago. Definitely need a generous grating of parmesan though.