Some of the recipes we experimented with from Jamie Oliver's new book, ONE

Jamie Oliver is all about making cooking easy and accessible, and it doesn’t get simpler than one-pot meals.

Being able to bung everything in one pan or tray and let it cook away is the Holy Grail of recipes – and it’s a godsend after dinner when you have a lot less washing up to do.

This is Oliver’s 26th cookbook – yes, his 26th – so by now, he’s well versed in making cooking easier for people, without compromising on flavour.

Sweetly, the 47-year-old has dedicated his latest book to his wife Jools, who he calls “my number one”.

So how do the recipes stack up in terms of ease, flavour, and piles of washing up? We put three of Oliver’s new dishes to the test… 

Claire Spreadbury tried: Sweet potato chilli 

I love nothing more than a hearty bowl of chilli, and Jamie’s recipe takes this to another level.

You do need a lot of time. Peeling 1.5kg of sweet potatoes takes me ages (I’m slow at all food admin), and there’s a bit more chopping to be done before the two-hour baking time, so it’s definitely one to do on a lazy weekend. That said, it’s incredibly easy – throw it all in Jamie-style, incorporate some ingredients you wouldn’t have thought of (cumin seeds, chipotle paste), leave it to bubble, and then it’s ready for a feta and coriander garnish.

Super easy and super delicious. The perfect heat for chilli and no need for any extra rice, tortillas or tacos because of the sweet potatoes. And, on top of that, it feeds 12, so you have enough for a party full of people, or loads of leftovers for lunches and dinners in the days and weeks to come. And if you get bored, he offers some great suggestions for pimping it into something else – sweet potato chilli nachos, quesadilla, soup or even a salad bowl all get my vote.

The ingredients cost less than €17 – making it just over €1 a portion – exactly what we need in a cost of living crisis. The only downside is the washing up – anything that’s been in the oven for two hours is going to take some scrubbing.

Jamie Oliver’s sweet potato chilli recipe This is the perfect dish to have in your repertoire, because one recipe can be made into multiple dishes. Servings 12 Preparation Time 15 mins Cooking Time 2 hours 0 mins Total Time 2 hours 15 mins Course Main Ingredients 6 sweet potatoes (250g each) Olive oil 1tsp cumin seeds 1 x 95g jar of chipotle chilli paste 500g fresh or frozen chopped mixed onion, carrot & celery ½ a bunch of coriander (15g) 3 x 400g tins of black beans 3 x 400g tins of quality plum tomatoes 60g feta cheese Method Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put a large deep casserole pan on a medium-high heat. Peel the sweet potatoes, placing them in the pan as you go. Add one tablespoon of olive oil and fry for five minutes, turning occasionally, until starting to get golden. Push to one side, add the cumin, let it sizzle, then spoon in the jar of chipotle chilli paste and add two jars’ worth of water. Tip in the chopped mixed veg, finely chop and add the coriander stalks, reserving the leaves, then bake for one hour. Remove from the oven and add the beans, juice and all, then the tomatoes, scrunching them in through clean hands, along with onew tin’s worth of water. Stir well, then roast for another hour, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Season to perfection, then – if enjoying straight away – crumble over the feta and tear over the coriander leaves, to serve. Enjoy as is, batching up extra portions to stash in the fridge or freezer for future meals. Sweet potato chilli nachos Reheat some chilli until piping hot, then spoon over crunchy tortilla chips and grate over a little Cheddar cheese, finishing with some jarred sliced jalapeños and a couple of fresh coriander or baby mint leaves, if you’ve got them. Sweet potato chilli quesadilla For two, smash leftover sweet potato and grated melty cheese between two tortillas and toast on both sides in a hot frying pan until golden. Remove, then quickly reheat some chilli until piping hot. Add jalapeños, yoghurt, and fresh coriander. Sweet potato chilli soup & avo Slice some leftover sweet potato. Blitz some chilli in a blender, loosening with a little water, if needed. Reheat both in a pan until piping hot, then serve with cubes of ripe avocado, fresh coriander leaves, yoghurt or soured cream, and toasted tortillas. Sweet potato chilli salad bowl Reheat some chilli until piping hot, then serve with rice and crunchy salad like shredded carrot and juicy tomatoes, dressed with lemon and fresh coriander. Finish with yoghurt or soured cream, a drizzle of hot chilli sauce and a tiny bit of feta. Sweet potato chilli wrap Reheat some chilli until piping hot, then spoon over a warm tortilla and add shredded little gem lettuce, fresh baby mint leaves and little crumbling of feta. Serve with a lime wedge, for squeezing over. Sweet potato chilli jacket Keep it classic – reheat some chilli until piping hot, then spoon over a crispy jacket potato and serve with a dollop of yoghurt or soured cream, a tiny bit of feta and a few fresh coriander leaves, if you’ve got them. ONE: Simple One-Pan Wonders by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2022 ONE). Photography: © Richard Clatworthy, 2022. Available now.

