I’m always on the hunt for easy mid-week meal ideas.

I look for something I can quickly cook in one or two pans or that the oven can take care of.

I want tasty, straightforward, just a few accessible ingredients, nutritious or where I can easily add plenty of goodness and something that is easily adapted to be served to my children in a way that means they’ve got a fighting chance of embracing the meal.

I recently came across this Waitrose recipe for Spaghetti with prawns, chorizo and fennel which ticks the right boxes.  It’s a keeper and it’ll be a regular feature in our meal plans.

I make a few tweaks to the recipe:

• I use chorizo ring and cut it into small dice (I usually have a chorizo ring in the fridge so it isn’t a special purchase and it is cheaper than buying the ready prepared crumb)
• I use a little red onion or onion instead of shallot (again so it isn’t a special purchase)
• I fry off the fennel first in the oil to get some colour on it before adding the chorizo, garlic, onion and salt as it takes on a better colour this way, making the end dish look more appealing

I serve it with some extra green veg or a salad. I serve plain pasta, chorizo and prawns for my children as well as some raw fennel for Harvey as he’ll eat it like that but not cooked.