Donal Skehan on food and family...plus 3 delicious dinner recipes 

“I just dream of the moment I can play jazz, have a negroni and read my cookbooks in peace,” jokes TV presenter and food writer, Donal Skehan, adding wryly: “But we’re in this chapter of life...”

The Dubliner and wife Sofie “are smack-bang in the middle of parenthood” with “two crazy boys”, Oliver, five, and Noah, seven.

The slow-baking and stew-braising days of his 20s are a fuzzy memory, and, aged 39, his weekends revolve around “ferrying children to different things and trying to keep up with the madness of life,” rather than making decadent, time-intensive meals.

Which explains his new cookbook, Donal’s Real Time Recipes.

“Parenthood knocks you for six, and you need every little bit of help you can get,” he says, with a grin that tells you he loves being a dad. “It’s amazing how your cooking changes so dramatically from pre-children to children. You put yourself last.

“This book is all about putting everyone first, to ensure that you get a table full of food that is nutritious, balanced and something you can look forward to.”

Fundamentally, Skehan is not into downtime in the kitchen. Aside from throwing dinner together at home, he makes lots of cookery shows, has written numerous cookbooks and the thing that really “bugs” him throughout “is stopping and waiting for things to go into the fridge, waiting for them to go into the oven”.

So if you too hate the words “now leave to marinate for X hours” he feels your agony and frustration. There’s none of that in Real Time.

“I need straight-through cooking,” says Skehan, which means no faffing, no waiting around, just dinner, cooked swiftly, without complications. “The aim is that when you sit down for dinner, you actually have something you’re very excited about,” he adds.

The recipes in Donal’s Real Time Recipes are designed to take you 30 minutes or less, a gimmick Skehan acknowledges is a bit overdone, shall we say. “We all know there has to be novelties like 30-minute meals and the like, but at the core of this book is really good, hearty, home-cooked food,” he says seriously. “Ultimately, the takeaway is the process.

“If you really get into the bones of the recipes, you’ll see that has been thought through in every single recipe. And yes, there’s a time frame on it, but actually, if you look at how they flow in the kitchen, that’s what’s really clever about them.”

His process, he says, is a blueprint for feeding yourself that’s ideal, whether you have kids or not.

“Life can get out of hand in lots of ways, and cooking is a fantastic anchor point,” says Skehan, who is always hunting down new ways to enter a ‘flow state’ of total immersion in a task. “I’m really big into my pottery at the minute, that’s my current escape, where it used to be the kitchen.”

YouTuber and podcaster Skehan grew up in Howth, and after living in LA for several years, moved back to Ireland a couple of years ago. He first made a name for himself in boyband Streetwize, then began food blogging in 2007. Both his parents worked in the food industry.

“My dad used to go to work at 4am and would be back around the time we were doing homework at the table,” Skehan recalls. “My mum and dad made a big effort to make sure we sat down at 5pm every day - you sat at your dinner table and you ate your food and you were brought in to help as well if needed.

“It was a big tradition in my house,” he says, when asked if it makes him sad that cooking and eating are now so often rushed affairs.

“I’m sad to see it’s not as prevalent, and I think it’s something we really do need to keep,” he adds, but fully understands that, with kids especially, “it’s easier to stick on an episode of [kids’ show] Bluey and get them to eat and concentrate, than it is to push them to sit [at the table].”

He’s all about small achievements though, like growing food in a couple of veg boxes with his boys. “Even if they never eat what comes out of it, they’ve seen the process of where it’s planted, how it grows,” he says.

“We picked cucumbers the other day, and they ate them literally from the box, for me, it was a real win. Most of the time, it might be hard to get them to eat a cucumber, but create a bit of excitement and novelty, and that’s where you can win.”

Which is why they have taco and spaghetti nights too. “You can get them to do just about anything, if you make a game out of it,” he laughs.

For those who find cooking dinner an interminable chore, take inspiration from Skehan’s mum, who would always start by chopping an onion, then, the rest would come... “By literally just getting over that first hurdle, you’re in the kitchen, you’re cooking,” says Skehan happily, and from there, you’ll find your flow.

Donal’s Real Time Recipes is published in hardback by Yellow Kite. Photography by Donal Skehan.

Rotisserie Chicken & Za’Atar Flatbread Salad

A seriously tasty use for leftover roast chicken.

“This is what happens when a rotisserie chicken crosses the road and gets hit by a fattoush salad,” says Donal Skehan. “A proper plate of all my favourite Middle Eastern bits for dinner.

“Crispy flatbread croutons dusted with za’atar bring crunch and are matched with shaved colourful root veggies, fresh herbs and a labneh-ish sauce - this dish has it all. Fast, fresh and dangerously addictive - you’ve been warned!”

