No waste, all taste: Max La Manna’s comfort food pantry-raid recipes

Cooking with little to no waste isn’t about rules; it’s about rethinking old habits. Take inventory of the food you already have (I like taking a photo of my fridge and pantry before I go shopping), stick to your list and buy only what you need. Make sure you store it properly, too, so it lasts longer, and don’t forget to cook with a bit of curiosity: that bendy carrot, yesterday’s rice, the broccoli stem you’d normally bin – they all have potential. Start small, and trust me: you’ll notice the wins in no time, saving money, time and food from the bin. For me, low-waste cooking isn’t restrictive, it’s liberation. It turns what you already have into something you actually want: a delicious meal that’s good for you and the planet.

Crispy rice with peanut-chilli crunch

Leftover rice is never boring – it’s an opportunity. Cold, clumpy rice gets pressed into a hot pan until transformed with a golden crust. It’s then broken up and tossed in my favourite peanut-tamari-chilli dressing. Add cucumber, spring onion, a bit of mint if there’s some lurking in the fridge, and you’ve got crunch, heat and freshness all in one bowl. It’s proof that the best meals often come from what’s already sitting in your fridge.

Prep 10 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 4

2 tbsp neutral oil
400g leftover cooked rice (cold from the fridge works best)
60g roasted peanuts, plus extra to serve
2 tbsp tamari, or soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar, or cider vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
1 red chilli, stalk, pith and seeds removed, flesh finely sliced, or ½ tsp dried chilli flakes, plus extra to serve
4 spring onions, thinly sliced, greens and whites separated
½ cucumber, thinly sliced into half-moons
1 small handful mint leaves, shredded, to finish

Put the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, then tip in the cold rice and press down with the back of a spatula so it covers the base of the pan. Leave to cook for eight to 10 minutes, until the bottom is golden and crisp.

Meanwhile, make the dressing: lightly bash the peanuts in a mortar, then stir in the tamari, vinegar, maple syrup, chilli and spring onion whites.

Break up the crisp rice into rough chunks, pour in the dressing, toss until well coated, then take off the heat.

Fold through the cucumber and spring onion greens, then serve warm scattered with the mint and any extra chilli or peanuts.

Charred broccoli and white bean smash on toast

Max Le Manna’s charred broccoli and white bean smash on toast.

I love recipes that use the whole ingredient – stalks, florets, the lot. It’s often wasted, but here broccoli gets a good char then lands on top of garlicky white beans smashed with lemon. Pile high on toast and finish with pickled red onions, and suddenly you’ve got lunch from the simplest of leftover bits. The brine from the pickled onions is seasoning gold, so try adding a spoonful to the bean smash with the lemon juice. To make your own pickled red onions, thinly slice a red onion and put it in a small jar. Add three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt, and close the lid. Give it a small shake and pickle until serving.

Prep 10 min
Cook 10 min
Serves 4

Olive oil
2 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Zest and juice of 1 lemon, plus extra juice for serving
Sea salt and black pepper
4 thick slices sourdough (stale is fine)
250g cooked broccoli, stalks and florets, roughly chopped
Shop-bought or homemade pickled red onions (see recipe intro)

Heat the oven grill to 150C/300F. In a small pan, warm a tablespoon of olive oil with the garlic, then add the beans, lemon zest and juice, and a splash of water. Mash to a chunky consistency and season with salt and black pepper.

Lightly toast the sourdough for about two minutes. Spread the white bean smash generously over each toast, then pile high with the broccoli florets and stalks. Drizzle with olive oil, then grill for a few minutes until the broccoli is nicely charred.

Finish with some pickled red onions and a final squeeze of lemon juice, and serve.

Tomato and lentil pasta bake

Max Le Manna’s tomato and lentil pasta bake.

This is my kind of dish: turning odds and ends into autumn comfort food gold. Last night’s tomato sauce? Stir it through pasta with a tin of lentils. That chunk of stale bread? Blitz it into breadcrumbs for the topping. And try stirring a spoonful of the caper brine into the sauce along with the lentils: the salty tang gives things a lift and uses what most people throw away.

Prep 5 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta for three minutes less than the packet instructions. Drain, reserving some of the pasta cooking water.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, tomato sauce and lentils, and season to taste; if the sauce seems too thick, loosen with some of the reserved pasta water. Tip the mix into a baking dish.

In a separate bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, capers, olive oil and nutritional yeast, if using, then scatter over the top of the pasta. Bake for 15 minutes until the top is golden and crisp. Serve straight from the dish with a green salad or whatever bits are in the fridge.

• Max La Manna is a low-waste chef and author of You Can Cook This! published by Ebury at £22. To order a copy, visit guardianbookshop.com