Liberal Democrat Gary Malcolm shares cost cutting recipes

Cllr Gary Malcolm with Aglio e Olio

An Acton Councillor with a passion for cooking is sharing his recipes in a bid to show that good meals needn't be expensive.

Southfield Liberal Democrat, Gary Malcolm, cites cooking and baking amongst his hobbies and often posts photos of many of his tasty creations on social media.

The Councillor says 2020 has had a huge financial impact on many and has highlighted the work of local churches and charities like Acton Homeless Concern which Southfield ward forum helped fund last year.

He says he's aware that residents in the ward have lost jobs, others been affected by furlough, and many are surving on benefits, so cutting costs is crucial:

" In the first lockdown I worked in travel and was made redundant so it was very stressful having to find a job whilst trying to eat healthy and keeping to a budget. I found that you can make lots of reasonably simple recipes that taste great without expensive ingredients. There are lots of recipes online as well. I also visited some of my local fruit and vegetable shops that I had not visited too often to get some healthy ingredients which made meals so much more tasty."

He recommends keeping meals simple, batch cooking and freezing (where possible).


This recipe below serves two people.
The cost per person is £1.30p or £1.70p for meat version

Aglio e Olio
(Pasta Olive Oil and Garlic)

Ingredients: 250g Linguine 5 cloves of garlic sliced Teaspoon of chilli flakes Three tablespoons of olive oil 30g of cheese (Pecorino or Parmesan is ideal) 2 slices bacon chopped up or 50g of pancetta Teaspoon lemon juice 4 tomatoes cubed Bag of Watercress or rocket salad

Instructions: 1. Cook the linguine in a large pot of salted boiling water as per the packet (usually 10-11 minutes) stirring to make sure it does not stick to each other.
2. If you are cooking the meat variety then fry the pancetta or the two cut up bacon slices using a little oil for a few minutes until crispy then take out and keep at the side in a bowl.
3. Peel the garlic cloves and slice up into medium sized slices and fry on a low heat for 5 minutes stirring so that they do not colour.
4. Grate the cheese onto a small plate so that is ready for later.
5. Prepare the side salad by slicing up the tomatoes and adding in bowl with the watercress or rocket leaves. Pour over some olive oil and mix so it coats the salad.
6. When the pasta is a minute from being ready scoop out a cup of pasta cooking water and keep on the side for now
7. If you are using the bacon add this back to the garlic in the pan and stir. Add a teaspoon of chilli flakes and stir again.
8. Taste the pasta to check it is not firm and then drain the pasta when ready and add to the pan containing the garlic. Mix.
9. Add a tablespoon of olive oil over the pasta mix and mix.
10. Add some of the kept pasta water so that it is a little wet and silky.
11. Taste and add salt, pepper and one tea spoon of lemon juice (helps freshen up the recipe) to taste.
12. Plate into bowls or plates and then add the grated the cheese over the top. 13. Eat!
Ingredients: 250g Linguine 5 cloves of garlic sliced Teaspoon of chilli flakes Three tablespoons of olive oil 30g of cheese (Pecorino or Parmesan is ideal) 2 slices bacon chopped up or 50g of pancetta Teaspoon lemon juice 4 tomatoes cubed Bag of Watercress or rocket salad
This recipe serves two people. The cost per person is £1.30p or £1.70p for meat version

November 29, 2020

Annemarie Flanagan