VANILLA RAISONS & EARL GREY PRUNE PORRIDGE

a batch cooked breakfast to carry you through the winter

I always find it funny how for half the year the idea of porridge doesn’t even enter my thoughts and then at the first sniff of Autumn it’s almost all I can think about. I’m really not much of a breakfast person, but in the colder months, the idea of a bowl of perfectly seasoned, plump, tender oats is the only thing that will get me out of bed. With this recipe, I’m very excited to introduce you to another of my housemates, the beautiful, Christopher Low. Chris has been saying for a while that he’d like to get better at breakfast, that he’d like a quick, healthy, yet delicious option that he can rely on all week. We brainstormed a few ideas, he knew he wanted to include earl grey prunes and also had the inspired idea of vanilla soaked raisons! I suggested using them as toppings to a perfect porridge bowl and here we all are now.

Chris on a bike !!

I learned the technique of soaking oats for porridge while working in a professional kitchen on the breakfast service. Prepping the oats this way makes them far quicker to cook, pretty much once you have the mix up to a boil, they are done. This means that rather than having one big pot of porridge, sitting on the hob getting dry, you can instead cook portions individually, churning out bowl after bowl of porridge in a busy service with little to no stress. At home it’s also a great hack for meal prepping. I like to prep a box of seasoned soaked oats on a Sunday evening so we have at least 10 servings of breakfast prep for the week sorted. Alongside these dried fruit toppings, it takes a boring bowl of oats to an exceptional porridge situation in less than 10 minutes. Not only are they quicker to cook but by soaking the oats you make them far easier to digest. Where I would usually have a bit of a tummy ache after a bowl of porridge, made from raw oats, I don’t get any with this version. This recipe is vegan, safe for coeliacs (if you use gluten free oats!) and highly adaptable. A pretty dope breakfast imo.

I hope this recipe gives you a little inspiration for your own porridge bowls and if you take one thing away from it, please let it be to soak your oats - it’s a game changer.

Sending love, Rosie x

VANILLA RAISONS & EARL GREY PRUNE PORRIDGE

There is a little bit of overnight prep to organise with this recipe, but once it’s completed you have your breakfast prep done for the whole week - so it’s worth the time investment imo. You can of course customise everything to your liking, if you aren’t a fan of cinnamon, use a different spice, if you love pecans and hate walnuts, swap them out. Pick your favourite dried fruit for the toppings, the below is really just a suggestion, a starting point for you to build from. Dates, dried cranberries and cherries would all be excellent options. You do you honey boo.

For the soaked oats:

600g jumbo oats

100g mixed seeds (I used a mix of chia, flax, pumpkin and sunflower)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

600ml of a milk of your choice ( I used oat but you could swap for apple juice for a sweeter breakfast)

For the dried fruit:

300g raisons or sultanas

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

300g pitted dried prunes

1 earl grey tea bag

To serve:

a handful of toasted nuts (I used walnuts)

a pat of butter

maple syrup or honey

a pinch of salt

some fresh fruit, like banana slices

Over night prep:

1. Add all the oats ingredients to a container with a tight fitting lid, mix very well and make sure the liquid is just covering the oats, add a little dash of water if necessary. Cover and store in the fridge overnight, these oats will last for up to a week in the fridge.

2. For the vanilla raisons, combine the raisons and vanilla in a container, add enough freshly boiled water to cover and stir to combine. Cover and once cool store in the fridge.

3. For the earl grey prunes: combine the prunes and earl grey tea bag in a container, add enough freshly boiled water to cover and stir to combine. Cover and once cool store in the fridge.

To serve:

1. Take one scoop of oat mix per person and add to a saucepan over a medium heat. Add enough milk to the pan to just cover the oat mix and stir over a medium high heat until it just reaches the boil.

2. Keep cooking if you like a thicker porridge or serve immediately into bowls.

3. Top with the raisons and prunes, a small pat of butter, drizzle of maple syrup, a sprinkling of toasted walnuts and a few slices of banana. I like to add another pinch of salt to mine because I am a salt fiend.

A serving note - these oats can also be eaten cold, just like any other overnight oat recipe, so if you prefer cold oats, or perhaps it’s not winter where you are right now, eat them cold with all the toppings and a drop more milk!