Cooking up a feast with social entrepreneurs

Running out of ideas to impress friends and families with your cooking? We asked two incredible social entrepreneurs for some simple recipes. Rubies in the Rubble is passionate about changing the way we deal with surplus food. They turn waste food destined for landfill into high-end relishes and chutneys. This winter look out for their Pear, Fig and Port Chutney. It's produced in collaboration with Fortnum & Mason and £1 from every sale will support Centrepoint, the homelessness charity for young people. Papi's Pickles provides incredible South Indian and Sri Lankan food and pickles. They work with unemployed women from these communities living in the UK, providing income, support and employment opportunities. In 2016, they successfully joined the Big Venture Challenge cohort to help grow their impact. From January you can find them in London's Borough Market Monday to Wednesday serving up delicious Sri Lankan street food.

Rubies in the Rubble PEARfect tart!

Rubies in the Rubble have developed a few recipes with to go with their Pear, Fig & Port beyond the classic and cheese and chutney. ""For a party, a savoury-sweet tart with blue cheese, walnuts and the Pear, Fig and Port chutney would be great. This Christmas, with our special edition chutney, Pear, Fig and Port, we've developed a PEARfect tart!""

Ingredients:

- 375g ready-rolled puff pastry - a jar of our Pear, Fig and Port Chutney - 150g of a strong blue cheese of your choice, we love Gorgonzola - 80g of walnuts, chopped - a drop of milk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C. The tart can be made into small tartlets or rolled out on a baking tray. To assemble, spread a generous amount of the chutney onto the pastry, then add the cheese, crumbled over the top and finish by scattering the chopped walnuts. Brush the pastry edges with the milk and pop in the oven to bake for 20 minutes, until nicely golden. Serve as an appetiser party-starter! ""We love this recipe not only because it is delicious, but also because it saves wonderful British pears from going to waste, whilst raising money for the important work Centrepoint do to help rebuild the lives of homeless young people.""

Papi's Pickles Parsnip Fritters

Radhi Mani, chef at Papi's Pickles, shares this incredible parsnip fritters recipe: Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Parsnips - 2 Rice flour – 100 grams Gram flour – 100 grams Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon (can be increased or decreased as required) Salt – 1 teaspoon (can be adjusted) Cumin powder – ½ teaspoon Freshly grated nutmeg – ½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda – ¼ teaspoon Water – as required Oil – enough to deep fry

Method:

Top tail and peel the skin of the parsnips. Slice them into long, thin wide strips and set aside. Sift the flours in a large bowl and add red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt, nutmeg & bicarbonate of soda. Add enough water to form a thick, smooth batter with no lumps! Heat oil over in a pan or if using a deep-fat fryer set the temperature to 180C. Once the oil is hot, dip the parsnip slices in the batter and drop them into the oil. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, turning occasionally, till golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Cook in batches with the rest of the parsnip slices. Serve immediately with a yoghurt dip, chutney or salsa!