The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers (36 page)

For individual pasties, cut out pastry circles about 15cm in diameter, fill them, fold them in half to form a half-moon shape and then lightly push down all around the edges to seal.

Bake at 200°C/Gas Mark 6 until crisp and golden.

One-crust pies
Fill a pie dish half full. For a large pie, place an upside-down eggcup or a pie funnel in the middle of the dish to help support the pastry lid. Then roll out the pastry to about 3-5mm thick and cut a ribbon from round the edge to fit the rim of the dish. Dampen the rim with a little water and press the pastry ribbon on to it, trimming to fit if necessary. Brush this pastry edge with water, then cut out a pastry top slightly wider than you need, place it over the pie and press it down firmly on to the pastry below it, using your fingers or the blade of a blunt knife. Trim off any excess pastry. Make a small cut in the top of the pastry to let the steam out. I use leftover pastry to make decorations of flowers or leaves – just brush them underneath with milk or egg and stick them to the pastry lid. Then brush milk or egg all over the pie to give it a shiny golden crust once baked. Bake at 200°C/Gas Mark 6 until crisp and golden.

Tarts
Roll out the pastry to 3-5mm thick, then lift it up on the rolling pin and gently fit it into a tart tin or ceramic flan case, pushing it into the edges and making sure no air is trapped inside. Let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes or so. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Trim off the overlapping pastry, then prick the base all over with a fork. Line the base and sides with a sheet of baking parchment and fill with baking beans, or with ordinary dried beans or rice, to bake ‘blind’. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the paper will lift off the pastry easily. Return to the oven without the paper and beans for about 5 minutes longer, until the pastry is lightly golden. Leave to cool before adding the filling.

You can also use spare pastry trimmings to make jam tarts or mince pies. Squish the trimmings into a ball and roll out. Cut into rounds slightly larger than the holes in your tart tin and gently press them in. Add a level teaspoon of jam or mincemeat and bake in an oven preheated to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 for 7-10 minutes.

No-tin tarts for fruit
Puff pastry, cut into one large or several smaller rectangles, is brilliant for making simple fruit tarts or
galettes
. Roll the pastry out to 3-5mm thick, then trim the sides to make a rectangle. Place on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, score a line 1cm inside each edge to make a border, then either simply spread jam on the pastry or just top it with sliced fruit and scatter over some sugar, being sure to keep the filling within the border. Bake at 200°C/Gas Mark 6 for 10-15 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Filo pastry
Available in frozen packs, sheets of filo pastry are essential for making Greek or Middle Eastern pies such as the filo pie on
page 123
, but could also be used for any of the recipes in this section. Filo needs to be brushed with oil or melted butter before use to prevent it drying out. Since it is so fragile, you need to work fairly quickly or it will become brittle. Keep the stack of pastry sheets under a clean, damp cloth, taking out one sheet at a time to layer into your dish. As a general rule, you will need two or three layers for the base and top of any pie.

Cheese straws
Puff pastry is best for cheese straws. Roll out the pastry and grate some fairly strong Cheddar or Gloucester cheese on top of it. Fold the pastry in half and roll it out again. If you want very cheesy straws, you can repeat the process. Otherwise cut the cheesy pastry into strips around 7.5 x 2.5cm. Brush with milk or beaten egg and bake in an oven preheated to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 for 7-10 minutes, until golden.

With pie fillings, you need to remember that leftover meat is short on juices so you will always have to add a little liquid – anything from wine to cream or stock. Let it simmer in the pan so that it reduces a little and you shouldn’t need any flour for thickening. I find it easiest and quickest to make all my pie fillings in a frying pan, and I prefer to leave creamy white and cheese sauces (see
page 32
) for bakes – though they do work brilliantly with leftover meat in vol au vents.

This recipe uses chicken but there are endless variations for making fillings with other leftover meat or vegetables. Almost all of them start with an onion and garlic base and, because the pastry itself is quite filling, you won’t need a great mound of meat or vegetables: a good rule of thumb is to allow about a teacupful of trimmed leftover meat per person. Work with what you have, and bulk it up with vegetables if you think you need more. You could turn any of these pie fillings into a baked dish by replacing the pastry with a top layer of herby breadcrumbs or mashed potato (see
pages 94
-
5
).

Serves 2

oil or butter for frying

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teacup mushrooms, sliced

about 1 teacup leftover vegetables, chopped small: potatoes, carrots, leeks, fennel and French beans are all good with chicken

a small glass of white wine or vermouth (or stock, if you prefer
)

a squeeze of lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons chopped thyme or parsley

1 teacup (about 100g) leftover chicken (or other poultry), torn into strips or chunks

2-4 tablespoons cream (this is one occasion when those single cubes of frozen leftover cream come in extremely handy – see
page 21
) ½ quantity of Shortcrust Pastry (see
pages 110
-
11
) if making a pie, 1 quantity of Shortcrust Pastry if making a pasty – or use 200g or 400g bought pastry respectively

a little beaten egg, or milk, for brushing

salt and pepper

Heat some oil or butter in a large frying pan, add the onion and garlic and cook gently until softened but not coloured.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they are tender and the liquid has reduced. Stir in the vegetables and cook for a minute or two.

Add the wine/vermouth or stock and the lemon juice and let it bubble for a minute or two, until slightly reduced. You can add more liquid if things are looking a bit too syrupy. Stir in the mustard and the thyme or parsley, then season to taste. Stir in the meat and enough cream to make the mixture moistly sloppy without being runny. Leave to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Roll out the pastry and use to make a pie or pasty, as described on
page 112
. Brush the pastry with egg or milk. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until crisp and golden.

Serve with a salad or, alternatively, with some shredded cabbage that has been boiled until just tender, then drained and tossed in a frying pan in hot olive oil with a good pinch of dried chilli flakes.

These are suggestions for delicious flavour combinations but of course this is about using up what you have around, so there is no need to stick rigidly to the ideas – particularly when it comes to which vegetables you choose.

Chicken, bacon and leek
Brown some chopped bacon and use a finely sliced leek instead of onion. Proceed as above but substitute cream for the wine/stock and omit the vegetables and mushrooms.

Turkey and ham
A perfect Christmas leftover pie. Substitute turkey and ham for the chicken. You could also add diced leftover roast vegetables, plus a couple of teaspoons of cranberry sauce or redcurrant jelly for a slightly sweet, syrupy sauce. Fresh tarragon tastes lovely with turkey.

Turkey and mascarpone
This is good for quite a quantity of meat so works better as a pie than a pasty. First sauté some leeks and mushrooms in a little oil until tender, then add the meat. Season with salt, pepper and mustard. Add a small tub of mascarpone or bought mushroom sauce and heat through. Any raw or cooked vegetables can be added, such as broccoli, carrots or beans – if they are raw, make sure they are diced small enough to cook in the time it takes for the pie to be ready.