Could E.ON's 'low-energy recipe' hook-up with food expert really save you £146 a year?
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MOUTHWATERING recipes that could also save you some money on energy costs could become one of the culinary legacies of lockdown.
With cooking and baking enjoying a renaissance during the coronavirus as a result of people spending more time at home, a food expert has teamed up with an energy giant to offer some top tips about switching away from some of the electricity and gas guzzlers.
New research from E.ON suggests that more than a third of people have become aware of the amount of energy they’ve been using at home over the course of lockdown.
“Each element of every recipe, including appliances, methods and ingredients has been meticulously crafted to ensure that they’re making a real difference to the amount of power being consumed in the kitchen. Plus, our more energy efficient recipes could save you up to £146 per year. Who doesn’t love a saving?”
And more than half would change their cooking habits to become more sustainable to save energy if they knew how to.
E.ON has teamed up with Laura Jackson to create a series of recipes they say could help save up to £146 per year through new low-energy recipes.
The four recipes include a blend of energy-saving techniques, along with minimal waste ingredients to encourage a more sustainable way of cooking.
Simple energy saving hacks such as switching the oven for a bamboo steamer to cook her citrus salmon dish could save up to £35.65 a year, as well as slow cooking a leg of lamb rather than oven roasting which could save up to £50.25 a year.
Each recipe encourages home cooks to switch up the appliances they may usually reach for, as one in three survey respondents admitted they weren’t aware that different appliances consume varying amounts of power.
Laura Jackson said: “It’s been a fantastic opportunity to create these recipes alongside E.ON, whose energy expertise has allowed each dish to be crafted with sustainable practices that achieve meaningful results.
“Each element of every recipe, including appliances, methods and ingredients has been meticulously crafted to ensure that they’re making a real difference to the amount of power being consumed in the kitchen. Plus, our more energy efficient recipes could save you up to £146 per year. Who doesn’t love a saving?”
Amongst the other recipes are spicy vegan tomato pasta and a decadent chocolate cherry cake which can help save up to £60.78 combined.
E.ON’s energy efficiency expert, Paul Edwards, said: “Our research has shown that many Brits are more aware of how much energy they’re consuming at home over recent months and especially in the kitchen, as many of us are cooking more meals from scratch. We therefore wanted to provide people with a host of tips that would help them reduce energy waste.
“Sustainability is a passion of ours at E.ON; all of our residential customers’ electricity is backed by 100% renewable sources. We’re thrilled to have Laura on board to help create these new recipes and we hope that they will encourage people to think more broadly about how they can make other sustainable changes in the home.”
To view the recipes and for more information please visit eonenergy.com/spark/sustainable-recipes.
Laura will also be adding a little extra flavour by taking her Instagram followers through each recipe in her how-to demonstrations.
One-pot pasta with cherry tomatoes, red pepper, artichokes, capers and chilli (serves four)
Ingredients
Pasta
300g spaghetti
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped (approx. 50g)
½ tsp chilli flakes
450g cherry tomatoes, halved
10g thyme
A glug of extra virgin olive oil
975ml freshly boiled water
1 tsp veg stock powder or 1/2 stock cube, crumbled
3 tablespoon baby capers
2 whole roasted red peppers, finely chopped (jarred works well)
12 marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
To finish
40g grated parmesan or 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper
Drizzle of Olive oil
Method
Put the pasta ingredients into a large saucepan/sauté pan along with a pinch of sea salt. Cover the pasta ingredients with the water and put the pan on a high heat. Place the lid on the pan until you get a good rolling boil (2-3 mins).
When you have a rolling boil, carry on cooking the pasta for an additional 9-10 minutes. Continue to stir the pasta while it cooks. When the pasta is al dente, turn off the heat and carry on stirring. The residual heat will keep softening the pasta and the cooking liquid will have thickened to form a nice sauce.
Finish the pasta with the grated cheese or nutritional yeast. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and a glug of olive oil.
Use tongs to serve the pasta from the pan and spoon over the sauce. Top with extra parmesan if you wish.