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 shop-bought flatbreads
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1tbsp za’atar
• 2 small carrots
• 1 small candy-striped beetroot
• 1 small yellow beetroot
• 6 radishes
• 2 baby fennel bulbs
• 250g rotisserie or leftover chicken
• 50g butter
• A handful of coriander
• A handful of mint
• 50g pine nuts
• For the base:
• 300g Greek yoghurt
• 2tbsp tahini
• 1 garlic clove
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. First whisk together the Greek yoghurt, tahini, grated garlic and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Spread over the bottom of a platter and set aside.

2. Chop the flatbreads into rough 1cm-sized pieces and toss in a bowl with a good glug of olive oil, salt and the za’atar. Put in air fryer at 190C (375F) to crisp up for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, thinly shave the carrots, beetroots, radishes and fennel into a large bowl - I use a mandoline but you can use a knife if you prefer. Drizzle the vegetables with a good glug of olive oil and a hefty pinch of salt, toss to coat, then set aside.

4. Shred the meat from the chicken into bite-size pieces and place in a pan with 25g of the butter, a glug of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Place over medium heat and cook until chicken is warmed through and a little golden. Remove from the pan.

5. Roughly chop coriander and mint as chicken cooks.

6. Now put pine nuts into the same frying pan. Add the remaining butter and a glug of olive oil, then toast until the pine nuts are golden. Remove the pan from the heat and stir through most of the chopped coriander and mint and squeeze in the juice of the remaining lemon half.

7. Add crispy bread and shredded chicken to shaved vegetables and toss everything together. Pile on top of the yoghurt and drizzle with the herby pine nut dressing, finishing everything with the remaining herbs and another glug of extra virgin olive oil.

Tuscan Acquacotta Soup

A hearty dish that’s on the table fast.

“This rustic Tuscan soup makes magic from pantry basics,” explains Donal Skehan. “Add an egg on top and suddenly it’s brunch-worthy.”

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 sticks of celery
• 4 garlic cloves
• Olive oil
• 1tsp fennel seeds
• A pinch of chilli flakes
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 100g Parmesan, plus the rind
• 1 litre good-quality vegetable stock
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 300g cavolo nero or any other leafy green, such as York cabbage or sweetheart cabbage
• 1/2 a sourdough baguette
• 1 x 400g tin of borlotti beans
• 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
• 4 eggs
• 2tbsp flat-leaf parsley
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Finely dice the onion, carrot and celery, then finely slice three of the garlic cloves.

2. Get a large casserole pot over a medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook for 5-6 minutes, until softened, then add the garlic, fennel seeds, chilli flakes, rosemary sprigs and bay leaves and fry for a further three minutes.

3. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, Parmesan rind and stock. Season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer.

4. Roughly chop the cavolo nero, then put the Parmesan mixture into a mini blender and blitz until coarse.

5. Slice the baguette into thick slices and drizzle with olive oil. Place a griddle pan over a medium heat and add the baguette slices. Toast for a few minutes on each side, until charred. Remove from the pan, rub with the remaining garlic clove cut in half and set aside.

6. Drain the beans and chickpeas, add to the soup along with the chopped cavolo nero, then allow everything to warm through for a few minutes.

7. Now crack the eggs into the soup, nestling them in so that they are slightly submerged. Place a lid on the pot and cook for three to four minutes, or longer if you like your eggs firmer.

8. To serve, place a slice of toasted baguette in the bottom of four warmed soup bowls, then spoon an egg on to each slice of bread. Ladle over the soup, discarding the Parmesan rind, rosemary sprigs and bay leaves.

9. Roughly chop flat-leaf parsley and sprinkle over soup, along with the Parmesan, a good glug of extra virgin olive oil and some cracked black pepper.

Smashed Sausage Pasta

This one’s a crowd-pleaser. “Balsamic-y sticky red onions add sweetness to this rich, speedy sausage pasta supper,” promises Donal Skehan.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• Olive oil
• 6 good-quality sausages
• 3 red onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 anchovies
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 50g butter
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 350g bucatini pasta
• A pinch of chilli flakes
• 2tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 150ml chicken stock
• 10 sage leaves

Method

1. Set a deep-sided frying pan over a medium heat, drizzle in a little olive oil. Squeeze the meat out of the sausages straight into the pan, forming little sausage meatballs, and cook for 5-6 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Thinly slice the red onions and garlic, roughly chop the anchovies and strip the leaves from the rosemary.

3. Add butter to pan you cooked the sausages in, then add red onions and rosemary leaves, season with salt and cook for 7-8 minutes, until softened.

4. Get a pot of water on to boil. Season the water and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

5. Back to the onions. Begin to turn the heat up underneath them so they start to go golden and caramelised, then add the anchovies, garlic and chilli flakes to the pan and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until the anchovies have melted and the garlic is fragrant. Add the balsamic vinegar and stock, then return the sausages to the pan and bring everything to a simmer for 5-6 minutes, to cook the sausages through.

6. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a small frying pan for a few minutes. Fry the sage leaves for a minute, or until fragrant and a deep green, then remove to kitchen paper to drain.

7. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce using tongs, stirring the pan constantly to coat the pasta in all that lovely sauce. Serve in bowls, with the fried sage leaves scattered on top.