Energy Rethinking - use less save more

August and September are great months for fresh garden vegetables, berries,  fish and game. If you stick to what’s at its best in the UK right now, eating well can be energy efficient, saving money and food miles at the same time.

The Love Food Hate Waste campaign always has good ideas for seasonal cookery. This month, locally grown spinach is a good buy. If you’ve been growing spinach in your own garden, you’re probably looking for some new ideas to use up the glut.
UK seasonal produce video with Vicki Butler-Henderson

We like this recipe for four by Caroline Marson, the Love Food Hate Waste campaign’s cookery advisor. It combines fresh spinach with that extra gammon from Sunday lunch (we like to think of it as a “planned-over”) for a quick and summery family meal.

Ham, Roast Garlic and Spinach Pasta

Ingredients

• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• 25g butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 200g spinach, washed
• 3 tablespoons crème fraiche
• 250g leftover gammon, roughly chopped
• Black pepper
• Hard cheese
• 400g Pasta

Method

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water according to packet instructions.
2. Meanwhile, cook the garlic in boiling water for 4 minutes or until tender. Drain and toss into a large non-stick frying pan with the butter and olive oil and cook over a low heat until golden.
3. Add the spinach and cook until it begins to wilt, add a few tablespoons of crème fraiche and the chopped gammon. Bring up to the boil, season with pepper and toss into the cooked pasta. Serve in a bowl with grated cheese.

Recipe and photo courtesy of the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign