Be a batch maker: cook-ahead ideas for effortless meals and treats

Cook-once, eat-all-week recipes are a godsend, just so long as they're versatile. "I would roast a load of tomatoes to make sauce," says Jess Elliott Dennison, author of Midweek Recipes. "You get that fresh flavour."

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Store in portions and you've got the starting point for multiple dinners, from pasta sauce to risotto and chickpea curry.

Alistair Jeje, author of Socafro, grinds scotch bonnet chillies, vinegar, salt and coriander into a sauce, then adds that to Caribbean brown stew chicken, Nigerian pepper soup or jerk chicken curry.