One list, five meals: Pizza Topped Potatoes
This is European Waste Reduction Week and today this is being highlighted by an event called ‘Feed the 5,000’ in Wolfe Tone Park off Mary Street in Dublin.
A meal will be served that has been made entirely out of fresh but misshapen vegetables that would otherwise go to landfill. The ‘Feed the 5,000’ campaign aims to help make people aware that in Ireland a shocking 30% of the food created ends up in the bin. I have tried to include recipes in today’s column that will help you use some of those jars in the back of your store cupboard that can get lost until well past their best buy date.
Also there are a few ideas for what to do with the leftovers from Sunday dinner.
4 large leftover baked potatoes
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp of nutmeg
2 tbsp of sour cream
200g of any cheese you have in the fridge, sliced
150g of leftover ham or other meat left from a Sunday roast, chopped
Slice the potatoes in two and scoop out the insides. Leave enough on the skin so they can still hold their shape.
Mash the inside potato with the eggs, sour cream and nutmeg and season. Stuff the mixture back into the skins and top them with ham and cheese.
Place on a baking tray and into a medium oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese has melted completely. These are great served with a side salad.
Pasta for four
A dash of olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 tbsp of basil pesto
2 tbsp of milk
A large handful of sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
A handful of black olives, de seeded and roughly chopped
1 tin of tuna, drained
150g of feta cheese in bite size pieces
Put the pasta on to boil in lightly salted water and drain when cooked.
Heat the oil in a wide pan and sauté the onion until it is translucent.
In a small bowl mix the pesto with the milk.
Once the pasta is cooked and drained pour it into the pan with the onions and stir the pesto through it.
Taste and season then stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, olives, feta and tuna and serve.
Fusilli pasta shapes for four
A dash of olive oil
1 onion, very finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp of capers, roughly chopped
A large handful of black olives, de stoned and finely chopped
Zest of 2 lemons
1 tsp of chilli flakes
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tsp of smoked paprika
A bunch of parsley, chopped
I will leave you to look up the story of how this pasta sauce got its name.
It may not be quite suitable for the Saturday morning papers.
Put the pasta on to boil, drain when cooked.
Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions until they are translucent, add the garlic and capers and stir for about a minute. Add the olives, lemon zest, chilli flakes and smoked paprika and stir them all together.
Add the tin of tomatoes and leave to bubble away for about 20 minutes.
Add the parsley, stir and season to taste. Allow to bubble away gently for another 10 minutes.
Serve the pasta with the sauce spooned over.
A dash of olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
500g of potatoes, peeled and chopped
500g of other vegetables, what ever you need to use up in the fridge
2 tbsp of an Indian-style curry paste or 1 tbs of curry powder
1400 mls of stock
2 tbsp of sour cream
100g of red lentils
Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a low heat and sauté the onions until completely translucent.
Add the potato and stir for a minute. Add the other vegetables and continue stirring for another five minutes.
Add the curry and stir it through the vegetables. Stir in the stock and the lentils and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils and vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top of each bowl.
70g of dried mushrooms
A dash of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
400g of risotto rice
500mls of stock
175 mls of leftover white wine
A handful of pine nuts, or walnuts will also work well
100g of parmesan, thinly sliced
Put the mushrooms into a bowl and cover with 600mls of boiling water. Leave them to soak for 20 minutes until the mushrooms plump up. Squeeze the mushrooms gently to remove any excess liquid and chop them.
Keep the liquid aside.
Heat a little oil in a large pan on a low heat. Sauté the onion until it is translucent.
Add the garlic and the rice and continue frying until the garlic is about to change colour.
Start to add the stock a ladleful at a time and stir gently until it has soaked in. Continue until the stock is all gone.
Now start the same with the mushroom water. There may be a little at the end that has sediment that you can discard.
Stir in the wine in the same manner until it has absorbed, add a little more if needed, taste and season.
Stir in the mushrooms, nuts and parmesan and serve.
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