This is the perfect dish to have in your repertoire, because one recipe can be made into multiple dishes.

1 x 95g jar of chipotle chilli paste

500g fresh or frozen chopped mixed onion, carrot & celery

½ a bunch of coriander (15g)

3 x 400g tins of black beans

3 x 400g tins of quality plum tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put a large deep casserole pan on a medium-high heat. Peel the sweet potatoes, placing them in the pan as you go. Add one tablespoon of olive oil and fry for five minutes, turning occasionally, until starting to get golden. Push to one side, add the cumin, let it sizzle, then spoon in the jar of chipotle chilli paste and add two jars’ worth of water. Tip in the chopped mixed veg, finely chop and add the coriander stalks, reserving the leaves, then bake for one hour.

Remove from the oven and add the beans, juice and all, then the tomatoes, scrunching them in through clean hands, along with onew tin’s worth of water. Stir well, then roast for another hour, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Season to perfection, then – if enjoying straight away – crumble over the feta and tear over the coriander leaves, to serve. Enjoy as is, batching up extra portions to stash in the fridge or freezer for future meals.

Sweet potato chilli nachos Reheat some chilli until piping hot, then spoon over crunchy tortilla chips and grate over a little Cheddar cheese, finishing with some jarred sliced jalapeños and a couple of fresh coriander or baby mint leaves, if you’ve got them.

Sweet potato chilli quesadilla For two, smash leftover sweet potato and grated melty cheese between two tortillas and toast on both sides in a hot frying pan until golden. Remove, then quickly reheat some chilli until piping hot. Add jalapeños, yoghurt, and fresh coriander.

Sweet potato chilli soup & avo Slice some leftover sweet potato. Blitz some chilli in a blender, loosening with a little water, if needed. Reheat both in a pan until piping hot, then serve with cubes of ripe avocado, fresh coriander leaves, yoghurt or soured cream, and toasted tortillas.

Sweet potato chilli salad bowl Reheat some chilli until piping hot, then serve with rice and crunchy salad like shredded carrot and juicy tomatoes, dressed with lemon and fresh coriander. Finish with yoghurt or soured cream, a drizzle of hot chilli sauce and a tiny bit of feta.

Sweet potato chilli wrap Reheat some chilli until piping hot, then spoon over a warm tortilla and add shredded little gem lettuce, fresh baby mint leaves and little crumbling of feta. Serve with a lime wedge, for squeezing over.

Sweet potato chilli jacket Keep it classic – reheat some chilli until piping hot, then spoon over a crispy jacket potato and serve with a dollop of yoghurt or soured cream, a tiny bit of feta and a few fresh coriander leaves, if you’ve got them.

ONE: Simple One-Pan Wonders by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2022 ONE). Photography: © Richard Clatworthy, 2022. Available now.

Imy Brighty-Potts tried: Smoked salmon pasta 

Fresh pasta is good. It just is. No doubt about it. And smoked salmon? Also fabulous. Together, what could go wrong? However, I am always a little reluctant to do pasta in a one-pot situation, because it’s never cooked quite right.

So, I went into this ‘eight-minute’ recipe excited and apprehensive in equal measure. The ingredients are simple – most things you will have in the cupboard – and when you look at the picture you think, ‘Nice, light meal’.

