Turn leftovers into feasts, with help from the country's top chefs

WastED, the sell-out pop-up ­restaurant at Selfridges in London, is proving kitchen leftovers can be turned into ­spectacular meals.

During his five-week residency, the New York chef Dan Barber, along with guests including Fergus Henderson, ­Raymond Blanc, Alain Ducasse and Jason Atherton, has transformed ­ingredients that would otherwise go to waste (stale bread, cheese trimmings, pockmarked potatoes) into feasts, such as the cores of spiralised vegetables served with a cream made from tinned-chickpea water, and the restaurant’s signature dish of a whole charred cod’s head whose meat is excavated by diners.

Meanwhile, at Spring restaurant, chef Skye Gyngell offers a £20 pre-theatre ‘scratch menu’ made from kitchen leftovers: beetroot tops and potato skins are turned into simple soups and yesterday’s loaves transformed into bread pudding.

Both WastED (the ED stands for education) and Spring are attempting to highlight Britain’s staggering food waste problem.

According to the government-funded food waste charity WRAP, the average UK household wastes £60 a month just by chucking food in the bin. This ­includes the 24 million slices of bread, 5.8 million potatoes and almost two million slices of ham that we discard every day.

Many supermarkets are beginning to acknowledge the scale of the problem with their own anti-food-waste strategies. Tesco, for example, has recently launched a hotline for growers and suppliers to help avoid surplus and to cut waste. And under a new scheme coordinated by WRAP, supermarkets will erect signs in their aisles warning shoppers not to waste food, and reminding them about sensible portion sizes and how to store food correctly.

But the key to cutting back on food waste is for all of us to learn how to use these underappreciated scraps in delicious ways. Here, some of Britain’s top chefs explain how we can all love our leftovers at home – and reduce the 7.3 million tonnes of food we throw away each year.

Sabrina Ghayour, food writer

Ghayour came up with her leftover dish after she was “stuck with a lamb shoulder all to myself due to a friend cancelling lunch at the last minute”, she says. “As hungry as I usually am, not even I can eat a 2½kg lamb shoulder in one sitting, and once it got cold it needed a little magic to bring it back to life again.”

Take 600g shredded leftover lamb; place in a pan with 2 tsp rose harissa, 6 tbsp runny honey, 1 heaped tbsp ground cumin and 2 heaped tsp ground cinnamon. Cook over a medium heat until moist, juicy and warmed through, adding a splash of oil, water or apple juice to loosen if needed. Serve stuffed into bread rolls – cucumber relish is lovely served with this too. “The recipe works well with leftover pork or chicken, too,” Ghayour says.

Matt Tebutt, television chef

The Food Unwrapped presenter suggests making a basic bread dough to make a leftover vegetable “tear-and-share” loaf. “Roll out the dough into a rectangle and cover with chopped cooked vegetables and grated cheese,” he explains.

“Roll up, cut into thick slices and arrange snugly in a greased baking dish cut-side up. Drizzle with olive oil and bake in a 200C oven for about 30 minutes, or until risen and golden.”

Ben Marks, chef at Perilla, London N16

“Every time I buy fish I freeze the heads and bones,” Marks says, “and when I have enough I make a soup.” To do this, he explains, slowly sweat one chopped fennel bulb, 1 chopped onion, 3 garlic cloves, 1 tsp fennel seeds and 1 star anise in a little olive oil and salt. “Once the vegetables have begun to soften, add 3kg of fish heads, and bones, and cook slowly until they start to break down,” Marks says. “Add 375ml white wine and reduce by half, then add 375ml passata and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat, blend until smooth and pass through a fine sieve.” Season with salt, blood-orange juice and chopped dill to serve.

Gizzi Erskine, chef and TV presenter

“Leftover bits of cheese make an amazing sauce for pasta or gnocchi,” Erskine says. Follow her advice and melt 20g butter in a pan over a medium heat then stir in 20g plain flour. Pull the pan off the heat and gradually whisk in 300ml milk.

“I made this today actually, but I didn’t have much milk, so I used some milk, cream and crème fraîche,” she says. Simmer until thick and creamy, then stir in the cheese, some nutmeg and lots of black pepper. Stir the sauce into pasta, or add to gnocchi and spinach, sprinkle with extra Parmesan and pop under the grill until golden.

Jonny Phillips, chef at Coppi and Il Pirata, Belfast

“I often make a salad with leftover roast leg of lamb,” Phillips says. “Add chunks of the meat to a salad made from Little Gem lettuce, finely sliced carrot, radish, red pepper, red onion and pineapple, and some toasted cashews and chopped coriander leaves. Toss with a dressing made by whisking ­together 1 finely sliced shallot, a few finely sliced coriander stalks, 1 clove of finely chopped garlic, 1 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp rice vinegar and 1 tbsp sesame oil.”

