New research from Australian Lamb shows us that Aussies have started to fear leftovers with the majority of us (86 per cent) preferring newly made meals over the humble leftover, and almost half (48 per cent) thinking leftovers are not as inspiring the next day.

Foodie couple Darren Robertson and Magdalena Roze plan to help Aussies overcome FOLO (Fear of Leftovers). Here they have created a recipe to help turn leftovers into fresh and exciting meals the next day. Magdalena told The Carousel more about this project.

As parents to two young children, we always try to make meal times as easy as possible, meaning leftovers are a mainstay in our kitchen – if dinner can extend beyond one meal into two or three, that means less time in the kitchen for us and more quality time with the kids.

Leftovers are great not only to save time and money, but also to reduce waste – something that we are both very passionate about. While we love leftovers, we have found not everyone does, with research from Australian Lamb finding that one in four people are embarrassed to eat leftovers at work and 86% of Aussies prefer to eat new or purchased meals every day. This fear of leftovers (aka FOLO) is leading Australians to waste around 4.3 billion tonnes of food a year – roughly $1,036 per household.

To combat FOLO, we’re helping tackle the problem with some tasty lamb recipes and tips to help reduce food waste and turn a few of our family favourite’s into delicious leftover meals that are great for kids and entertaining too. Lamb is the perfect versatile protein that can be used for so many different recipes. From turning a roast lamb leg korma into mini pies or spiced lamb chops into pizza toppings, our hacks are easy to create and will leave the whole family happy for days.

Try this easy and delicious lamb dish – it’s perfect for a mid week meal.

SERVES 4

PREP TIME 20 mins

COOKING TIME 60 mins

Ingredients

400g lamb mince

3 tbsp olive oil

1 brown onion, peeled and chopped

2 gloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp honey

Half a pumpkin sliced horizontally across the middle and deseeded

1 tbsp olive oil

200ml yoghurt

3 tbsp macadamias chopped

1 handful mint, coriander and parsley, torn

Half a lemon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190oC. Season the pumpkin with oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking or roasting tray and bake in the oven for 45 – 50 minutes.
2. In a pot, heat the olive oil and sweat the onion and garlic on low mediumheat until soft. Remove the mix, turn up the heat, add more olive oil, then fry the mince until golden brown. Allow it to crisp up then add the onion and garlic mix along with the paprika and honey. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Spoon the lamb mince into the center of the cooked pumpkin. Garnish with macadamias, yoghurt and herbs. Drizzle with lemonjuice.