I didn’t have the crinkle cut scissors Oliver asks for, so my lasagne sheets were cut into pappardelle like strips, and once combined with the spring onions, spinach, lemon zest and salmon in what seemed like far too much water, it starts to simmer – and the hope of a decent sauce starts to slip away.

Without anything to thicken it, the water slowly cooks the salmon without actually forming a sauce around the pasta, and 10 minutes later – yes, 10 – you are left with wet pasta tinged with green. Drain a bit of this water out and add your cottage cheese, and it starts to look more like the curd-filled spring special the recipe promises. It is lemony, the Parmesan adds a bit of richness and it tastes incredibly fresh. Maybe if the cottage cheese was swapped out for ricotta and butter, it might have been creamier.

If a saucy pasta is what you want, this isn’t it. However, it truly does work in one pot, it tastes like everything it promises – but it isn’t going to become a regular weeknight fixture for me.

Jamie Oliver’s smoked salmon pasta recipe For a speedy midweek meal, it doesn’t get better than this. Servings 1 Cooking Time 8 mins Total Time 8 mins Course Main Ingredients 125g fresh lasagne sheets 2 spring onions 80g spinach 60g smoked salmon (2 slices), from sustainable sources ½ a lemon 5g Parmesan cheese Olive oil 1tbsp cottage cheese Optional: extra virgin olive oil Method Boil the kettle. Cut the lasagne sheets in half lengthways, then into two-centimetre strips, using a crinkle-cut knife, if you’ve got one. Trim the spring onions and finely chop with the spinach and half the salmon. Finely grate the lemon zest, then the Parmesan, keeping them separate. Put a 28-centimetre frying pan on a high heat. Once hot, put a little drizzle of olive oil into the pan with the spring onions, spinach, chopped salmon and lemon zest. Scatter the pasta into the pan, then carefully pour in enough boiling kettle water to just cover the pasta – about 250 millilitres. Let it bubble away for four minutes, or until the pasta has absorbed most of the water and you’ve got a nice sauce, stirring regularly and loosening with an extra splash of water, if needed. Turn the heat off, squeeze in the lemon juice, stir in the cottage cheese and Parmesan, then season to perfection. Delicately tear over the remaining salmon, and finish with a kiss of extra virgin olive oil, if you like. ONE: Simple One-Pan Wonders by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2022 ONE). Photography: © David Loftus, 2022. Available now.

For a speedy midweek meal, it doesn’t get better than this.

60g smoked salmon (2 slices), from sustainable sources

Optional: extra virgin olive oil

Boil the kettle. Cut the lasagne sheets in half lengthways, then into two-centimetre strips, using a crinkle-cut knife, if you’ve got one. Trim the spring onions and finely chop with the spinach and half the salmon. Finely grate the lemon zest, then the Parmesan, keeping them separate. Put a 28-centimetre frying pan on a high heat.

Once hot, put a little drizzle of olive oil into the pan with the spring onions, spinach, chopped salmon and lemon zest. Scatter the pasta into the pan, then carefully pour in enough boiling kettle water to just cover the pasta – about 250 millilitres. Let it bubble away for four minutes, or until the pasta has absorbed most of the water and you’ve got a nice sauce, stirring regularly and loosening with an extra splash of water, if needed. Turn the heat off, squeeze in the lemon juice, stir in the cottage cheese and Parmesan, then season to perfection. Delicately tear over the remaining salmon, and finish with a kiss of extra virgin olive oil, if you like.

ONE: Simple One-Pan Wonders by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2022 ONE). Photography: © David Loftus, 2022. Available now.

Lisa Salmon Tried: Chocolate party cake 

If I was to say just one thing about making this cake, it would be: ‘Thank God for buttercream, it hides a multitude of sins.’ Because while the cake was super-easy to make – just whiz the butter and icing sugar together in a food processor, then add the other ingredients, ‘blitz’ them and stick the mixture in the oven – my baked cake had, er, stability issues.

After cutting it in half to spread some of the (delicious) cream cheese buttercream icing on the bottom half of the cake, I carefully lifted the top half to sit on top of the buttercreamed segment – and it crumbled into about five pieces.

