RECIPES TO USE UP THOSE PESKY PACKS OF FOOD IN YOUR FREEZER

If you are doing a big spring clean this year and have started tackling your kitchen, you may find lots of ingredients in your freezer which you have no idea how to use up.

Many of us fall into the trap of realising meat or other food items are about to run past their ‘use by’ date, so throw them into the freezer, never to be seen again.

However, this can be a fantastic source of ingredients for mouth-watering meals, which is particularly useful when the pursestrings are feeling a tad tight.

It is important to remember how long certain meats can be kept in the freezer, to avoid any health implications. According to the Government’s food safety group, these are the lengths of time different raw meats can be frozen safely for

Bacon - one month

Sausages - one to two months

Burgers - three to four months

Steaks and chops - four to 12 months

Whole chicken or turkey - one year

Chicken or turkey pieces - nine months

Fatty fish - two to three months

Lean fish - six to eight months

Here are a few recipes you could sample in order to use up some of the frozen produce you may come across in your freezer.

Quick And Easy Minestrone Soup

INGREDIENTS

1l hot vegetable stock

400g tinned chopped tomatoes

100g thin spaghetti

350g frozen mixed vegetables

This very quick and easy to make minestrone soup is a fantastic way to use up any frozen vegetables you may find in your freezer.

Directions

4 tbsp pesto

Olive oil

Start by bringing the stock to a boil with the tomatoes, then add the spaghetti and leave to cook for roughly six minutes. Just before the pasta is ready, add your mix of vegetables. Leave the whole pan to simmer for two minutes.

Serve this in bowls drizzled with pesto and oil for flavour and sprinkle over some parmesan cheese if you wish.

You can also portion any leftover soup and freeze for up to three months, for an easy and simple lunch idea.

Coconut Fish Curry With Rice

SERVINGS 4 PREP 10 mins COOKING 20 mins

INGREDIENTS

250g frozen white fish

1 lime

1 tsp ground turmeric

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion

1 tbsp ginger

3 garlic cloves

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chilli flakes

2 tbsp tomato puree

250g diced butternut squash

200ml coconut milk

2 tbsp tamarind paste

Small bunch of coriander

Cooked rice

Here is a mouth-watering and simple way to use up some frozen white fish. This recipe uses multiple ingredients which are freezable, as well as a number of spices, meaning you may already have the ingredients in your kitchen, just waiting to be put together.

DIRECTIONS

Tip the fish into a large bowl and add ½ of salt and plenty of black pepper, half the lime juice and turmeric, before stirring and setting aside.

Heat a frying pan with oil and cook the onion until soft. Add the ginger, garlic, salt, spices and remaining turmeric and cook for two minutes. Stir in the tomato puree and cook for a minute. Tip the butternut squash and sweet potato mix into a heatproof bowl with a splash of water, before covering and microwaving for three minutes. Add the mix into the pan and stir to combine.

Add the coconut milk, 180ml of water, the tamarind paste, salt, black pepper and leave this to simmer for up to 12 minutes until thick. Add the fish into the sauce and cook for six minutes until the fish appears opaque. Break the fish up and stir in the remaining juice before serving with rice.