THIS week the Love Food Hate Waste roadshow visited the borough to show residents how to be more creative in their kitchens and throw away less food. Cooking novice MICHAEL RUSSELL joined in to see if it is really as simple to make delicious dishes from the scraps that would normally only be feeding the dustbin.

WITH the double worries of tough economic times and the threat of climate change there has never been a better time to make more of the food we buy and throw away less.   But transforming left-overs into tasty meals is not that easy if you can't cook.

Or so I thought when I volunteered to take part in a cookery challenge in The Mount, Acton.

It was part of Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which saw celebrity chef Richard Fox visit with his mobile kitchen and spend Tuesday (22) showing the public easy recipes in action and answering questions.  

With an embarrassing lack of knowledge and confidence with cooking, I was the perfect choice to attempt to make a flatbread with some flour, water and everyday leftovers.    

I was pitted against council environment leader, Bassam Mahfouz, who claimed he could only make desserts.   I was surprised how easy it was to make a dough by adding water to the flour until I had the right consistency.

After adding salt, roasted garlic, dried Italian herbs and olive oil I mixed it together with my hands.   

I was a little wary cutting up some pre-cooked sausage, I still bare the scar from the last time I used a chef's knife working in a pub as a teenager. But this time there were no accidents, even though the large chunks of sausage made it look like I was creating a hot dog rather than a flatbread.  

Bassam's dough was mixed with chilli, (thinly sliced), Italian herbs, sausage and olive oil.  

After a quick fry both turned golden brown and we waited for the public vote.   

To my surprise we tied on the taste test, scoring five votes each.   

But our chef, perhaps best known for the ITV show Men Brewing Badly he made with Neil Morrissey last year, said Bassam's had the better consistency.   Despite the defeat, the experience has inspired me to get more creative with what I find in my fridge and cupboards - maybe with the money I save I can invest in a cookery course.

Love Food Hate Waste is a government funded campaign which staged the event with the council.   The campaign estimates we throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food in the United Kingdom every year, costing the average family £680 a year and contributing enormously to the country’s carbon dioxide emissions.  

 For more food recipes, tips and information visit  www.lovefoodhatewaste.com   Further information on recycling is available on the council website:  www.ealing.gov.uk/recycling