I tested the new recipes from Jamie Oliver’s son Buddy’s cookbook and his pizza was as good as his dad’s

HE looks like any other 12-year-old, with a cheeky smile and a noisy family to keep him on his toes.

But unlike many teenagers stuck in front of Fortnite and obsessed with euros, Buddy Oliver has 133,000 subscribers to his YouTube show, Cooking Buddies, where he teaches young people how to prepare simple dishes.

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And he also has a very famous father, TV chef Jamie.

Buddy, who lives in Essex with his family, said: “Cooking is one of my all-time favorite things. It’s a lot of fun and a great skill to learn. Once you know the basics, you can try most recipes or even try making your own.

“It doesn’t always go as planned, but that doesn’t matter. I like cooking for my brothers, but I also cook for my friends.”

Dad Jamie, 49, said: “There is something very powerful about knowing how to cook. You could even call it a superpower.

“The key to learning is to be curious and have the confidence to try.” Buddy is about to launch his first cookbook, aimed at young people and beginner cooks and with more than 60 recipes.

But how easy are the recipes for the average Cooking Buddies fan to make?

I asked my ten-year-old daughter Lexi, on the left, to try four at home in Bude, Cornwall, and then give her verdict out of five.

• Excerpted from Let’s Cook by Buddy Oliver (Michael Joseph), £20, released 4th July.

Savory breakfast muffins

It’s been 12

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You need:

• 80g cheddar or parmesan cheese
• 125g baby spinach
• Optional: 1 red pepper
• 2 chives
• 200ml of milk
• 50ml olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 350g wholemeal self-raising flour
• 50g feta cheese
• 2 tablespoons mixed seeds such as sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, poppy

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC and line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.

2. Grate the cheddar or parmesan cheese and place in a bowl. Chop half the spinach and chop the rest coarsely and add to the bowl.

3. Deseed and finely chop the pepper (if using), trim and finely chop the pepper. spring onion and add to bowl.

4. Pour in the milk and olive oil In a separate bowl, break the eggs and mix well. Mix the flour, a pinch of sea salt and all the ingredients in the other bowl.

5. Place half of the mixture between the 12 paper molds, crumble the feta cheese and divide between them, then pour over the rest of the mixture. Sprinkle over the chosen seeds and bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through – if you stick a toothpick in the middle, it should come out clean.

6. Leave to cool slightly in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack. Delicious served hot or cold.

Lexi says

They were easy enough to make, but I wouldn’t put spinach in a muffin. I thought they were a little bland and my least favorite recipe, but my mom liked them.

3/5

Quick and easy pizza

Serves 4

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You need:

• 2 garlic cloves
• Oil
• 1 can of 400g plum tomatoes
• 400g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• 80g mozzarella cheese
• Optional: 4 chipolata sausages
• 4 handfuls of your favorite vegetables such as peppers, cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, broccoli, onion, black olives

Method:

1. Peel and finely slice the garlic, place in a frying pan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and fry until golden.

2. Mash the tomatoes (or pour in and divide with a spoon), cook for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Remove from heat.

3. Preheat the oven to 220ºC and grease the inside of a 25cm x 35cm baking dish with olive oil.

4. Place the flour in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and make a well in the middle. Pour in 250ml of water, use a fork to stir and bring in the flour from outside to form a dough – when the dough starts to form, dust your hands with flour and form into a ball.

5. Knead on a surface sprinkled with flour for a few minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 4, then roll and stretch the pieces into 20cm rounds or ovals.

6. Generously spread the tomato sauce on each base and tear in the mozzarella. Squeeze the sausage meat (if using) from the skins and tear into the pizzas, then prepare and spread over your chosen vegetable toppings.

7. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and bake on the top shelf of the oven for 10 minutes or until golden and puffed. Delicious served with a crunchy green salad.

Lexi says

I really enjoyed making this, especially the dough. They also tasted really good and I thought they looked killer. I replaced the mozzarella with shredded cheddar because I’m not a fan.

5/5

Friend’s Bolognese

Serves 6

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You need:

• 2 pork sausages
• Oil
• 500g lean minced meat
• 2 onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 large carrot
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 zucchini
• 2 tablespoons thick balsamic vinegar
• 2 400g cans of plum tomatoes
• 1 heaped teaspoon of tomato puree
• 450g of your favorite dry pasta
• Parmesan cheese, to serve

Method:

1. Place a large casserole dish over medium-high heat to heat.

2. Squeeze the sausage meat from the casings. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil into the pan, add the minced meat and sausage, breaking everything up with a spoon and cook for five minutes, stirring regularly.

3. Peel the onion and garlic, chop the carrot, celery and courgette, then coarsely grate all the vegetables on a box grater, finely grating the garlic. Scrape into pan, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for ten minutes or until soft and sweet, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the balsamic vinegar and mash the tomatoes (or pour in and divide with a spoon). Fill each can halfway with water, swirl to get the last bits of tomato, and pour into the pan.

5. Add the tomato puree and a pinch of black pepper, knead everything with a spoon, reduce the heat and let it cook for an hour, or until it thickens slightly.

6. About 15 minutes before serving, cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water according to package instructions and drain, reserving a mug full of starchy cooking water.

7. Carefully add the pasta to the sauce and bring to the boil, stirring well, loosening with a little pasta water if necessary. Divide between serving bowlsand finish with a good grating of parmesan.

Lexi says

The bolognese tastes really good, but I found it very complicated to grate the vegetables, I’ve never used this method before. I would make this again, and my brother loved it.

4/5

rocky road

Serves 16

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You need:

• Olive oil, for greasing
• 100g dark chocolate (70%)
• 100g quality milk chocolate
• 125g unsalted butter
• 75g golden syrup
• 50g marshmallow
• 150g digestive biscuits
• 75g unsalted nuts such as pistachios, roasted hazelnuts
• 75g chocolate covered honeycomb
• 75g glazed cherries or dried fruit
• 50g quality white chocolate

Method:

1. Lightly grease a 25cm x 30cm baking tray with oil and line it with a sheet of damp baking paper.

2. Place a heatproof bowl on top of a pan of gently simmering water, Photograph In the dark and milk chocolate, add the butter and golden syrup and stir from time to time until it melts.

3. Cut the marshmallows in half, break up the graham crackers, roughly chop or crush the nuts, crush the honeycomb and halve the cherries or dried fruit (if necessary) and stir into the chocolate mixture.

4. Pour into the lined tray and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, then carefully unmold.

5. Place the white chocolate in a clean, heatproof bowl and melt as described in step 2 (or use the microwave if that’s easier). Drizzle the chocolate over the rocky road, let it set in the fridge, cut into slices and serve.

Lexi says

I enjoyed doing this, although it took a long time to define. It tastes delicious but is very sickly, so you shouldn’t eat too much at once.

4/5

LEXI’S VERDICT

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THERE ARE so many good recipes in the book and Buddy has different ways of doing things that I enjoyed trying. I’m looking forward to trying some of the other recipes.

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