I tested Jamie Oliver’s son Buddy’s new cookbook recipes and his pizza was as good as his dad’s
HE looks like any other 12-year-old boy, with a cheeky grin and a boisterous family to keep him on his toes.
But unlike a lot of tweens stuck in front of Fortnite and obsessing about the Euros, Buddy Oliver has 133,000 subscribers to his YouTube show Cooking Buddies, where he teaches youngsters how to rustle up simple dishes.
And he also happens to have a very famous father, TV chef Jamie.
Buddy, who lives in Essex with his family, said: “Cooking is one of my all-time favourite things to do. It’s really fun and a great skill to learn. Once you know the basics you can give most recipes a try, or even have a go at making your own.
“It doesn’t always go to plan but that doesn’t matter. I like to cook for my brother and sisters, but I also cook for my friends.”
Dad Jamie, 49, said: “There’s something so powerful about being able to cook. You could even call it a superpower.
“The key to learning is being curious and having the confidence to give it a go.” Buddy is about to release his first recipe book, aimed at young people and beginner cooks and featuring more than 60 recipes.
But how easy are the recipes for an average Cooking Buddies fan to make?
I asked my daughter Lexi, left, who is ten, to try four at home in Bude, Cornwall, then give her verdict with marks out of five.
- Extracted from Let’s Cook, by Buddy Oliver (Michael Joseph), £20, out on July 4.
Savoury breakfast muffins
Makes 12
You need:
- 80g cheddar or Parmesan cheese
- 125g baby spinach
- Optional: 1 red chilli
- 2 spring onions
- 200ml 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 180C, and line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.
2. Grate the cheddar or Parmesan and place in a mixing bowl. Finely chop half the spinach and roughly chop the rest, then add to the bowl.
3. Deseed and finely chop the chilli (if using), trim and finely chop the spring onions, then add to the bowl.
4. Pour the milk and olive oil into a separate mixing bowl, crack in the eggs and mix well. Fold through the flour, a pinch of sea salt and all the ingredients from the other bowl.
5. Spoon half the mixture between the 12 paper cases, crumble the feta and divide between them, then spoon over the rest of the mixture. Sprinkle over your chosen seeds, then bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and cooked through – if you poke a skewer into the middle, it should come out clean.
6. Allow to cool slightly in the tin, then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Delicious served warm or cold.
Lexi says
These were fairly easy to make but I wouldn’t have put spinach in a muffin. I thought they were a bit bland and my least favourite recipe, but my mum liked them.
3/5
Quick and easy pizza
Serves 4
You need:
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Olive oil
- 1 x 400g tin of plum tomatoes
- 400g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
- 80g mozzarella cheese
- Optional: 4 chipolata sausages
- 4 handfuls of your favourite vegetables, such as peppers, cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn, broccoli, onion, black olives
Method:
1. Peel and finely slice the garlic, then place in a pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and fry until golden.
2. Scrunch in the tomatoes (or tip in and break up with a spoon as you go), simmer for 5 minutes, or until thickened slightly, then season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Remove from the heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 220C and rub the inside of a 25cm x 35cm baking tray with olive oil.
4. Tip the flour into a mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt, then make a well in the middle. Pour in 250ml of water then use a fork to stir and bring in the flour from the outside to form a dough – when the dough starts to come together, dust your hands with flour and pat it into a ball.
5. Knead on a flour-dusted surface 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. Spread each base generously with the tomato sauce and tear over the mozzarella. Squeeze the sausagemeat (if using) out of the skins and tear over the pizzas, then prep and scatter over your chosen vegetable toppings.
7. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, then cook on the top shelf of the oven for 10 minutes, or until golden and puffed up. Delicious served with a crunchy green salad.
Lexi says
I really enjoyed making these, especially the dough. They tasted really good too, and I thought they looked slay. I swapped the mozzarella for grated cheddar as I’m not a fan.
