Waste Not Want Not Using Up Your Leftovers.
Waste not want not!
I am so excited to share with you a new series of recipes I have designed to give you confidence in the kitchen to cook from scratch, and to:
Save you time and money
Encourage you to be curious and brave and introduce a plant based routine into your weekly meal planning
Shop and eat seasonally and therefore cost effectively
Confidence to adapt and use recipes as a guide only
Become familiar with substituting ingredients
And use up what you have in the fridge
First up: Tired and fractious pasta! This recipe is based on fridge raid. Works beautifully with freshly bought vegetables from the grocer.
We have all been there. Friday night. Tired, fractious and needing to eat. A take away was not an option. Expensive and even that decision making can be too long! Plus the 20 minute wait for it to be delivered!
A fridge raid revealed an equally tired couple of courgettes, a worn out broccoli and some extra stalks I had kept - the ‘will put in a soup or a stir fry’, my ‘waste not want not mantra’ was saying. Plus a faithful onion.
In addition, I found half a hunk of a parmesan and, to my surprise, beautiful plump red chilis, seductive in their freshness, like curved smiling lips. These were a last minute pick up from my green grocer as I walked back with the dogs. Oh and what’s this - just about 2 tablespoons of double cream left in the pot.
So…..what to do…..
First, put a pan of water on to boil. Add a good pinch of salt to the water and bring to the boil. I had Bucatini ( thicker, studier than normal spaghetti and the hole drilled down the middle is cleverly designed to both soak up and be robust enough to hold a sauce.) But ordinary spaghetti is fine to use. In fact, any pasta you have. A handful per person is a rough serving guide.This should take 8 minutes to be al dente.
In the steamer section on top of the cooking pasta, place finely chopped broccoli and stalks and steam until soft -as long as it takes for the pasta to cook. If you don’t have a steamer, boil water and broccoli in a separate pan or, alternatively, steam in a microwave proof bowl, with a dash of water in the microwave until very soft.
Whilst the bucatini chatters away, roughly chop courgettes and gently fry in good extra-virgin olive oil with the chopped onion.
Seasoning to taste ( start with a pinch of sea salad and freshly ground black pepper - adding more to suit) enjoy the gloss and colour of bringing the courgette back to life, then add the finely chopped plump chili and warm it through the pan.
This leaves enough time to grate the parmesan, pop plates on table, open a bottle of wine, and purposefully tend to the courgettes melting and yielding into the translucent onions, feeling the stress of the day dissipating. Drain pasta, adding to the pan of cooked onion and courgettes, keeping back a cup of starchy pasta water. Take the soft steamed broccoli, add to a bowl with the cream and ¾ grated parmesan, loosen with pasta water and either blend with a hand blender or crush with potato masher to make a smooth ( ish) sauce.
Add the sauce to the pan with pasta and courgettes, lovingly toss together - take pan, remaining Parmesan to table and breathe.
Enjoy. Eat. Relax.
