Recreate your fast food favourites at home
Make home-made versions of your favourite fast food classics with our cheap and simple recipes.
Pepperoni pizza with mozzarella-stuffed crust
There's no magic to achieving a garlicky, mozzarella-stuffed pizza crust — you just fold the dough over at the edges.
Makes two rectangular 16" pizzas. Cost per pizza: £2.97.
Ingredients:
• 1 x 345g pack ready-rolled pizza dough
• 2 ½ balls of mozzarella (125g per ball)
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• A handful of chopped tomatoes (not the juice)
• 20g Parmesan, finely grated
• 8 pepperoni slices
• A few slices of yellow or green pepper
• Pinch of dried mixed herbs
Method:
1. Unravel the dough and split into two. Lay out on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
2. Chop two of the mozzarella balls into small chunks and mix with the garlic and chopped parsley.
3. Preheat your oven to 200°C. Scatter the mozzarella mixture around the edge of the pizza bases and fold over, pressing down firmly to seal. Scatter over the chopped tomato pieces (you don't need the juice) and tear off some mozzarella from the remaining half a ball. Top the pizzas with grated Parmesan, pepper slices, pepperoni and herbs.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, until the pizzas are golden and the cheese has melted. If the edges start to unfold slightly during baking don't worry — the crust will still be cheesy, garlicky and moist.
[Related feature: The 10 best burger recipes]
Beef burger with bacon and cheese
A classic, served with all the trimmings. We've used maple-glazed bacon for a smoky sweetness.
Makes four. Cost per burger: £1.45.
Ingredients:
• 400g good-quality beef mince
• 1 egg
• Salt, pepper and olive oil
• 4 seeded burger buns
• Mayonnaise, ketchup, sliced gherkins
• 1 small onion, cut into 4 slices
• 4 slices mature cheddar, thinly sliced
• 8 rashers smoked, streaky bacon
• 3-4 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 1 small little gem lettuce
• 1 tomato, sliced
Method:
1. Put the mince into a bowl, add some black pepper and crack in the egg. Mix with your hands until combined, but don't overwork it. Divide into four patties, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with a pinch of salt.
2. Heat a dry frying pan and cook the burgers for four to five minutes on each side, until fully cooked.
3. Meanwhile, drizzle a little maple syrup over the streaky bacon rashers and grill until crisp. Turn over, drizzle again with the remaining syrup and grill for one more minute.
4. In a small bowl, mix two tbsp mayonnaise with one tsp English mustard. Slide the cooked burger into a split sesame seed bun with the bacon, cheese, gherkins, ketchup, onion and lettuce. Spread the top half of the bun with the mustard mayo and serve.
Seasoned baked chicken drumsticks
These seasoned chicken portions are oven-baked, rather than deep-fried.
Serves four. Price per serving (three pieces of chicken, coleslaw and fries): £1.49.
Ingredients:
• 12 skinless chicken portions (a mixture of thighs and drumsticks)
• 100g plain flour
• 200ml milk
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes
• ½ tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• Black pepper
• Half a small white cabbage
• 2 carrots
• 2 spring onions
• 2-3 tbsp good mayonnaise
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a large bowl, mix the herbs, spices, salt, black pepper and flour. Stir well.
2. Dip each chicken portion into the milk and then into the spiced flour, shaking off any excess. Heat a large frying pan with two to three tbsp of oil and fry the chicken in batches, until golden brown.
3. Transfer the chicken to a shallow baking tray and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until cooked through.
4. To make the coleslaw, peel and grate the carrots, slice the spring onions and finely slice the cabbage leaves. Throw into a bowl and stir in the mayonnaise to coat. Serve the chicken with the home made coleslaw and fries.
[Related feature: How to make pretzels]
Breakfast muffin with sausage and egg
This breakfast treat takes only around 10 minutes to make and would also work well with spicy sausage varieties.
Makes one. Cost: 94p each.
Ingredients:
• 1 breakfast muffin, sliced in half horizontally and lightly toasted
• 1 free-range egg
• 1 thick, good quality pork and leek sausage
• 1 slice of mature Cheddar cheese (optional)
Method:
1. With a knife, make a slit in the sausage skin and remove the meat. Shape into a patty and fry in a little oil for about three to four minutes on each side, until golden and cooked through.
2. Crack the egg into the same pan, and fry until cooked to your liking.
3. Slide the cooked sausage onto the bottom half of the muffin, top with the fried egg, a thin slice of cheese and finally the other muffin half. Eat straight away.
Do you make home-made versions of any of your fast food favourites?
