Plums: 4 (100 to 150g), halved and de stoned
Egg yolks: 2 (60g)
Sunflower oil: 250ml (sunflower or cooking/rapeseed)
White wine vinegar: 50ml
Mustard: 7g
Cane sugar: 7g
Fine salt: 15g
Ancho pepper: 1, or 2 small dry cascabel
Chilli pepper: 1 dry morito soaked in warm water
Large onions: 1, halved
Beefsteak tomatoes: 4
Garlic: 1 bulb, halved horizontally
Chilli peppers: 2
Strawberries: 250g, fresh
Fine salt: 1 tbsp
Olive oil: 100ml
Molasses: 1 tsp, or sugar
Lime juice: 1, or red wine vinegar
Red chillis: 2 to 3, fresh
Strawberries: 250g, chopped small
Alcohol vinegar: 1 tbsp
Herbs: 2 to 4 sprigs herbs (any of these: dill, tarragon, basil, chervil), finely chopped
Shallots: 2, diced
Turnips: 1 white, small diced (use instead core of cabbage, chicory, core of gem lettuce)
Fine salt: 1 tsp
Chillis: 2, small any colour
Lime zest: 1 lime
Lime juice: 1 lime
Fine salt: 1 tsp
Olive oil: 1 tbsp
Couscous: 250g, cooked or tabbouleh
Cheese: 100g, grated (or small dice of various cheese you “lost” in the cheese box)
Carrots: 50g of raw vegetables (could be grated carrot, turnips, celeriac)
Cabbage: 100g of cooked vegetables cut into small pieces (we had some cabbage, sprouting broccoli)
Lime: 30g preserved lime or lemon, if not juice of 1 lemon
Fine salt: 10-15g
Eggs: 2
Cooking oil: 50ml
This recipe is a great way to use up fruits and vegetables that would otherwise be discarded
Iulia Nonu is the Head Chef at London's Refettorio Felix. Under her leadership it has become a beacon of hope for vulnerable individuals in the local community, a place where each day she transforms surplus ingredients into restaurant-quality meals.
Here, she provides a few ideas for what to do with those tired pieces of fruit, vegetables or other ingredients you sometimes find at the back of the fridge, which may be slightly past their best but which, in Nonu's words, "deserve another chance!"
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Line a small tray with baking parchment. Mix the plums, sugar, pinch of salt, a teaspoon vinegar in a mixing bowl, then lay on the lined tray. Bake for 10 minutes until the plums the soft and ready to fall apart.
Leave to cool. Put the plums in a blender and blend to a paste. Switch off then add the 2 egg yolks, the rest of the vinegar, the salt, and the mustard. Start the blender again on a slow or up to medium speed, then add the oil in a slow drizzle. Make sure the oil is fully incorporated before adding more.
Once all the oil is added, check the consistency. If it is too thick, you may add 1 teaspoon or more of cold water. If you are happy with this bright pink happy blobbyness, then just enjoy and celebrate.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Line a tray with baking parchment. Toss the onion, tomatoes, peppers, garlic with oil, a pinch of salt then spread on the lined tray.
Roast in the reheated oven for 15 minutes until vegetables look toasted, smoky.
Cool slightly then pop out the garlic from the skins, onion from the skin.
Put all the cooked vegetables in a blender and blend at high speed for a minute. Add the strawberry, soaked chillis, the rest of the oil, salt, sugar, and lime juice and blend again. Adjust seasoning to your liking and spice.
Mix the chopped strawberry with the vinegar and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.
Mix all the other ingredients, then add the pickled strawberry.
Pre heat the oven to 220°C. Line a small baking tray with baking parchment. Prepare a small jug with cold water and an ice-cream or cookie scoop.
In a mixing bowl put all the ingredients together. Put some gloves on and give it a good mix, making sure you have an even distribution.
Use the scoop to get 5 medium size round cakes, place them on the lined baking tray. Slightly flatten them on the top.
Bake for 10 minutes, until light brown, beautiful speckles of crunchiness and roastiness take over the cakes.
Leave to cool. Serve with tartare sauce (what we did), and plum mayonnaise.
