The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers (37 page)

Poultry with Middle Eastern spices
Season the softened onion with a good pinch each of ground ginger, allspice and cinnamon, adding a couple of strands of saffron, if you have it. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then stir in the meat. Instead of adding stock or wine, fork in a lightly beaten egg, a teaspoon of butter and a handful of finely chopped parsley. The egg should not become scrambled but just coat the other ingredients. This would be especially nice made with filo pastry (see
page 113
).

Pheasant or other game
Substitute leftover cooked game for the chicken. Add sliced leeks and/or mushrooms to the onion base and proceed as on the previous page but, instead of adding wine and lemon juice, make a little gravy with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a wineglass or so of stock.

Shredded roast duck
Duck is lovely mixed with a little browned pancetta or a handful of chopped cooked bacon and some potatoes (either diced leftover cooked ones or raw potatoes, peeled and diced very small, so that they cook properly). If you have some Marsala, remove the duck mixture from the pan once it is cooked, return the pan to the heat and add a good slug of Marsala. Let it bubble away for a minute while you stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Mix this syrupy liquid into your pie filling.

Pork with sharp apples
Once the onion has softened, add a peeled, cored and finely diced apple. To make the sauce, use a big teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a scattering of chopped tarragon in place of the thyme or parsley and vermouth rather than wine or stock. Let it bubble away for a good 30 seconds to reduce slightly and thicken, then stir in the pork.

Pork with mushrooms
Proceed as for the main recipe, substituting pork for the chicken and cream for the wine or stock. Pork and mushrooms on their own are quite delicious. As with other variations, though, add what you have to hand: finely sliced and softened fennel or red cabbage would be particularly good with this too.

Pork with parsnips
Leftover roast parsnips will give a real sweetness to this pie – alternatively, use a peeled and finely diced raw parsnip.

Ham and cheese
This works best as a pasty and is a great way of using up the end of a boiled ham. Once the chopped onion and garlic have been cooked, put them in a bowl with diced or torn ham. For an Italian-style dish add a good handful of grated Parmesan and a ball of mozzarella, cut into pieces. Fork in an egg and stir until the mixture becomes richly creamy. Season and add a tablespoon or so of fresh herbs – basil, chives or parsley would be nice. The mixture, as always, should be moist without being sloppy.

Beef and butterbeans (or root vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips and turnips)
Substitute beef for the chicken and replace the mushrooms with canned butterbeans or root vegetables. If the vegetables are raw, cut them into small dice and soften with the onion, then add the meat and heat through. Use a few strips of Bottled Roasted Peppers (see
page 44
) for sweetness and texture and some Bottled Dried Tomatoes (see
page 44
) or skinned diced fresh tomatoes, adding a wineglass or so of stock if the mixture looks too dry.

Steak and mushroom
It’s rare to have any leftover steak but if you do, this is a classic British pie. First brown a small handful of lardons or chopped bacon with the onion (or, even better, replace the onion with tiny whole peeled shallots just browned in oil). Add some raw kidneys, in small dice, if you like them, and then the leftover meat. Add a small glass of red wine and let it bubble for a couple of minutes. Finish with a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

Lamb and potatoes
Follow the main recipe, substituting lamb for the chicken and using either white or sweet potatoes, plus carrots, chopped oregano and parsley.

Tunisian filo pie with beef, lamb or dark poultry meat
Add some drained canned white beans, ground black pepper, a good pinch of ground cinnamon and a couple of strands of saffron to the softened onion. When they are warmed through, transfer to a bowl and add the shredded or diced meat. Break an egg into the mixture and mix with a fork until creamy. Brush sheets of filo with oil and make a pie in a small roasting dish, using 2 sheets of oiled pastry for the base, then adding the filling in the middle and a top layer of 2 further sheets of oiled filo. Prick lightly with a fork, brush with egg and bake as normal.

White fish
Use finely sliced leek instead of the onion and soften gently in butter rather than oil. Add diced raw potatoes and cook until softened (or use leftover potatoes, in which case they need no further cooking). Add the fish, along with a handful of defrosted cooked prawns if you have some to hand, and the crumbled or grated ends of a hard cheese such as Lancashire or Cheddar. Stir in some chopped parsley or chives.

Cheese
Filo pastry is an ideal medium for using up the ends of cheese, and pasties work well with this type of filling too. Cottage Cheese or Paneer (see
page 206
), Parmesan, mozzarella, goat’s cheese and hard cheeses will all be fine on their own or in combination. Cook the onion and garlic as for the main recipe and then leave to cool. Add about a teacup of cheese (grated or broken into small pieces) and some chopped chives or other herbs. Mix in an egg, then either wrap the mixture in oiled filo pastry sheets or make it into a pasty with shortcrust pastry. Bake as on
pages 114
-
15
.

Vegetables and cheese
Use either leftover cooked vegetables or lightly steamed, finely chopped raw vegetables. Cook the onion and garlic as in the main recipe, then add the vegetables and a roughly equal volume of grated cheese. Moisten the mixture with a little crème fraîche, stock or a beaten egg, then add herbs of choice. Lovely partnerships include broccoli or endive with crumbled blue cheese; parsnips and grated Parmesan; sweet potato, crumbled goat’s cheese and thyme; leeks, pumpkin, broccoli and grated Cheddar; spinach and Paneer (see
page 206
), Parmesan or ricotta.

Tourte berrichonne
Traditionally this is a double-crust potato and bacon pie, but the filling ingredients work brilliantly together in any kind of pastry and are lovely in a pasty. Cook some onion and garlic until softened, then add a teacupful or so of small cubes of raw potato or larger chunks of leftover cooked potato, along with a good handful of cooked chopped bacon and a tablespoon of chopped flat-leaf parsley. The Italian version of this pie includes finely sliced leeks, chopped tomatoes, capers and olives.

Mushrooms, garlic and bacon
Another wonderful combination. Cook the onion and garlic (using an extra garlic clove) until softened, then add some chopped bacon and fry lightly. Add sliced large mushrooms or whole small button mushrooms and cook until they are softened and the juices have reduced. Add a splash of white wine, let it bubble for a minute or so, then stir in about a tablespoon of single cream and some chopped parsley.

With pastry, a couple of eggs and some cream, vegetables that need using up are easily transformed into simple tarts, as is a handful of leftover meat. The amount of effort you make is up to you. For speed, you could use a bought pastry case or, if you want to use your own or frozen pastry, follow the instructions for baking pastry cases blind on
page 113
.

An easy variation on traditional quiche, easily adaptable for almost any kind of leftovers or vegetables.

Serves 4

1 quantity of Shortcrust Pastry (see
pages 110
-
11
) or a bought 20cm pastry case

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 onions – or, better, 1 red, 1 white, 2 shallots and a bunch of spring onions – finely chopped

a handful of chopped sage (optional
)

2 eggs

300ml crème fraîche or soured cream (or whole milk as a thrifty alternative
)

salt and pepper

Roll out the pastry and use to line a 20cm flan tin, then bake it blind (see
page 113
). Leave to cool while you make the filling.