5/5
Buddy’s Bolognese
Serves 6
You need:
- 2 pork sausages
- Olive oil
- 500g lean minced beef
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 large carrot
- 1 celery stick
- 1 courgette
- 2 tbsps thick balsamic vinegar
- 2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
- 1 heaped tsp tomato purée
- 450g your favourite dried pasta
- Parmesan cheese, to serve
Method:
1. Place a large casserole pan on a medium-high heat to warm up.
2. Squeeze the sausagemeat out of the skins. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil into the pan, add the minced beef and sausagemeat, breaking everything up with a spoon as you go, then cook for five minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Peel the onions and garlic, trim the carrot, celery and courgette, then coarsely grate all the vegetables on a box grater, finely grating the garlic. Scrape into the pan, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for ten minutes, or until soft and sweet, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the balsamic vinegar, then scrunch in the tomatoes (or tip in and break up with a spoon as you go). Half-fill each tin with water, swirl around to pick up the last bits of tomato and pour it into the pan.
5. Stir in the tomato purée and a pinch of black pepper, mash everything up with the spoon, then reduce the heat to low and leave to cook for one hour, or until thickened slightly.
6. About 15 minutes before you’re ready to serve, cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving a mugful of starchy cooking water.
7. Carefully add the pasta to the sauce and stir well over the heat, loosening with a splash of pasta water, if needed. Divide between serving bowls, and finish with a good grating of Parmesan.
Lexi says
The bolognese tastes really good but I found grating the vegetables quite tricky, I haven’t used that method before. I would make this again though, and my brother loved it.
4/5
Rocky road
Serves 16
You need:
- Olive oil, for greasing
- 100g dark chocolate (70%)
- 100g quality milk chocolate
- 125g unsalted butter
- 75g golden syrup
- 50g marshmallows
- 150g digestive biscuits
- 75g unsalted nuts, such as pistachios, toasted hazelnuts
- 75g chocolate-covered honeycomb
- 75g glace cherries or dried fruit
- 50g quality white chocolate
Method:
1. Lightly oil a 25cm x 30cm roasting tray and line it with a sheet of damp greaseproof paper.
2. Sit a heatproof bowl on top of a pan of lightly simmering water, snap in the dark and milk chocolate, add the butter and golden syrup, and stir occasionally until melted.
3. Halve the marshmallows, snap up the biscuits, roughly chop or bash up the nuts, bash up the honeycomb and halve the cherries or dried fruit (if needed), then stir them into the chocolate mixture.
4. Pour into the lined tray and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, then carefully turn out.
5. Snap the white chocolate into a clean heatproof bowl and melt as described in step 2 (or use the microwave, if easier). Drizzle the chocolate over the rocky road, leave to set in the fridge, then slice up and serve.
Lexi says
I enjoyed making it although it took a long time to set. It tastes delicious but is very sickly, so you shouldn’t have too much in one go.
4/5
BUDDY'S TIPS FOR KITCHEN CONFIDENCE
START small and build on the recipes you choose. The more I learnt, the more I wanted to explore, so the same will probably be true for you.
The first thing I ever made was scrambled eggs, and they were really tasty, and actually quite easy once I knew what to do.
After helping Mum or Dad with odd jobs in the kitchen I started to pick up new skills, like how to make chopped salads or simple pizza and bread doughs, and it kind of went from there.
Cooking can be unpredictable, and it doesn’t always go to plan, but that doesn’t matter! Sometimes you’ll end up with something even better than planned, and other times it’ll just give you an idea of what not to do next time. It’s all part of the journey.
Cooking for yourself means you can tweak and adjust things to make them exactly how you like them. And if you do that, it’ll mean you’ll always want to eat it – plus, it’s good not always having to rely on grown-ups when you’re hungry!
Roll up your sleeves, get stuck in, and most importantly . . . have fun.
LEXI’S VERDICT
THERE are so many good recipes in the book and Buddy has different ways of doing things, which I enjoyed trying. I am looking forward to trying some of the other recipes.