If you love camping but hate eating the char grilled sausages and endless tins of beans associated with it, then check out the following recipies from the Cool Camping Cookbook. They are guaranteed to get your taste buds tingling.
Ratatouille
And lo, it was deemed that along with crisp sandwiches and vodka jelly, every student in the known universe would subsist on ratatouille until the end of term time. But this humble dish can actually be hugely satisfying, as long as it’s left to burble away on a low heat for a decent amount of time. Maybe play a game of charades while you wait.
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red pepper
A couple of garlic cloves
1 tbsp Herbes de Provence
Some fresh, local veggies
1 tin chopped tomatoes
A glass of red wine
2 tbsp tomato puree
Fresh, dunkable bread
Method
Slice the onion and soften in some olive oil. While this is cooking, slice the pepper and add to the pan with a little salt and pepper. Squish a couple of cloves of garlic and add to the pan, along with the Herbes de Provence. Now would also be a good time to add any extra vegetables – courgettes and carrots both work well. When everything starts softening nicely, chuck in the tomatoes. Add a heavy-handed glug of red wine and the tomato puree. Bring the whole lot to the boil, then turn the heat down and allow it to cook for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper and any fresh herbs you have lying around.
Dunk in comforting wodges of buttered bread and eat while piping hot.
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More recipes on Sportsister:
Recipe: Conchiglioni with Roasted Tomato Sauce
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Baked berry apples
An autumnal favourite, especially if the apples have been recently hoiked from their tree and the blackberries are freshly picked. If you’ve got some cinnamon to hand that’d just be extra-cosy.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 cooking apples
Powdered cinnamon (optional)
2 handfuls of blackberries
Cream to serve
Method
Score a line around the waist of the apple to stop it splitting and exploding.
Partially core it, leaving about 1cm of apple at its base. Sprinkle over a little powdered cinnamon if you have any, then fill the hole by squishing in as many blackberries as possible. Wrap the lot in foil and rest in the embers of the campfire. Cook for 20 minutes, turning regularly.
When ready, the apple should be a golden-brown, giving up fluffy, crimson-stained flesh. Carefully unwrap and serve with lots of cream and any leftover blackberries.
Dampter Bread
This is unhygienic, unhealthy and horribly messy. The kids will love it.
Serves 8
Ingredients
600g self-raising flour
100g caster sugar
A pinch of salt
100ml water
Method
Mix the flour with the sugar and salt, and blend with some water to form a dough.
Knead lightly until smooth, and allow to rest somewhere cool for 10 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, sharpen a long, sturdy stick, taking care to scrape off the bark.
Take a small handful of the mixture and squish it onto the end of the stick so it looks like a thick sausage.
Cook over the fire, turning regularly until it swells, browns and feels solid when you tap it.
Carefully pull the hot damper bread off the stick and fill the hollow with jam, butter, honey, cream, chocolate spread or anything else that takes your fancy.
Love Camping?
Why not enter our competition to win a set of books from the Cool Camping range. There are 3 up for grabs, including the book from which the above recipies were taken. Click here to enter.
Chloe Hibbert, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
