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We all have that tin of food languishing at the back of our pantry – the one we don’t remember ever buying but somehow has moved houses with us multiple times… Whether it’s a tin of baked beans or sliced beetroot in the darkest corner of your cupboard, it’s time to crack it open.

As someone who literally just read a supermarket brochure like it was a key year 12 literature text, times are tough financially – to put it lightly! Dining out? Unless it’s a table and chair in the middle aisle of Aldi, forget about it! Takeaway? Only if I get enough for leftovers for the next three days minimum. At the moment it’s impossible to leave the house and not spend $35 even if you’re just checking the letterbox.

So, I have declared it tinny season. It’s time for canned food to shine. It’s cheap, lasts for ages and if you know what you’re doing it can actually be delicious. Here are my top tin tips.

SOUP Yes, making your own soup is always going to be more delicious. But I’m sorry, have you ever even had a cheese toastie dipped in some tinned condensed tomato soup? For the minimal effort required it’s kind of unbeatable. Some people (me) have taken their love for tinned tomato soup too far and made ‘soupsicles’ based on a deranged recipe found on the greatest Instagram account in the world, @70sdinnerparty. It was for my unhinged food podcast Ingredipedia, OK? I now know that no one needs to freeze tomato soup and use toothpicks to fasten a face from lemon peel onto it. Just heat and eat.

CHICKPEAS Straight out of the tin, they’re pretty sad. But dry them off with a tea towel, cover them in extra virgin olive oil and salt, stick them in the oven for half an hour until they’re super-crispy, douse them in your favourite spices (and MSG, obviously) and it’s honestly criminal how good they are. You can buy a minuscule bag of these for $5 from the health food section of the supermarket or fill your freaking oven with four tins of them for the same price. Also, use the liquid you drain as a vegan alternative to egg whites for meringue. Enter your pavlova era.

SARDINES Get the ones in extra virgin olive oil and always squeeze lemon on top. If you want to add some theatre to serving sardines, you can smoke them in the tin. It’s a great party trick. You just open the tin and place a square of paper towel over the top, pressing it onto the fish so it holds. Then you light the edge and watch the paper towel burn, essentially smoking the fish and providing a light show at the same time. Who needs fireworks on New Year’s Eve when you have this?

This is an edited extract from frankie issue 124. To read the rest of Emily's tinny tips, grab a copy of issue 124 from the frankie shop or one of our lovely stockists. 

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