Undeterred, I put the pieces back together like some sort of weird chocolate cake jigsaw, reasonably confident the choccy buttercream topping that was about to be swathed all over it would help to conceal my baking ineptitude.

And it did indeed conceal it, ably supported by mandarin segments cunningly placed to hide fissures even the stickiest buttercream would have had a job to unite.

The finished cake didn’t look that much different to Jamie’s pro effort, although as soon as I cut into it, bits tumbled off. Never mind – it’s the taste that really counts, isn’t it?

And that taste was very chocolatey, although a little bit dry. But as well as being a top class concealer, the lashings of buttercream offset the dryness, and what was particularly nice were the mandarin segments in the buttercream middle and on top, which added a cheeky bit of orangey freshness.

All that buttercream made it very messy to eat, but that didn’t stop me going back for more than one slice… 

Jamie Oliver’s chocolate party cake recipe Few things go better than chocolate and orange, and this cake is made even more decadent with double buttercream. Servings 20 Preparation Time 45 mins Cooking Time 30 mins Total Time 1 hours 15 mins Course Dessert Ingredients 450g soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 650g icing sugar 4 large free-range eggs 250g self-raising flour 2tsp baking powder 75g cocoa powder 1 x 300g tin of mandarin segments in juice 150g light cream cheese Method Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 25-centimetre x 30-centimetre roasting tray and line with a sheet of damp greaseproof paper. In a food processor, blitz 250 grams each of butter and icing sugar, then crack in the eggs, add the flour, baking powder, 50 grams of cocoa, and a splash of juice from the mandarin tin, and blitz again until smooth. Use a spatula to gently spoon the mixture into the tray in an even layer, and bake for 20 minutes, or until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave for five minutes, and lift out on to a wire rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the buttercream. In the processor, blitz the remaining 200 grams of butter and 400 grams of icing sugar until pale and fluffy, then pulse in the cream cheese, loosening with a splash of mandarin juice, if needed. Drain the mandarin segments and place on kitchen paper. On a serving board, carefully cut the cool cake through the middle to give you two large flat rectangles (I like to use a bread knife and run it under the hot tap first to help get a smooth cut). Spread a third of the buttercream over one of the cakes, dot over the mandarin segments, and sit the other cake on top. Trim the edges for a smart finish, if you like (you can call the offcuts chef’s treat!). Pulse the last 25 grams of cocoa into the remaining buttercream, and use it to decorate the top of the cake, making dips and peaks with the back of your spoon. ONE: Simple One-Pan Wonders by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2022 ONE). Photography: © Richard Clatworthy, 2022. Available now.

Few things go better than chocolate and orange, and this cake is made even more decadent with double buttercream.

450g soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

1 x 300g tin of mandarin segments in juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 25-centimetre x 30-centimetre roasting tray and line with a sheet of damp greaseproof paper. In a food processor, blitz 250 grams each of butter and icing sugar, then crack in the eggs, add the flour, baking powder, 50 grams of cocoa, and a splash of juice from the mandarin tin, and blitz again until smooth. Use a spatula to gently spoon the mixture into the tray in an even layer, and bake for 20 minutes, or until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave for five minutes, and lift out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the buttercream. In the processor, blitz the remaining 200 grams of butter and 400 grams of icing sugar until pale and fluffy, then pulse in the cream cheese, loosening with a splash of mandarin juice, if needed. Drain the mandarin segments and place on kitchen paper. On a serving board, carefully cut the cool cake through the middle to give you two large flat rectangles (I like to use a bread knife and run it under the hot tap first to help get a smooth cut). Spread a third of the buttercream over one of the cakes, dot over the mandarin segments, and sit the other cake on top. Trim the edges for a smart finish, if you like (you can call the offcuts chef’s treat!). Pulse the last 25 grams of cocoa into the remaining buttercream, and use it to decorate the top of the cake, making dips and peaks with the back of your spoon.

ONE: Simple One-Pan Wonders by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2022 ONE). Photography: © Richard Clatworthy, 2022. Available now.

Read MoreCaitriona Redmond: How to make a family dinner with a bag of potatoes and a tray of eggs 

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