However hard you try there are bound to be some leftovers after all that Christmas feasting.
Luckily you can transform them into yummy simple meals, just what you need after days of culinary excess.
Here are three recipes for cutting Xmas waste right down to the bone and making your food budget go further.
Hearty Christmas broth
- freeze the leftovers from Christmas dinner – including roasties, mash, meat and gravy – straight away so it stays nice and fresh
- hurl it into a large pan and stir in a pint of stock (or more, or less, depending how many leftovers you have and how thick you like your broth)
- shake in a generous amount of dried mixed herbs and freshly ground black pepper for a bigger, richer flavour
- add loads of garlic for extra cold weather oomph
- let it bubble gently until it’s piping hot
- serve with crusty bread or hot toast dripping with salty butter
Xmas Bubble and Squeak
- de-frost your Xmas dinner leftovers
- mash them together
- heat some oil
- fry the mixture until it’s crisp and brown on the outside, either in one lump or individual patties
- serve with a salad, peas or baked beans
Turkey and leek pie
- Pre-bake your pie base in the oven. I use ready-made pastry to save faff (and save face – my hand made efforts are always absolutely lamentable!)
- cut a few nice, big, crisp leeks into sections and steam them
- pop them into your pie, mixed with leftover turkey and fresh gravy
- add your crust and bung it in the oven ’til the crust goes brown