MasterChef Elena's winning kitchen hacks for home cooks

Time is short, and you need to bang out a stand-out dish to impress the judges. Judges being the Jones', the in-laws, or even just a trio of fussy family members. Your mother-in-law can sniff out a jar of pasta sauce from 50 paces and the kids will scream at you if you try to serve up that vegie-laced lasagne yet again. Also, the crisper is down to the scrappy bits and throwing on "real clothes" to nip to the supermarket is a step too far. But, not all hope is lost.

To win MasterChef Australia you need to be, among other things, queen of the quick fix. Elena Duggan, who was crowned winner of the 2016 season on Tuesday, has a go-to guide of quick kitchen hacks that are perfect when you need to amp up the flavour in short amount of time (think Mystery Box) or only have a small arsenal of ingredients to turn out a tricked-up meal.

Maggie Beer and Alla Wolf-Tasker are her kitchen heroes, so naturally, her approach is all about minimal food waste, simple flavours and home-style cooking, too.

1. Whatever the question, pesto is always the answer

"I love a good pesto," Duggan says, "It depends on how much time you have, but I like to roast a whole head of garlic first and then whiz it up with basil and pine nuts. It adds a creamy texture, and makes it really sweet and caramelised.

"A whole roast lemon works well, too. Roasting softens the acidity, so again, it becomes really creamy."

Both of those versions work a treat over home-made noodles, zucchini noodles, bruschetta, or a simple penne, she adds.

2. Apply nose-to-tail thinking to vegetables

Sadly, there isn't a vegetable equivalent to meltingly soft beef checks.You do, however, get a riot of textures.

"At home, I love to minimise waste; if you have a whole pumpkin, use the whole thing," Duggan says.

"When you roast a pumpkin, strip the skin first and roast it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then dehydrate the seeds - that gives you three different textures and flavours and intensifies the pumpkin flavour.

"For cauliflower, grate the florets into rice, pickle the stems, serve the leaves in a vinaigrette and make a puree with butter cream - that gives you four textures and flavours. Add some seared scallops and bacon, and you have a beautiful dish."

3. Use your slow-cooker for awesome sauce

Don't discard anything. Roast bones, carrot peels, onion ends. Stash it in the freezer like a culinary hoarder, and then pull it out when you're in a bind.

"Put everything in the slow-cooker at the start of the day, and then come home, strain it and reduce it for a beautiful sauce," Duggan says.

"Don't ever discard your bones, put them in their with your vegetable scraps - carrot peels, leftover celery, whatever you have - and then some leftover stock to get the flavour going. It's just going to get more and more delicious.

"You might put some alcohol in there, depending on what you want to serve it with, or strain it and then deglaze in the pan, season with a little dijon and add some butter for a nice mouthfeel."