Home cook, media personality and 2024 MasterChef contestant Alex Crisp won over Australians with her simple approach to food: tried and true techniques that hero fresh and seasonal ingredients.
While we love the sous viding, slow braising and flambéing of the MasterChef kitchen, we wanted to know: what does a MasterChef actually cook at home? Without the cameras, the challenges, and the seemingly never-ending supply of ingredients, what are the go-to recipes, last-minute dinners and one-pot wonders on repeat in their home kitchens? With an approach like Crisp's, can we all channel our inner MasterChef?
To find out, we partnered up with The Great Unwaste to chat to Crisp about all things home cooking: how she plans, shops for, and prepares meals, and how she avoids wasting food in her home kitchen.
As a self-proclaimed “feeder”, Crisp loves to cook in big batches so there's always plenty of food to carry her and her partner through multiple meals. That means Sunday calls for a big food prep day to see them through the week.
“Breakfast is simple and always the same in our household—eggs, avo and tomatoes,” Crisp says. “Dinner is where I like to get creative.”
Planning nightly feeds comes down to both the season and her cravings. “I like to wait until I’m actually in the store to decide on meals for the week,” Crisp explains. “I'm the queen of salads, and they’re never boring,” she adds. “Flavours and combinations change with the seasons, which keeps things interesting.”
More generally, though, Crisp likes to mix things up when it comes to weekly dinners. “It might be a hearty soup, a pasta, curry, or a simple protein and three veg kind of deal—something versatile that reheats well.”
“I actually think leftovers are often better than the original meal,” says Crisp. “I like to reimagine them into something new, like turning last night’s veggies into a frittata or using proteins and salad bits to make fresh rice paper rolls. It keeps things interesting and means nothing goes to waste.”
While her Sunday planning and grocery shopping are a vital part of Crisp’s weekly menu, she also reckons it’s important to stay flexible. “Even with the best intentions, we all end up with excess now and then,” she says. Whether you’ve had an impromptu dinner out, satisfied a takeaway craving, or way overestimated your pasta portions and now have three days of leftovers to get through, Crisp’s advice is to experiment a little with your extra ingredients.
“The key is not to see it as waste but as an opportunity to get creative,” she suggests. “Squishy capsicums can become antipasto or a pasta sauce, limp carrots can be pickled or juiced, an overload of cabbage practically begs to be turned into sauerkraut.”
“I try to see wilted or 'past their best' ingredients as an opportunity,” says Crisp. “Once you start experimenting, you realise how simple (and delicious) it can be to rescue produce most people would throw away.”
Her own go-to for a good fridge cleanout? A good frittata. “I’ll sweat down whatever veggies are on their last legs, add onion and spices, then pour over an egg mix and bake it all in the oven,” she says. “The result is a flavourful, healthy meal that’s perfect for grabbing on the go.”
Crisp recommends turning sad-looking veggies into pickles or stock, squishy fruit into compotes and jams and bread into crumbs for coating and topping. Beyond using up produce that's seen better days, she also saves on waste by using as much of each ingredient as possible: preserving citrus peels to later use as aromatics, and keeping leftover liquid from jars of pickles or marinated goods to turn into salad dressings and glazes.
Feeling inspired to get creative in your own kitchen? Head to The Great Unwaste for more on making the most of your ingredients.
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by The Great Unwaste and proudly endorsed by The Urban List. To find out more about who we work with and why read our editorial policy here.
Imagery: Supplied