Meal In A Mug

We’rein anot talking about a mug of soup here. MasterChef’s Theo Michaels has developed recipes for mains using just a mug and a microwave.

Surprisingly authentic spaghetti carbonara

‘This is a total guilty pleasure of mine – I always end up ordering this in our local Italian restaurant. Spaghetti carbonara is a wonderfully classic recipe that when done right is a real thing of beauty, letting the eggs create a really creamy and authentic sauce.’

a. Serves 1

b. Prep 5 mins

c. Cook 9 mins (800W microwave)

d. 85p a portion

60g smoked pancetta, finely diced 

1/2 clove garlic, left whole 

80g dried spaghetti, broken in half 

300ml water, just boiled 

15g Parmesan, grated 

1 egg yolk 

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 Microwave the pancetta and garlic on Full for 2 mins uncovered in a 500ml mug. Remove from the microwave, pour away the excess oil, discard the garlic and set the mug aside whilst you make the pasta.

2 Place the dried pasta and just-boiled water in a bowl and cook on Full, uncovered, for 7 mins. Add the Parmesan, egg yolk and ground black pepper to the cooked pancetta in the mug and mix thoroughly.

3 Once the pasta is done, the cooking water will be very hot; remove from the microwave carefully, and slowly add 1 tbsp of the cooking water to the carbonara paste in the mug and combine. Add the pasta to the paste and stir through (you want the pasta to be a bit wet to help thicken the sauce). Serve with a sprinkle of parsley.

Vietnamese-style beef pho