The weekend menu #3: easy recipes from great chefs

Who can be bothered to plan a three course meal at the weekend? Lovefood can, that's who! (With a little help from three of our best chefs)

This week we’re making the most of the sunshine by eating our dinner outside. First, a fresh and seasonal radish and pea salad from Xanthe Clay, followed by Nichola Fletcher’s lamb sausage kebabs on the barbie, and a quick homemade lemon sorbet from The Icecreamists to finish.

We’ve thought about our menu suggestion carefully, ensuring that the dishes complement each other, suit the season, and make the most of everything on your shopping list. There’s a shopping list to print off, and we’ve worked out how much the whole dinner will cost for four people, too (our supermarket of choice this week is Waitrose).

Starter: radish and pea salad

Fresh, light, and bursting with natural colour, Xanthe Clay’s salad puts peas in the limelight. Shards of radish, thinly sliced spring onion, and a punnet of cress add to the mix, and a delicate dressing made from crème fraiche thinned out with a little milk is the finishing touch. Serve with plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Time taken to prepare and cook: 10 minutes
Cost for four: £3.81

Main: lamb sausage kebabs with tzatziki dip

Best fire up the barbie for this summery main! A juicy take on lamb köfte, Nichola Fletcher skewers lamb sausages, spring onion halves, and minty courgette ribbons together, then flame cooks on the babrbecue (although under the grill inside would work just as well). To accompany your kebabs, make tzatziki from grated cucumber, garlic, Greek yoghurt, and fresh mint.

Time taken to prepare and cook: 30 minutes
Cost for four: £9.84

Dessert: lemon sorbet

Zesty, sharp, and sweet, it only takes 30 minutes of work to produce a tub of lemon sorbet (but make it well in advance, to take into account freezing time). Just make a simple syrup, add lemon juice, chill, and churn in an ice cream maker. Or if you’re making it by hand, just occasionally stir the freezing sorbet so it doesn’t develop too many ice crystals.

Time taken to prepare: 30 minutes, plus 2-3 hours freezing time
Cost for four: £2.01

Total time spent in the kitchen: 1 hour 10 minutes

Total cost: £15.66

…we’ve assumed that you have a splash of milk and black pepper at home already.

Let us know if you make our menu – we’d love to hear how you get on in the comments box below! Even better, post photos of your creation onto our Facebook wall.

Also, what would YOU like to see in the weekend menu? A particular theme or ingredient, maybe? As ever, talk to us in the comments box below.

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The weekend menu #1

The weekend menu #2

The Weekender: Seasonal vegetable tart