he general rule for uncooked rice is to use about 80g per adult but I still nearly always cook too much of it and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. Despite the fact that its price has rocketed recently and its scarcity has brought down governments, the latest statistics suggest that we throw away around 85,000 tonnes of it a year in the UK. Like pasta, it provides an almost instant meal in itself but – unlike pasta – it’s endlessly versatile: there are even dishes that have to be cooked with cold leftover rice (fried rice is a case in point, but I have to warn you to be careful when reheating rice: check out p 168 of The Thrifty Cookbook).

The recipes in this section don’t just use leftover rice and pasta – they also  show you some ideas for using both from scratch as vehicles for the usual array of leftovers or tired vegetables.