Ideal for using up some of the spare ingredients lurking in the fridge this week, combat food waste and tuck into classic comfort food at the same time with these delicious recipes
Love your leftovers – recent research has found that in total, a staggering 6.6 million tonnes of food waste comes from our homes each year in the UK, at a cost of £14 billion. Of that, 4.5 million tonnes is food that could have been eaten, which works out to around eight meals per household each week.
This ‘edible’ element of household food waste is responsible for 14 million tonnes of Co2e alone – as much greenhouse gas produced as flying from London to Perth more than 4.5 million times.
In celebration of Leftovers Day (a part of Food Waste Action Week) Panasonic are supporting Love Food Hate Waste with three delicious recipes.
Ideal for using up some of the spare ingredients lurking in the fridge this week, tuck into classic comfort food with these easy recipes.
The recipes below and attached aim to use up leftover food that it’s likely many of your readers will have in their fridges this week and I thought they may make some good recipe inspiration content for a Friday to help people make something delicious for their dinner!
1 Chicken and Asparagus Pie
Serves 4
Accessory: no accessory then wire shelf in lower position
Dish: 22.5cm pie tin
Ingredients
• 25g butter
• 100g leeks, sliced
• 50g plain flour
• 450ml milk
• 200g asparagus tips
• 500g cooked chicken, cubed
• 400g puff pastry, chilled
• 1 egg beaten
Method
1 Place the butter and leeks in dish and cover with pierced cling film. Place on the base of the oven and cook on MEDIUM MICROWAVE for 4-5 mins or until soft.
2 Add the flour, stir well, and then gradually add the milk and cook on HIGH MICROWAVE for 4 mins stirring throughout or until the sauce has thickened.
3 Add the asparagus tips and cooked chicken.
4 Preheat the oven on CONVECTION 200˚C.
5 Roll out half the pastry to fit the pie tin. Prick the base with a fork and pour in the filling mixture.
6 Roll out the remaining pastry for a lid and seal the edges with egg. Glaze the top with egg.
7 Place on shelf and cook on CONVECTION 200˚C for 20-25mins or until cooked and browned.
2 Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup
Ingredients
• 500g carrots, peeled and sliced
• 200g tin cooked lentil
• 500 mls of hot vegetable stock
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• Pinch of dried chilli flakes or to taste
• 2tbsp single cream or coconut cream
• Salt and pepper
Method
1 Place the sliced carrots in a large bowl and add 45mls of water. Place on the base of the oven and cook on HIGH MICROWAVE for 5 mins.
2 Add the stock, cumin seeds, dried chilli flake and half of the lentils. Cook for a further 20 mins on MEDIUM MICROWAVE or until the carrots are soft.
3 Cool slightly then stir in the cream and blend until smooth.
4 Add the remaining lentils and warm through on HIGH MICROWAVE for 3mins.
5 Serve immediately with a swirl of cream and chopped coriander.
3 Gluten Free Bread and Butter Pudding
Serves 6
Oven accessory:
Dish: rectangular oven proof dish
Ingredients (for the bread)
• 350ml water
• 1tsp cider vinegar
• 4tsp vegetable oil
• 2 medium eggs
• 1tsp salt
• 1tsp sugar or honey
• 450g gluten free bread flour
• 1 ½ tsp fast action easy blend yeast
Method
1 Place water, vinegar, oil, eggs, salt and sugar into the bread pan.
2 Add the flour and yeast and set your bread maker to the gluten free setting with the dark crust or bake rapid 1 hour 55, dark crust, and large size.
Ingredients (for rest of dish)
• 75g mixed fruit
• 1 orange, juice and zest of
• Butter to grease dish
• 150g apricot jam
• 5 slices stale gluten free bread
• 200ml whole milk
• 200ml double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 4 large eggs
• 75g caster sugar
• Sprinkle of icing sugar, to serve.
Method
1 Soak the fruit in the orange juice for at least 20 mins.
2 Butter the dish.
3 Spread the jam on to the slices of bread and cut each piece in half diagonally, then arrange in dish.
4 Drain the fruit and sprinkle over the bread with the orange zest.
5 Heat the milk and cream in a jug on MEDIUM MICROWAVE for 3mins. Mix in the vanilla essence, eggs and caster sugar. Pour over the bread and leave to stand for 15mins.
6 Bake on CONVECTION 200°C for 25 mins or until golden and set.
7 Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Recipes and images courtesy of Panasonic
