Creative Ideas for Christmas Leftovers

If your dining table is groaning under the weight of excess catering, then don’t waste it! Let us show you how to creatively repurpose the extras into delicious next-day meals.

The first rule to reinventing food is to make sure that once you’re done eating it that you store it away in the fridge to keep it fresh. Those prawns that have sat out in the hot Summer sun while you went down the beach for hours – sorry, they’re not going to work. Have your Tupperware ready and get items back into the fridge when finished so they’ll be fine for later reuse.

Other tips include serving cold meats and prawns on a bed of ice, which helps retain freshness throughout the day and letting everyone dress their own salad, which means any leftovers don’t get soggy.

Turkey

Salad – Shred your leftover turkey meat and pop on a bed of spinach leaves with some cranberries or pomegranate for an enticing next day salad. You can even add toasted pine nuts or fetta and any number of other ingredients to make it more gourmet.

Pie – make a white sauce and throw in leftover turkey and other vegies. Drop the filling into a pastry shell and bake. Voila, delicious!

Risotto or Pasta – throw in any leftover turkey meat and a can of tomatoes, garlic and herbs. It’s that simple.

Freeze – slice or shred your leftover turkey meat and freeze it. Then you can add to future pies and pastas as you please.

Ham

Soup – make a scrumptious soup by simmering the ham bone in a pot of water for hours to extract the flavours for a tasty stock. Then add any extra ham pieces and other vegies such as peas or potatoes.

Sandwiches – you can’t beat ham on toast for breakfast or add a bit of cheese and tomato too for a juicy jaffle. Make it more posh by using Swiss cheese or gruyere and a little cranberry sauce or chutney.

Prawns

Paella – fry up your leftover prawns with rice and other veg and yum, you’re ready to go with a little bit of Spain on your plate!

Creamy Pasta – just add a little garlic, chilli and cream with your prawns in a pan and toss with linguine for a super easy dinner.

Sweet Treats

Reheat your mince pies and tarts the next day and enjoy! Smother in custard or ice cream if they’re a little dry or dust with icing sugar to refresh their presentation.

Turn your cake into trifle by alternating layers in a dish with cream and/or custard.

Leftover brandy sauce can be enjoyed as a delicious ice cream topping.  

Hope you enjoy your Christmas and the joys of LEFTOVERS!