Cooking for non-cooks

You can add any number of extras to the sauce if you have them: chopped celery, carrot, courgette, chillies, red or yellow peppers, black olives. The secret is to chop the vegetables as finely as you can so the flavours blend into the sauce.

This also works well as a sauce for simply fried or grilled chicken breast or pork chops and rice. You can freeze the sauce before adding the yoghurt.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped (plus any vegetables you may have, see above)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
½ tspn sugar
salt and pepper
1 tub of plain natural yoghurt

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium-size saucepan and fry the onion very gently over a low heat for 10 minutes until soft but not coloured.
2. Add the garlic and fry another 2-3 minutes, then add the tomatoes, puree, sugar and salt and pepper. Simmer with the lid off for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in the yoghurt and heat through but do not boil. Serve on any type of pasta with a grating of Parmesan or Cheddar cheese.

1 large or 2 small potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
1 large onion, sliced
30g butter
6 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper
2 fresh tomatoes, sliced (optional)
100g grated cheese (optional)

1. Bring the potato chunks to the boil in a saucepan of water and cook until just done, about 8-10 minutes. Drain allow to steam dry.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the onion until soft and beginning to colour. Stir the potatoes into the onion.
3. Beat the eggs with a splash of water and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the onion and potato and cook over a low heat for about 15-20 minutes or until set (take care not to cook too quickly or the bottom will burn.)
4. If finishing with the tomato and cheese, pre-heat the grill.
5. Lay the tomato slices on top of the frittata and sprinkle over the cheese. Place under the grill until the cheese is melted and bubbly.