Jack Monroe's top tips for easy entertaining at home

1. Yes, you can: Save time and effort by using convenient ingredients such as quality canned, jarred, or frozen foods. You can effortlessly whip up something that will look impressive and if you shop smart, is good value too. Use canned fruit cocktail to make a yummy trifle, saving you time, effort and avoiding food waste. Pop some of your favourite jarred tomato and basil pasta sauce onto a frozen pizza base, cook it in the oven and you’ve got a great starter for people to nibble on while the BBQ fires up. Use frozen fish and frozen peas to make a delicious fish pie and canned pineapple is fantastic to use for upside-down pineapple cake or as a tasty addition to a curry.

2. Make ahead: If you want to impress, choose something that you can make in advance, so that you are not rushed or flustered last minute. I created the pork belly recipe below for Del Monte®, using their delicious, canned prunes in juice to make a marinade and chutney [Del Monte Spicey Pork Belly with Prune Chutney]. It can be prepared the night before and finished in the oven low and slow, or on the BBQ. Delicious hot or cold, and leftovers make for a lovely sandwich.

3. Keep it simple: Puddings can be a challenge al fresco, but cake is easy and always goes down well with a crowd. Just keep it light and summery if you are serving it as a pudding. This peach drizzle cake [Canned Peach Drizzle Cake] is deliciously moist and delicately sweet thanks to the juice from the canned peaches. It also keeps for around three or four days in an airtight container, but I’ve never known it to last that long! Enjoy warm on cooler evenings with custard, or cold with ice cream in balmier weather.

4. Raid the cupboard: You may find yourself totally unprepared for last-minute visitors, but are you? Take a look in the cupboard. You’ll be amazed at what you can do with what you already have. For example, add an unexpected and impressive twist to everyday recipes with canned fruit! It’s been a favourite of mine for years, to add a sweet note to curries or casseroles, bring freshness to traybakes, but also in salads (canned mandarins pair well with soft salty cheeses, like feta and goats’ cheese, for example). It saves time because it’s already been peeled, stoned and sliced for you and tends to be good value. You can even use the juice in the can as a long iced drink with sparkling water, as a salad dressing, or reduce it down to a syrup by rapidly boiling it with a little sugar for desserts [Fruit Cocktail Dutch Baby].

2. Strain the can of Del Monte® Peach Slices, reserving the juice to use later on for the icing.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter (or baking spread) and sugar. Mix well to form an even buttercream.

4. Break in one egg and mix well, using a fork to combine it with the buttercream mixture. Repeat the same process with the remaining two eggs.

5. Add the baking powder, a pinch of salt and the flour, a quarter at a time, mixing well to combine evenly each time before adding more.

6. Finally, add in the drained peaches and stir in. They will carry some residual juice that will pool at the edges of your batter, so mix this in well, but try not to break up the soft peach slices too much in the process.

7. When the batter is even and smooth, pour it into your prepared tin, jostling the peach slices so that they are evenly distributed throughout.

8. Bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes to an hour or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out almost clean (if the knife comes out with some batter attached, turn the oven down to 140oC and check every 10 minutes until done). Oven temperatures may vary, so check your cake carefully.

9. Remove from the oven and loosen the edges of the loaf with a sharp knife or palette knife. Let it stand for 30 minutes before removing it from the tin and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

10. For the icing: Ensure the loaf has cooled enough before you start icing - you want to be able to touch it with your fingertips for a few seconds and not register that it’s warm. Sieve the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and add 1 tbsp of the reserved peach juice. Mix well to make a smooth, thick icing. Drizzle the icing over the top and leave to set for 30 minutes.

2. For the batter: crack the eggs into a bowl and beat together with the sugar, then slowly add in the milk, flour and nutmeg. Place the batter in the fridge to chill for around half an hour.

3. For the syrup: pour the juice into a small saucepan, bringing it to the boil, then reduce to a simmer until it has reduced by around half. The syrup will thicken by itself, but if you want to make it thicker and stickier you can add another two tbsp of sugar to help it along. Remember it will thicken as it cools. When the juice has reduced down to a syrup, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.

4. Once your batter is chilled, turn your oven on to 200oC and ensure there is a shelf set in the middle. Divide your oil evenly between four Yorkshire pudding cups, if using a Yorkshire pudding tray, or pour it into a cake tin. Place the tin with oil (not the batter, not yet) into the oven for 5-6 minutes to get it super-hot. Remove it carefully with a thick oven glove.

5. Using a soup ladle, carefully pour batter into each pudding cup, or pour into the cake tin and immediately return it to the oven for 14 minutes. Do not be tempted to open the door until those 14 minutes are up!

6. When ready, carefully remove from the tin (or tray) and top with your homemade syrup and the fruit. Serve immediately, dredged with extra sugar if you really can’t help yourself.

2. When it’s time to cook the pork, remove it from the fridge and leave for 20 minutes to reach room temperature. Preheat your oven to 210oC, gas mark 6, ensuring there is a shelf in the middle of it or just below. Transfer the pork to the small roasting dish and pour over the marinade to just below where the top fat layer starts. Rub the remaining salt-and-spice marinade onto the exposed fat. Pop the pork belly in for 10-12 minutes to crisp the fat to crackling. Turn the heat down to 140oC, gas mark 1 and cook for a further 90 minutes. Note, oven temperatures may vary, so do check your dish every now and again.

3. Place a wire cooling rack on top of a roasting or baking tray (with sides) for when the pork is ready. Remove from the oven and place each piece on the wire rack to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

2. Peel and halve, then very finely slice your onion and celery. Add to the pan along with the remaining marinade and an extra tablespoon of vinegar. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the veg is very soft. You may need to add a splash of water here and there, so keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t dry out, but it should take around 25 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and transfer to a clean, heat proof jar, screw the lid on while it’s hot and leave to cool completely, before labelling and popping in the fridge.