It’s too late in the day to be offering dishes for the main event, I know. The thing about the days ahead, however (as no one who’s planning the food needs pointing out), is that there are So Many Meals. I particularly love the time after Christmas, however, because it’s the best of all worlds. There’s no pressure, for one, and the kitchen is seemingly stocked up for days. These are the recipes I’ll be turning to, then, to extend the taste of Christmas as much as possible. Some are classic “leftovers” recipes – bring on the Boxing Day toastie! – while others make use of the ingredients I seem to buy every year – chestnuts and pears, for example, not to mention the Christmas cake and custard – and that we often don’t get around to eating in the first place.
Christmas cake and apple pithivier
This hardly magics itself up, in the way that many so-called leftovers meals are often thought to do, but it very much extends the flavours of Christmas and, crucially, helps to make (a bit of) a dent in that darned Christmas cake. If you want, construct the pithivier the day before, then refrigerate and bake straight from the fridge.
Prep 30 min
Chill 30 min
Cook 40 min+
Serves 6-8
2 ready-rolled sheets all-butter puff pastry (23cm x 36cm; save any scraps to bake with cinnamon sugar)
1 egg, beaten
1½ tbsp demerara sugar
Custard, homemade or shop-bought, to serve
For the apples
2 granny smith apples (150g), peeled, cut in half, cored and thinly sliced
15g caster sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
For the frangipane
50g caster sugar
50g unsalted butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla bean extract
1 tsp lemon zest
50g ground almonds
25g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
⅛ tsp flaked sea salt
For the Christmas cake mixture
120g Christmas cake, crumbled
30g orange (or lemon) marmalade
Put the sliced apple in a bowl with the caster sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice, toss and set aside for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the frangipane. Cream the sugar and butter with a whisk, until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg. Whisk in the vanilla, lemon zest, ground almonds, flour, baking powder and salt, then set aside.
Put the cake and marmalade in a second bowl, use a fork to mash to a paste, then set aside.
Unroll one sheet of pastry and roll it out gently until it’s big enough to cut out a 23cm circle. Trim the excess off the circle, then brush it all over with beaten egg and prick all over with a fork. Transfer to a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and chill for about 20 minutes, until the egg has dried up
Meanwhile, roll out the second sheet of puff pastry in the same way, this time until you can cut out a 26cm circle, then refrigerate until needed.
To assemble, take the smaller pastry circle out of the fridge and spoon all the Christmas cake paste on top, leaving a clear 2cm border around the edge. Discard any liquid from the apples, arrange the slices on top in one even layer, then spoon the frangipane mixture over the fruit.
Carefully lay the second pastry circle on top and use your hands to press all around the edges in a cupping motion, to seal and to mould the filling into a dome. Being careful not to cut all the way through, use the tip of a sharp knife to score the pastry from the top all the way down to the base, then repeat a few times, so it’s marked a bit like a beach ball (see photograph). Using the flat side of the knife, press together the edges of the two pieces of pastry to scallop decoratively, or crimp them with a fork or just leave as is. Brush lightly with beaten egg, then, using the tip of the knife, cut out a ½cm hole in the top of the pastry dome and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Take the pithivier out of the fridge, brush again with egg, then sprinkle over the demerara sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden on top, then turn the tray around and bake for another 15 minutes, until deeply golden. Carefully transfer to a rack, leave to cool for at least 30 minutes, then slice and serve warm with custard.
Lentil, pear and chestnut salad
This is a lovely way to keep eating the flavours of Christmas after the big day itself has passed. Serve this just as it is or with slices of leftover ham or turkey; a few cubes of leftover stilton (or other blue cheese), roughly crumbled on top, would make a nice finishing touch, too.
Prep 5 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 6
2 conference or williams pears
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp apple cider (or cider) vinegar
75ml olive oil
Fine sea salt and black pepper
1 x 180-200g packet ready-cooked chestnuts, crumbled into roughly ½cm pieces
8 sage leaves, roughly chopped
1½ tbsp rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
2 x 400-500g packets ready-cooked puy lentils
20g parsley, roughly chopped
25g watercress
Peel the pears, quarter them lengthways, then carefully cut out and discard the cores. Dice the fruit into ½cm pieces, then put them in a bowl with the lemon juice, vinegar, a tablespoon of oil and a good crack of pepper. Mix to combine and set aside.
Put the remaining 60ml oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, add the chestnuts, sage, rosemary and a teaspoon of salt, and fry for three minutes, until the herbs have crisped up and the chestnuts are lightly coloured but still soft.
Add the lentils, fry for two minutes, until warmed through and well coated, then take off the heat and leave to cool for five minutes. Stir in the parsley and the pear mixture, transfer to a platter, scatter the watercress on top and serve.
Christmas toastie with coriander salsa
Get the mayonnaise and salsa in place and then let everyone make up their own perfect leftovers toastie as they like: roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, charred sprouts … anything goes. And while it seems as if the toastie gets a long time in the pan, do sit tight: it’s essential to get it as golden brown as you want. The salsa will keep for up to three days in the fridge, if you want to make it in advance or make extra.
Prep 15 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 2
For the salsa
60g coriander, roughly chopped
1 large green chilli, stalk removed and discarded, the rest roughly chopped (remove the pith and seeds, too, if you prefer less heat)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
60ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper
For the toastie
2 slices sourdough – we used Jason’s ready-sliced
60g mayonnaise
100g jarslberg or gruyere, thinly sliced or grated
300g Christmas roast leftovers – we used a mixture of turkey, ham and stuffing
60g cranberry sauce
Put all the ingredients for the salsa in a food processor with half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper, blitz until almost smooth, then transfer to a bowl.
Spread both sides of each slice of bread with mayonnaise, then spread a tablespoon of the salsa on one side of each slice. Top one slice with half the cheese followed by half the Christmas roast leftovers, then spoon over all the cranberry sauce. Arrange the remaining leftovers on top, scatter over the remaining cheese, then put the second slice of bread on top, salsa side down.
Put the sandwich in a large frying pan on a medium heat, lay a sheet of baking paper on top of the toastie, and top that with a large, heavy pan. Cook the toastie for five minutes on each side, until deeply golden, taking great care when flipping it over. Remove from the pan, cut in half diagonally and eat with any remaining salsa alongside, for dipping.
