REDUCE WASTE

reduce waste love your leftovers

Try our inventive ways to use up the surplus from this month’s recipes

Fish pie for one

Tip any leftover seafood chowder into an individual pie dish or large ramekin and top with leftover mash or crushed boiled potatoes. Scatter with grated cheese and dot with softened butter, then bake at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 20 mins until golden.

Herby hog roast baps

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Carve any leftover rolled roast pork into thick slices and pan-fry in olive oil until browned and warmed through. Stuff into soft baps with mustard and rhubarb sauce.

TRY THESE DISHES

Stroganoff meatball pasta

Fry mushrooms in butter until soft and golden, then stir through any leftover Scandi-style meatballs and sauce. Toss through cooked tagliatelle along with enough of the pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce, then scatter with chopped dill.

Mocha chocolate truffles

Tip any leftover espresso chocolate sauce from into a plastic container and chill until solid. Scoop into balls using a teaspoon, dust with cocoa powder and serve, or wrap up for a gift. Cheat’s three-cheese ‘arancini’

Arancini are a great way to use up leftover risotto, but can be a faff to make. For a dish that tastes similar, pack any leftover three-cheese risotto into an ovenproof dish. Scatter with coarse breadcrumbs (panko work well) and bake at 220C/200C fan/gas 7 for 10-15 mins until the crumbs are golden. Serve from the dish.

Easy egg-fried rice

Chop up leftover okonomiyaki and stir-fry with cooked rice. Season with extra soy or oyster sauce before serving.

MIDWEEK MAGIC

Make more of mushrooms and herbs

BOOST FLAVOUR WITH dried mushroooms

Dried mushrooms have deep, meaty flavour. They usually need to be rehydrated, resulting in a mushroom stock, but if they’re just being added for flavour, this isn’t required

Fresh mushroom booster Adding rehydrated dried mushrooms to anything you’re cooking with fresh mushrooms bumps up the flavour.

Magic seasoning Dried mushrooms can be ground into a powder that can then be used as a seasoning. It gives an intense mushroom flavour to anything you sprinkle it over. Veggie gravy & sauces To give meat-free gravies and sauces a deeper savouriness, add dried mushrooms and their soaking liquid.

Risotto As rehydrated dried mushrooms provide you with both the veg and stock, they’re ideal for making an easy mushroom risotto. Find a recipe at bbcgoodfoodme.com/ mushroom-risotto.

HOW TO USE fresh sage

Lemon & sage butter

Blitz sage with 100g soft butter and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Roll into a log in parchment, then chill or freeze. Slice and melt over chops or put under chicken skin before roasting.

Sage crumbs Blitz sage with leftover stale bread to make herby crumbs for coating chicken, or sprinkle over a casserole or cheesy pasta bake.

Crispy sage Fry whole sage leaves in oil or butter for 1-2 mins until crisp, then drain on kitchen paper to use as a garnish over finished dishes.

WHAT TO DO WITH 100g of jarred peppers

 Romesco sauce Blitz the peppers with 50g almonds, 1 garlic clove, 1 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar and 3 tbsp olive oil until you have a thick, chunky sauce.

 Peperonata Finely slice 1 small red onion, chop 1 large tomato and slice the peppers. Mix with a handful of torn basil, 1 crushed garlic clove,

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

and 2 tbsp olive oil. Let stand for 10 mins, then serve with bruschetta or crostini.

 Piperade Slice the peppers and beat 2 eggs in a bowl. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and scramble the eggs. While still runny, add the peppers and fry for 1 min more. Serve on toast.

3 WAYS WITH ricotta

If you’ve got leftover ricotta, use it up with these quick ideas.  Thickly spread the ricotta on toasted sourdough, then top with toasted pine nuts and a drizzle of honey for a winning breakfast.

• Fold the ricotta into whisked eggs for an extrafluffy omelette.

• Combine the ricotta, wilted chopped greens, parmesan and a beaten egg in a baking dish. Cover with scrunched sheets of filo pastry and bake until golden and crisp.

GOOD FOOD & SUSTAINABILITY

At BBC Good Food, we seek realistic solutions to avoid food waste and packaging, and adhere to the three Rs: 1) Reducing food waste 2) Recycling packaging 3) Reusing food storage packaging and containers.