Zero waste recipes

Spaghetti Frittata from Sussex Surplus

Sussex Surplus is Feedback social enterprise taking fresh and surplus food in danger of being wasted and transforming it into soup. 

Cooking the right amount of pasta can be tricky but this Italian classic is a great way of using up leftover spaghetti. If your leftovers have a lot of sauce on already you may want to stir in a handful of breadcrumbs to help your frittata firm up.

The recipe below can be used for up to 4 people, use a small frying pan for 1-2 people or a large one for 3-4. For chefs and community kitchens, this recipe scales up really well and can be cooked in catering size frying pans very easily.

Ingredients:

eggs, 1 per person

leftover spaghetti, 100g per person

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter (or use 2 tbsp oil)

salt and pepper

Optional: fresh herbs, peas, cherry tomatoes,  cheese, olives, chilli flakes, pesto…. Or anything else you like to eat with pasta!

• Break your eggs into a large bowl and whisk well.
• Season well with salt and pepper and then add any other ingredients and flavourings you are using. My favourite is to use a lot of fresh basil, olives and a little cheese… experiment with what you have to hand and your favourite flavours to eat with pasta.
• Add your spaghetti to the bowl and mix really well, you want the egg to coat all of the pasta.
• Heat half the oil and butter in a frying pan on a medium heat.
• Pour in your spaghetti mixture and flatten it down well so it fills the pan evenly.
• Cook for 5 minutes on a low to medium heat.
• Slide the frittata out onto a plate.
• Add the remaining oil and butter to the pan and then flip your frittata back into the pan and cook for another 5 minutes, until both sides are golden brown.
• Cut into triangles and serve with a little cheese if you have some to hand and a side salad for a delicious and easy meal.

Seasonal Minestrone from the Alchemic Kitchen

The Alchemic Kitchen is a Feedback start-up social enterprise working alchemy with surplus food & building a  regional food economy in the North West of England that challenges inequalities.

This minestrone recipe is great for using up whatever veg you have to hand, you start with a simple base of carrots, onion and celery and then get creative with whats in your kitchen. This recipe can be adapted so in autumn use squash, tomatoes, rosemary, peppers. In spring, new potatoes, spring cabbage, baby turnips, wild garlic.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

5 carrots, thinly sliced

3 onions, thinly sliced

2 sticks celery, thinly sliced

8 tbsp olive oil

Whatever veg needs using up (potatoes, courgette, cabbage etc)

1.5 litres vegetable stock

400g tin cannellini beans (you can also use butter beans or chickpeas but not kidney, they are the wrong flavour)

Optional toppings: fresh herbs, pesto croutons, grated cheese

• Gently heat 8 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy bottom pan and add onions, to soften but not brown.
• Add carrots and then celery. This is when you can get creative – for example 300g potatoes diced, 3 courgettes diced, 100g french beans sliced, 225g savoy cabbage shredded. You could substitute peas for beans, use butternut squash for courgette, kale for cabbage etc etc. You can also add squishy tomatoes, diced. Add each veg type one at a time to the carrot/onion/celery mix, cook for a few minutes and then add the next.
• Once all veg has been added, pour in the veg stock – if you have a parmesan rind knocking about (NEVER bin them!) then this is the point you add it to the soup. If prepping for vegetarians/ vegans, leave out parmesan.
• Cover the pan and let everything cook very very slowly for around 2 hours until thickened but not stand a spoon up thick – add a bit more water at this point if too thick.
• Add the cannellini beans  Cook for 5 minutes, then turn up the heat and add the pasta. This will take about 10 minutes.
• Fish out the parmesan rind if used (nice to gnaw on). Give it all a good stir and check for seasoning. Serves 6.
• We always invite people to style their soup so provide some chopped herbs – basil/ parsley, extra virgin olive oil to drizzle, pesto, croutons (made from stale bread, dried in the oven or in a dry frying pan and seasoned with oregano and a splash of olive oil once toasted), grated cheese etc.
  

Plum Betty from Food SOS

Food SOS is project run by Community Youth Ventures CIC for Feedback as part of the Growing Food Citizens project in Buckinghamshire UK. We work with young people and families to look at ways to reduce the food they waste in the home. We worked together to explore recipes that help people from all backgrounds to use up items that are commonly wasted or neglected in the home like bread, banana and milk.

This recipe is a delicious way to use up stale bread and make the most of plums when they are in season. 

Ingredients:

200g old bread

85g butter or vegan alternative

85g brown sugar (white also works)

1 tsp cinnamon

1.25 kg plums, chopped

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp cornflower

200ml cold water

yoghurt, to serve (optional)

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees
• Tear bread into chunks
  Spread chunks over large baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally until evenly crisp
• Scrape bread into bowl, and stir in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
• Reduce the oven to 160 degrees
• Put plums, caster sugar and cornflower into a large lidded pan
• Over a medium heat, stir for 1-2 mins until the cornflower has dissolved.
• Add the water, cover and simmer for 15-20 mins
• Layer the plums and bread chunks in an ovenproof dish and bake for 20 mins.
• You can serve alone or with yoghurt, cream, ice cream. You can also try adding honey instead of sugar. Or even combine other fallen fruits depending on season and crop (eg blackberries, rhubarb or apples)