Celebrity chef and Sunday Brunch presenter Simon Rimmer has shared his genius top tips for utilising your Christmas dinner leftovers. From the roast potatoes to the nut roast and even the Brussell sprouts, here are the former Strictly stars' top hacks for getting more than one delicious meal out of your festive roast.
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Brussell Sprouts
Brussell sprouts are an absolute staple of the Christmas table, and while they might not be everyone’s favourites, they are a fantastic versatile leftover. To make an ideal crunchy Boxing Day buffet side dish, mix a sliced onion, chopped sprouts, a tsp of chilli with gram flour and a little water to make sprout bhajis – mould these into spoonful-sized balls and fry for 5 minutes.
Nut Roast
The old buffet classic sausage roll isn’t just for meat-eaters in 2019 – if you’ve served a delicious nut roast for your vegetarian and vegan friends, simply mould any leftovers into sausage shapes and wrap them in pastry - shop-bought puff pastry works brilliantly for this, and keeps things much less fiddly! - to make delicious vegetarian sausage rolls. Spread with Flora Buttery to add a delicious vegan glaze to your pastry.
Roast Potatoes
Roast potatoes are usually the first to go on our Christmas table, but if you have over-catered they form the base for an amazing Boxing Day breakfast. Simply fry some onions in a pan with some Flora, then stir in your leftover potatoes to form a classic hash. You can then add absolutely anything you like to this – who says you can’t have pigs in blankets hash for breakfast? Alternatively, some paprika and chorizo gives a lovely smoky flavour if you need to cut through the richness of Christmas.
Vegetables
The cold days between Christmas and New Year are absolutely perfect for a hearty bowl of soup, and Christmas dinner gives you everything you need to make a really nice vegetable dish. Simply take your leftover carrots, parsnips and some roast potatoes to add thickness. Add some vegetable stock, a splash of your leftover gravy, and stir in some horseradish sauce for a kick. Then blend together until it forms a rich, smooth, thick soup. For an extra hearty dish just spread some Flora on fresh sourdough and enjoy!
A bit of everything
This one takes a bit of experimenting – but why not take the Christmas sandwich one step further and make yourself a Christmas leftovers burger? Combine your favourite leftovers (I love to mix turkey and stuffing, but any nut roast or meat substitute would work) in a bowl with an egg and some salt and pepper. Form it into a patty and fry in some Flora over a medium heat until cooked through. Pop in a bun with some cranberry sauce and you’ve got yourself the world’s most festive burger to see you through Crimbo Limbo season!
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