A real pot of leftovers, this one. Tons of stuff in the cupboard, fridge and freezer that all needed using up. Leave it in the casserole, come back hours later… lovely.
Pork and chestnut casserole:
500g pork shoulder, chopped
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 carrots, diced
2 courgettes, diced
100ml marsala wine
1 teaspoon paprika
2 sprigs rosemary
50g chorizo
250g cooked chestnuts
2 tins tomatoes
500ml chicken stock
For the polenta:
100g quick-cook polenta
400ml vegetable stock
5 dried wild mushrooms
Preheat the oven to 140°C.
In a large casserole, fry the pork in batches until browned. Remove to one side while you gently fry the onions and garlic in the same pan.
When softened, turn the heat up, add the marsala wine and bubble furiously. When the wine has reduced, add the pork, carrot, courgette and paprika and give a ruddy good stir. Throw in the rosemary, chestnuts, chorizo, tomatoes and stock and stir thoroughly. Pop the lid on and leave in the oven for three hours. Check on it from time to time and add hot water if necessary.
For the polenta, first grind the mushrooms to a powder in a pestle and mortar. Get the stock to the boil in a saucepan and gradually add the polenta and mushroom dust in a steady stream, whisking all the time. Continue stirring for another two minutes and turn on to a cold plate.
When cool, cut the polenta into pieces and fry until browned and crisp. Serve with the casserole, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
Yet another risotto, I can’t get enough of them. Following a lovely roast chicken, I’m left with a gorgeous carcass with which to make glorious stock; and chunky chicken bursting with potential. I made a typical risotto bianco and towards the end added shredded chicken. Whilst I love a creamy, unctuous risotto it can be a touch bland so thinking about the garnishes of a Japanese Yaki Soba I set to a punchy, salty kick to round out the mouthful. I blitzed up streaky bacon and breadcrumbs to make a ruby powder that provides crunch and interest to every spoon.
Chicken risotto with bacon breadcrumbs:
1 onion, diced
A handful of risotto rice per person
Chicken stock, as required
100ml white wine
Shredded cooked chicken
25g butter
For the bacon breadcrumbs:
50g breadcrumbs
2 streaky bacon rashers
For the breadcrumbs, blitz the bread and bacon together until powdery, then fry on a high heat until browned. Drain on kitchen paper until needed.
Fry an onion in olive oil until softened.
Add the rice and toast for a minute. Pour in the white wine and cook over a high heat until reduced to a slight trickle.
Add the boiling stock a ladleful at a time. At each ladle wait until the liquid has almost disappeared before adding the next.
After 20 mins or so taste the rice and check that it is tender. If not, keep adding more stock.
When tender, add the butter and stir vigourously. Add the chicken and warm through.
The great British Sunday brunch-before-anybody-knew-it-was-called brunch: Bubble ‘n’ Squeak. After a successful roast with plenty of leftovers, is there any better way to put all those still-tasty morsels to good use? Crunchy and tasty, these are perfect little pick-me-ups. Served with a drizzle of leftover gravy too and some strong coffee, and breakfast gets little better than this. There’s no point listing a recipe for this, as it’s whatever there is to hand! There has to be potatoes, so mash these up with other veg lying about. I use a stick blender to mush it up a bit. Then with wet hands form them into little patties and fry in butter and oil until browned all over. Serve with either a splash of gravy or HP Sauce.
Geez my photography is getting worse. Sorry about that. I made this initially from Jamie Oliver’s 2008 Christmas special (made in that case with leftover turkey), and was surprised I didn’t blog it at the time. So here’s the repeat.
After a wonderful roast chicken for Sunday lunch, there were ample leftovers for this tasty pie. Fry chopped leeks in a lidded pan for about 20 minutes until soft and sweet, then season adding thyme leaves to the pot. Immediately its woody aroma bursts out of the pan and makes me think of really English food. Then leftover meat goes in to warm up, some cornflour and chicken stock. Then plenty of creme fraiche to make it thick and creamy.
Now the genius bit: sieve the whole mixture off, so you’re left with a sticky meat mix in one pot and a gloopy pale liquor in a jug. The meat goes back into a dish and is topped with pastry for a pie, and the sauce becomes a savoury gravy to serve with it. Amazingly good, honest food. Nice one, Jamie!
2 rashers smoked streaky bacon, the best quality you can afford, roughly chopped
½ bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
2kg leeks, finely sliced
800g cooked chicken
2 heaped tablespoons plain flour
2 pints chicken stock
2 tablespoons of crème fraîche
1 x 500g packet puff pastry
1 pack of cooked chestnuts
2 sprigs fresh sage, leaves picked
1 egg, beaten
Preheat your oven to 190°C.
Put your bacon in a large pan on a medium heat and add the thyme. Add a lug of olive oil and the butter and let it all fry off a few minutes. Add the leeks and fry them off for about 3 minutes so they are well-coated in the butter. Season and cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes to make sure they don’t catch.
When your leeks are ready, add the chicken meat to them and stir. Add the flour, mix it in well then pour in your stock and stir again. Add the crème fraîche then turn the heat up and bring everything back up to the boil. Have a taste and add a bit more salt and pepper if it needs it then turn the heat off. Pour the mixture through a sieve over another large empty pan and let the wonderful gravy from the mixture drip into the pan while you roll out your pastry.
Get a deep baking dish roughly 22 x 30cm. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with a bit of flour and roll your pastry out so it’s about double the size of your dish. Crumble the chestnuts over one half of the pastry then tear a few of the sage leaves over the chestnuts. Fold the other half of pastry on top then roll it out carefully and evenly so you have a rectangle big enough to cover your baking tray. Don’t worry if a few bits stick out here and there.
Spoon that thick leek mixture from your sieve into the pie dish and spread it out evenly. Lay your pastry on top, tuck the ends under then gently score the pastry diagonally with your knife. Add a pinch of salt to your beaten egg then paint this egg wash over the top of your pastry. Pop your pie in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown.
