Top 10 Tips for Freezer Essentials

1. Fish – I bulk buy fresh fish from a great local fishmonger @Justfish in Enfield and freeze it, in addition I always have a packet of fish fingers and a bag or two of frozen prawns cooked and raw.

2. Chips – Both regular fat chips & healthier sweet potato fries, oven chips a great staple for those days you just need something comforting to eat.

3. Pastry – When it comes to convenience, frozen pastry is an easier option than homemade. This is especially true of puff pastry, which is notoriously tricky and time-consuming to prepare.

4. Peas & Beans - Peas are a brilliant vegetable to add to pretty much any savoury dish from pies and risottos. Broad beans equally good to add to pastas and risottos or mashed up on top of sourdough bread for a great bruschetta.

5. Tomato Sauce – I often batch cook tomato sauce and freeze it individual portions so I can quick thaw and add to pasta for a midweek meal. A good basic tomato sauce can be elevated by adding and layering ingredients, like my Pasta alla Puttanesca or use as a base as with my Polpette con sugo (meatballs with sauce) recipe

6. Frozen Berries – Endless uses for these, from adding to porridge or muesli for breakfast to cakes and crumbles for desserts.

7. Bread – always worth keeping some in your freezer. Bread can be cooked straight from frozen, so think a ready-sliced loaf to pop in the toaster or pitta/wraps that can be crisped up in the oven.

8. Herbs - Softer herbs such as basil, parsley and coriander, benefit from being chopped then frozen as ice cubes with either water or oil – use in risottos, pies and stews.

9. Ice Cream – I’ve become slightly addicted to Pistachio gelato as well as a good quality Vanilla (If you’re local or near Barnet check out Lewis’s of London)

10. Ice – well you would’nt want to be caught short when you want a G&T.