NEW WAYS WITH LEFTOVERS

Turkey sandwiches have their place, but Rosie Birkett has fresh ideas for what’s left of Christmas dinner

Leftovers are the exhausted home cook’s best friend. At Christmas, when there’s so much catering to do, they really come into their own.

While I’m the first to admit that a Boxing Day turkey sandwich is up there with Christmas lunch itself as one of my favourite meals of the year, I’m always looking for new ways to use up anything that’s left. These recipes will help you make use of pantry ingredients, plus the Christmas leftovers many of us will have lurking around.

I tend to go all out for Christmas lunch. I cook turkey once a year, and to mark the occasion, I splurge on a flavourful, slow-grown bird, with all the trimmings. I make a couple of different stuffings – one fennel and sausagemeat, one with watercress and chestnuts – as well as crispy goose-fat roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots and bacon-wrapped sausages. I always cook more than we can eat. The logic is, if I’m going to spend a couple of days prepping and cooking a celebratory feast, I want the days that follow to be spent at least partially with my feet up, not having to worry about what’s in the fridge. There are games of Scrabble to be played, films to watch and friends and relatives to catch up with, whether in real life or over Zoom. All of this is facilitated by making tasty meals using food that’s already been cooked.