I have a love-hate relationship with porridge. For a while, I think it’s the greatest thing on earth and stock up on huge boxes of it, and then I get freaked out by the idea of claggy beige carbs and wonder why I have 37 bags of oats in my cupboard.

In a mission to start working through that backlog, I’ve been trying to use porridge oats in recipes to make something new.

Here’s what I found:

Porridge oats and oat bran pizza

Thats the image up there that looks like a glorious work of art. In fact, it’s a simple mix of oat bran, oatso simple original porridge sachets and egg, topped with a feisty tomato sauce and various other delights. Here’s how:

The base

2 x Oatso Simple Original porridge oats
(or, 1 sachet, and 50-60g Oat Bran)
1 egg

Whisk the egg and add to the oat mixture. Spread out onto baking paper on a baking tray, and whack in the oven on about 150 for 15 minutes. It’ll smell a bit like savoury flapjack when it’s ready. It doesn’t colour much, so don’t worry about it’s paleness. Leave to cool.

The sauce

Cherry tomatoes (enough to fill a small ovenproof dish) – halved
A few cloves of garlic, skin on
Sriracha

Bung the tomatoes and garlic in a dish and put in the oven with the pizza base. This takes about 20 minutes to get all gooey and a bit burnt, which is the aim (I don’t use any oil here, but feel free to if that’s your bag). Take the garlic out of its skin, and mash it together with the toms and sriracha until you want to put your whole face in it.

The topping

Coconut butter
Red onion, sliced
Balsamic vinegar
Quorn chicken pieces
Mature cheddar, grated

In a frying pan, plonk your coconut butter and red onion, and leave to soften and char a wee bit, like they do in burger vans at the side of football pitches. For the last 30 seconds or so, add a splash of balsamic so they get nice and sticky and dark. Transfer to a plate, and chuck your Quorn straight into the pan without wiping away any residue. Add more coconut oil if you need to to stop it from sticking.

Build your pizza in whatever order you’re used to – I go sauce, then Quorn, then onions, then cheese – and put it all back in the oven for about 20 minutes on 150 until the cheese has melted. The base won’t crisp up too much, but at the same time won’t go soggy. It takes a bit of getting used to texture and taste wise, but it’s actually delicious when you’ve accepted you’re not getting a whole thick crust jobby from Dominos for 500 calories. (I also can’t always finish it, which means even less time on the treadmill to burn it off..)