Hus Vedat, chef at Yosma, London W1

For a Turkish-­inspired feast, Vedat suggests an egg-and-sausage bake. “Chop up leftover vegetables – any vegetable will do but broccoli works best – and place in a baking dish with some butter beans. Crack in 2 eggs and 1 chopped-up sausage (Turkish sucuk is ideal). Bake for 5 minutes at 180C, then smother the top with plain yogurt, sprinkle with chopped parsley and pul biber chilli flakes. Serve with pide (flat) bread.”

Neil Borthwick, chef at Merchants Tavern, London EC2

Borthwick remembers the staff meals he enjoyed while working at a restaurant in France: “Often on a Sunday we would caramelise some onions with a little garlic and add all the kitchen’s meat trimmings (and sometimes foie gras), finish with parsley and eat with mashed potato and a glass of vin de table,” Borthwick recalls. “It was delicious and the fridges were empty and clean for the end of the week.”

Sandia Chang, co-founder of Bubbledogs, London W1

Chang often turns leftover meat and vegetables from a Sunday roast into a stir-fry. “Slice leftover roast meat into bite-sized pieces,” she says. “If it’s chicken, just shred the meat, making sure to get all of it off the bones, and make sure vegetables are a similar size. In a small bowl, mix together oyster sauce, a little sugar, a little soy sauce and a dash of vinegar to taste. Fry some minced garlic in flavourless oil, throw the meat into the same pan and heat through, then add the vegetables and stir in your sauce.”

Ben Tish, executive chef of Salt Yard Group

Tish often transforms his leftover roast lamb into passanda, a mild curry. “Slice the lamb thinly and marinate in plain yogurt, cumin, onions, chilli, ­garlic and cardamom pods for an hour,” he suggests. “Fry some garlic, ­onion and cumin seeds in an ­ovenproof pan, then add the lamb and yogurt ­mixture and some water.” Bake for 20 minutes at 180C until bubbling, and serve with daal, roti or basmati rice.

Josh Katz, chef at Berber & Q, London E8

“My go-to leftover dish is always ­shakshuka,” Katz says. “There are so many different types beyond the common tomato-based sauce with eggs.” He suggests using leftover bolognese sauce.

“In a wide ovenproof frying pan, sweat 1 chopped onion in olive oil until softened, then add 500g leftover bolognese sauce, 2 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp chilli flakes, and a splash of water if the sauce is too dry.” Make eight indentations in the sauce and crack an egg into each.

“Cook for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to the oven for a further 5-7 minutes – the eggs are cooked when the white is set but the yolk remains runny,” he says. Sprinkle parsley over the top and dot with yogurt mixed with garlic, and serve with grilled bread.

David Gingell, chef at Primeur, London N5

“You can use pretty much any ­leftover bread for this pudding ­recipe but I think it’s nice with ­sourdough or even brioche,” Gingell says.

“Boil 300ml double cream and 600ml milk ­together with the grated zest of 1 ­lemon and the seeds from 1 ­vanilla pod. Whisk ­together 3 whole eggs, 3 yolks and 125g caster sugar, then stir in the hot milk mixture to make a custard.” Slice half a loaf of stale bread, brush with melted butter and arrange in a baking dish.

“Scatter with two handfuls of raisins, pour over the custard and leave to soak for an hour or two,” Gingell ­suggests. “Grate some nutmeg over the top and bake at 120C for about 45 minutes.” Brush with ­apricot jam to serve.

Iain Pennington, chef at The Ethicurean, Bristol

“We ferment the trimmings of vegetables, which means there’s zero waste coming out of the kitchen,” Pennington says.

Use the stalks and outer green leaves of cauliflower: wash, then cut into 5mm slices. Place a jar on a set of scales and return the weight to zero. Add the trimmings and enough water to cover; note the weight and add 2 per cent fine sea salt (for example, if the trimmings and water weighs 1,000g, add 20g salt).

“Pop a loose-fitting screw lid onto the jar to allow air to escape and leave in a cool place for 7-10 days, until the vegetables taste acidic. Then screw the lid shut and keep in the fridge for 12 months.” Delicious with labneh or hummus.

Meriel Armitage, co-founder of Club Mexicana, currently in residency at Pamela, London E8

“Tofu is an essential substitute for scrambled eggs in any vegan household,” says Armitage. “Start by frying some onion and garlic in oil, then add any vegetables you want – sliced mushrooms, peppers and courgette are all great.

“Next, crumble in any kind of drained tofu. I like to add things like leftover veggie sausage or tempeh; chop them into bite-sized pieces and fry in a little oil in a separate pan. Add a little soy sauce for a bit of a bacon-like flavour and a generous amount of soy sauce to the tofu.” Cook until warmed through, adding other leftovers such as tomatoes and herbs. Serve with bread.