MOB Kitchen cookbook recipes: From dan dan noodles to Mexican stuffed sweet potatoes

Known for his cheap but delicious eats that initially appealed to students and his one minute cooking videos, Ben Lebus proves home cooking can be great, cheap and fast

Stuffed sweet potatoes serve as the ultimate comfort food (Photography by Haarala Hamilton)

Mexican-style stuffed sweet potatoes

Time: 1 hr
Serves 4

4 sweet potatoes
Dried chilli flakes
1 brown onion
2 peppers (not green)
1 red chilli
Spring onions
2 garlic cloves
Ground cumin
Paprika
1 x 400g tin of black beans
Cheddar cheese
1–2 limes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the guac

2 large avocados
Fresh coriander
1 lime
1 red chilli

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6). Drizzle the sweet potatoes in olive oil, and sprinkle over salt and a small handful of dried chilli flakes. Bake them in the hot oven for 50 minutes or until soft.

While the sweet potatoes are in the oven, sort the guac. Scoop the flesh out of the avocados and add to a bowl. Add a handful of chopped coriander (save some to garnish), the juice of a lime, a finely chopped red chilli, some salt, pepper and olive oil. Mish mash.

Finely chop the brown onion, peppers, chilli and a bunch of spring onions. In a pan, add a splash of olive oil. Add chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons of ground cumin and 2 tablespoons of paprika.

Once the garlic has softened (1 minute), add the peppers and brown onion. Fry until soft, on a medium–low heat. This should take about 10–15 minutes. Add a bit of water if it starts catching on the pan.

Once softened, chuck in the black beans. Mash everything together well. Remove your sweet potatoes from the oven. Scoop out the flesh and save the skins. Add the flesh to the black bean chilli. Mix everything together.

Assembly time. Re-stuff the sweet potato skins with the black bean chilli. Add a big dollop of guac. Top with a generous grating of cheddar, and garnish with the chopped spring onions, chopped red chilli and remaining coriander. Squeeze over some lime juice to finish. Enjoy!

Sweet and smoky goodness (Haarala Hamilton)

Prawn, chorizo and basil linguine

Time: 20 mins

Serves 4

1 x 250g chorizo ring
Dried chilli flakes
165g raw king prawns (jumbo shrimp)
1 garlic clove
500g passata (strained tomatoes)
500g dried linguine
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Slice the chorizo into bite-sized pieces. Add to a frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat and cook until crispy.

Once crispy, add a pinch of dried chilli flakes and the raw prawns. Cook the prawns until they are pink, then add a chopped garlic clove. Cook for a further 30 seconds, and then pour in the passata.

Get the linguine on (follow the instructions on the packet). Meanwhile, bubble the sauce down until it is nice and thick.

Then throw in a handful of chopped basil (keep some whole leaves to garnish) and season well with salt and pepper.

Drain your pasta and pour it into the sauce. Mix everything together and serve, with a drizzle of olive oil and the basil leaves scattered on top.

The notorious dan dan dish (Haarala Hamilton)

10-minute peanut butter dan dan noodles

Serves 4

Smooth peanut butter
Soy sauce
2 garlic cloves
2–3 spring onions
Agave nectar
Rice wine vinegar
Szechuan peppercorns
Fresh ginger
Vegetable oil
320g ramen noodles
Salted peanuts

Add 3 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter, 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, the garlic, 2 spring onions, 2 tablespoons of agave nectar, 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, ½ teaspoon of Szechuan peppercorns and a peeled and grated 5-cm (2-inch) piece of ginger to a blender. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and 4 tablespoons of water and blitz until very smooth.

Get the noodles on (follow the packet instructions). Once the noodles are cooked, drain and add them to a large bowl. Pour your peanut butter sauce over the top and toss everything together.

Serve the noodles with some bashed salted peanuts on top, and some chopped spring onion as a garnish.

Extracted from 'MOB Kitchen: Feed 4 or more for under £10' by Ben Lebus, published by Pavilion. Photographs by Haarala Hamilton.