Five crisis meals for less than €5 from Fergus Henderson, Ferran Adrià and three more outstanding European chefs

Europe on a budget: top chefs' recipes for dinner on the cheap

Germany: Malfatti (cottage cheese dumplings with spinach and parmesan)

250g low fat cottage cheese, pressed well

200g spinach

1 bunch parsley, chopped

1 small onion

50g freshly grated piece of white bread

2 egg yolks

1 sprig thyme

1 pinch nutmeg

30g parmesan

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon fine semolina

15g butter, softened

A little grated lemon

Salt, pepper, nutmeg

Melt the butter in the pan and add the washed and dried spinach. Once cooked, chop coarsely and put in a bowl with the cottage cheese.

Grate the parmesan and set aside. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and knead together. Form balls about the size of a ping pong ball and poach them in salted water. Remove, and sprinkle them with the grated parmesan. If you have a spare 10 pence you could also dribble a few drops of melted brown butter over the finished dumplings.

Vincent Klink

UK: Penne pasta with cabbage and parmesan

1 small onion

Two tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic

Half a cabbage (shredded)

100g parmesan shavings

Half a lemon

200g penne pasta

Lightly fry onion and garlic in olive oil. Add shredded cabbage and stir lightly – be careful not to break up the cabbage! Boil water and cook pasta until al dente. Mix the two together and add a squeeze of lemon and shavings of parmesan.

Fergus Henderson

Poland: Shoulder of veal with mashed pumpkin and blackberries

120g of calf shoulder

Vegetable oil

200g pumpkin (peeled and pitted)

100g butter

50ml milk

Maldon sea salt

Sauce: beurre noisette-based (reduced chicken broth, vinegar, butter brazowione)

Blackberries marinated in syrup Bison (made from Zubrówka bison grass vodka)

Cook the shoulder at 62C (145F) for 62-70 hours (it can also be cooked in broth, over a very low heat for 6 hours)

Cut the pumpkin flesh into pieces of approximately 2cm. Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the pumpkin and cook until it is soft and lightly browned. Add milk and cook about five minutes, until the pumpkin starts to fall apart. Put the pumpkin in a bowl and blend to a smooth puree. Add butter and stir until smooth. Season with salt.

Fry the cooked shoulder in vegetable oil. Put the mashed pumpkin on a plate, and place the meat on top of the pumpkin puree. To the side, add the blackberries marinated in a syrup with Zubrówka. Sprinkle crystals of Maldon salt over the meat, and complete the dish with a sauce of chicken broth and beurre noisette.

Robert Trzópek, Tamka 43, Warsaw

France: Shad en papillote (cooked in a folded pouch of greaseproof paper) with baby leeks, juniper butter and lemon zest



6g juniper berries

zest of a lemon

50g soft butter

12 baby leeks

4 portions of shad (or other white fish), skin on

salt

Add several juniper berries to softened butter and put half the mixture between two pieces of greaseproof paper; place in the refrigerator.

Cut the shad into fillets, leaving the skin on.

Cook the baby leeks, drain and place them on a sheet of greaseproof paper. Then add the fish fillets and the remainder of the juniper-flavoured butter. Carefully fold the papillote closed and cook in a hot oven for between 5 and 7 minutes – depending on the size of the fillets.

Open the papillote, decorate with lemon zest citron and the chilled butter from the fridge, and serve.

Anne-Sophie Pic

Spain: from the elBulli family menu

4 eggs

1 green pepper

8 chicken wings

225g mushrooms

bay leaf

oregano

One of the elBulli staff meals, called the "family menu", is a good example of a humble but tasty meal made with quality ingredients.

For starters, serve some old-fashioned eggs fried in olive oil with a crisp golden edge. That comes with vegetables, either asparagus or green peppers.

The main course is sautéed chicken wings with mushrooms and garnished with a bay leaf and oregano.

For dessert: sangria, with copious chunks of fruit.

Ferran Adrià