RECIPES: 4 ways to best use your holiday leftovers

Turkey Tetrazzini Soup. Picture: The Recipe Rebel

Turkey Tetrazzini Soup. Picture: The Recipe Rebel

Published Dec 20, 2021

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One of the best parts of the holiday is gathering around the table to indulge in delicious food. But long after the full tummies, you are left with container upon container of the leftovers.

Here’s how best to use your holiday leftovers.

Make mini rice cups with leftover rice.

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked rice

1 tbsp of flour

¼ onion

A pinch of cinnamon and dried parsley

¼ cup of cold water

Method

Pop all ingredients into the food processor, and you get a rice dough. Create those cup-shaped kibbehs and you can either fry or bake them until they are golden.

For the stuffing, you can add spiced ground beef or chicken.

Make turkey tetrazzini soup with leftover turkey

Ingredients

4 slices bacon chopped

½ small onion diced

½ tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp flour

5 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk divided

1 375g box whole wheat spaghetti, broken in thirds

3 cups chopped cooked turkey

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried parsley

1 ½ cups frozen peas

Method

In a large pot, fry bacon over medium-high heat until cooked but not totally crisp. Add diced onion and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add flour and stir until absorbed by the bacon fat.

To the pot, add broth, 2 cups milk, spaghetti, turkey, salt, and parsley. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium and cook for 7-8 minutes until spaghetti is al dente.

Stir in peas and turn to remove soup from heat. Serve.

Recipe by The Recipe Rebel.

Make citrus fruits in a sparkling wine jelly with leftover wine

Ingredients

1 medium orange

1 medium grapefruit

1 lemon

50g caster sugar

2 leaves gelatine

375ml sparkling wine

Method

Segment the orange and grapefruit, making sure no pith is left on the segments, cut each segment into 3 small equal pieces, refrigerate separately.

Zest the lemon, try to get long zest pieces.

In a small pot, add the 50g sugar and 50ml water and bring to the boil, add the lemon zest and simmer for 6 minutes to candy, drain off the syrup, and lay the candied zest on parchment paper.

Soften the gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes. In a small pan, warm 50ml of the sparkling wine, take off the heat.

Drain the gelatine, squeeze out excess water and whisk into the warm sparkling wine to dissolve, then stir in the rest of the sparkling wine.

Pour into a jug and place in a fridge as soon as the wine starts to thicken into jelly, pour it into chilled shot glasses, working quickly, push the segments in the semi-set jelly at different depths, so the segments appear to be floating in the glass.

Refrigerate to set fully for at least 2 hours.

Serve with candied zest on top of the glass.

Make a bowl of soup from the leftover stew

Ingredients

2 x large onions fine chopped

4 x large carrots sliced into cubes

1 x bunch celery fine chopped

1 x bunch leeks thin slices

5 x cloves garlic minced

4l beef stock

500g lentils (partly cooked)

500g whole peeled tin tomatoes

1 x tomato paste

200g grated Parmesan

Method

In a hot pot, sweat your veggies.

Add garlic and tomato paste and lentils, cook until the pasta starts sticking to the pot.

De-glaze with beef stock.

Add tomatoes and stew mix. Stir until the stew has been mixed.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour or until thick for soup consistency.

Dish soup up and add grated parsley over before serving.