These speedy meals are doable but out of the ordinary, thanks to bold combinations and exciting innovations, with big flavours to the fore

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New idea for bangers

Duck with roasted plum glaze and crushed swede

RECIPES & FOOD STYLING: POLLYANNA COUPLAND. PHOTOGRAPHS: INDIA WHILEY-MORTON

Friday night special

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Marmite chicken with spinach and cacio e pepe butter beans

Loaded sweet potatoes with sardines and cheese

Only 10 min prep

Portobello mushroom pasta alla vodka

Modern veggie classic

Portobello mushroom pasta alla vodka

Serves 2

Hands-on time 40 min

Pasta alla vodka is a magically perfect thing on its own: smooth and creamy, fruity and tangy and full of umami – simplicity at its best. For mushroom lovers, though, the addition of meaty, earthy slices of portobello takes the dish to another level.

BE A BETTER COOK Cooking scientist extraordinaire J Kenji López-Alt claims 7 minutes is the perfect amount of time to simmer after the vodka has been added, to burn off enough alcohol yet bring out the fruitiness of the tomatoes.

Taste the sauce before the vodka goes in as well as after. This way you get to taste the transformation and understand what the addition of vodka does to the dish.

• Drizzle olive oil

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced

• Pinch chilli flakes (optional)

• 50g tomato purée

• 400ml passata

• 160g casarecce pasta or similar

• Knob of butter

• 200g portobello or flat cap mushrooms, sliced 2cm thick

• 75ml double cream

• 50ml vodka

• 15g parmesan or vegetarian alternative, grated

1 To make a tomato sauce, heat a drizzle of oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat, then cook the onion, garlic and, if using, chilli flakes until soft but without colour (around 8 minutes), stirring regularly. Add a splash of water to deglaze the pan, stir in the tomato pureé for a minute, then add the passata. Leave the mixture to simmer for 8 minutes.