After hosting Christmas lunch or dinner, you might find yourself elbow deep in leftovers. If you can’t convince guests to take a plate home, these clever recipes for your leftover turkey, ham, vegetables and Christmas Pudding will help!
Turkey Nuggets
For a post-Christmas party nibble, or just a tasty snack, dip turkey pieces in a beaten egg, then roll in wholemeal breadcrumbs (or panko crumbs if you have them) and oats. Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes at 230°C.
Ham and Asparagus Puffs
These ham and asparagus puffs can be used as party food or are great for a picnic treat.
Ingredients
- 500g puff pastry, thawed if frozen
- 250g asparagus
- 6 slices of ham
- 50g walnut pieces, roughly chopped
- olive oil
- beaten egg to glaze
Method
Preheat oven to 220°C.
Roll out pastry to a rectangle, approximately 42cm x 28cm and trim edges. Cut into six equal squares and place on a lined baking sheet.
Trim the hardened ends of the asparagus and divide into six equal bunches. Wrap a slice of ham around each bunch.
Brush the pastry with the beaten egg, lay one bundle diagonally across each square corner to corner and sprinkle lightly with a few chopped walnuts.
Fold in side corners to form a wrap around the bundle and brush the top pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle with more walnuts.
Bake for 15–18 minutes until pastry has risen and is golden brown.
Christmas Pud Ice Cream
This is a great recipe for using up the leftover Christmas pudding that everyone feels far too full to eat. The best part is that storing this ice cream in the freezer means you can enjoy your Christmas Pudding long after Christmas is over.
Ingredients (serves four)
- 150ml chilled ready made custard
- 150ml whipped cream, whipped
- 125g crumbled Christmas pudding
- liquor such as brandy, rum, whiskey or Irish cream
Method
Mix together the custard and whipped cream then stir in the crumbled Christmas pudding. Freeze in a large plastic tub and stir every half hour or so until it’s the consistency you want. For a softer freeze, add your liquor of choice. Serve with brandy snap biscuits.
Bubble and Squeak
A great dish to serve for lunch, using leftover vegetables from Christmas dinner.
Roughly mash up leftover potatoes, sprouts, roasted parsnips and carrots. You can also add some ham if you like.
Fry some onions in oil in a large frying pan and press the mash mixture on top and cook until brown and then turn over, brown the other side, making sure the mixture is warm through. Serve cut into wedges with a green salad on the side.
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