Minimising food waste is something we always strive to do, with several initiatives that you can take part in. To celebrate Food Waste Action Week, we've come up with some easy to follow recipes using commonly leftover ingredients you're likely to find lurking in your kitchen.
Pasta sauce
- Place fresh tomatoes, onion, peppers and celery in a tray with some salt and a dash of olive oil and roast in a hot oven for 15 mins. If you're short of fresh tomatoes, you can always add a tin form your store cupboard
- When liquidising the sauce, add pepper after it has been blended and not before, as it will become very hot. You can also add chilli instead of pepper if you fancy, but again after blending. If you want a richer red sauce you can add tomato puree before you blend
- If you make sauce in a batch, it can easily be frozen in zip lock bags. These will take up less space than plastic reusable containers
- If keeping chilled, it will last for three days in the fridge, after the day you make it
- Once the sauce is made you can add what ever you have, olives, pesto paste, mushrooms – whatever you fancy!
Vegetable soup
A good ratio for a basic sauce is:
- 50g butter or margarine
- 50g plain flour
- 500ml liquid – this can be stock cube and water, milk or 50/50
- Melt the butter or margarine, add flour to make a paste and then gradually add the liquid
- When making a soup you can fry the vegetables in the butter or margarine and then sprinkle the flour on top. The flour should absorb all the fat
- Any vegetables can be used, chilled or frozen
- If you want a smooth soup then liquidise, if you want a chunky soup keep the vegetables the same size
- If liquidising the soup add pepper after it has been blended and not before, as it will become very hot
- If you want a tomato base soup, simply add tomato puree once the fat and flour had made a paste. Take off the heat at this point so the tomato puree does not burn
- If you make sauce in a batch, it can easily be frozen in zip lock bags. These will take up less space than plastic reusable containers
- If keeping chilled, it will last for three days in the fridge, after the day you make it
- Finish with some toasted crusts of bread cut into 1 cm cubes as croutons, and a sprinkle of cheese (optional)
Trudy’s Canadian muffins
Place 12 muffin cases in a muffin tray and pre-heat oven to 190 Oc
- 1 ½ cup of plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup yoghurt
- 3 tbs vegetable oil
- 1 cup grated fruit and vegetables - (apple, carrot, pear, courgette or squash) any hard naturally sweet fruit would work. Nuts what ever you fancy pecan or walnuts are delicious!
Three step mix:
- Mix all dry together
- Mix all wet together in a jug
- Add wet to dry – place in muffin tray with cases
Flat breads
Makes 12
Prep time 15 mins
Cook for 15 -20 mins at 190 Oc
- One heaped tablespoon of flour and one heaped tablespoon of yoghurt will make one flat bread
- Make sure the yoghurt is plain and unsweetened
- You can add seasoning at this stage and depending on what you like and have to hand you could add: garlic, chilli, lemon zest, black pepper, coconut, fresh herbs
- You can use self-raising flour or plain flour with a pinch of baking powder
- Place equal quantity of yoghurt and flour into a bowl with a good pinch of salt (adjust to your taste). Kneed together for a few minutes and set aside to rest for 30 mins
- One rested turn out on a surface with a sprinkling of flour, and portion into equal balls around the size of a small apple.
- Put some flour on your rolling pin and roll each ball flat – 10 cm in circumference, and put three slits in the centre (leaving the edge of the bread intact)
- Using a dry non stick pan place the flat bread gently into a pre heated pan on a medium heat. You will see the bread start to puff up. Lift the corner of the bread with a spatula and see if the base is becoming brown and firm. At this point gently flip the flat bread. Once both sides are cooked you are ready cook the next flat bread.
- You may wish to brush over some coconut oil, melted butter or vegetarian spread onto the flat bread, to make them even more yummy. This is an optional step
- Once the breads are all cooked, they are ready to eat. Enjoy
If you are looking for to use a Gluten free flour – a 50/50 mix of rice flour and millet flour works well.
Soya yoghurt can be used instead of dairy in this recipe.
Self-raising flour can be made using ½ teaspoon of baking powder to 100g of plain flour.
You can eat the flat bread with anything, but here are a few suggestions: spread with hummus salad and some raw onion and cheese, coconut flavoured ones are particularly good to eat with a stir fry or a curry, garlic flat breads are great with pasta, spread with pesto and cheese and grill to let the cheese melt, etc.
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