Christmas leftovers recipes by Matt Preston, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Put all those Christmas leftovers to good use with these recipes from two of our best-loved celebrity chefs.

Turkey curry. From River Cottage: Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Bloomsbury, Hardback $45).

We get that youÂ’re too busy pushing a li-lo around the pool to cook a proper meal. But, as usual, you ever so slightly over-catered yesterday. So what to do with the remnants of the turkey and roast veg? And how to save all those lovely cherries Aunty Susie brought over? Here, from two of our favourite cooks, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Matt Preston, are three ways with leftovers that are really something else ...

Turkey curry

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Serves 6-8

To my mind, the lull between Christmas and New Year loses some of its savour if it isn’t fuelled at least in part by bowls of fragrant curry made from meaty leftovers. If turkey isn’t your thing, you can, of course, make this curry using chicken, lamb or beef.

2 tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil

2 onions, diced

3 garlic cloves, halved and sliced

2-3 tbsp homemade curry paste or a favourite
ready-made curry paste

Up to 400g roast carrots or parsnips (or use fresh ones), in chunky pieces

400ml tin coconut milk

200ml-300ml chicken stock or gravy

1 bay leaf (optional)

400g-500g roast turkey, white and/or dark meat, torn into large chunks

Juice of ½ lime

Generous handful of coriander and/or mint, tough stalks removed and roughly chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toasted cashews or flaked almonds, to finish (optional)

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based casserole over a medium-high heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and saute vigorously until they are softened and golden. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute.

Reduce the heat a bit, add the curry paste and stir for a minute, then toss in the vegetables and stir until they’re well coated in the fragrant, oniony curry mix.

Pour in the coconut milk and stock or gravy and stir well to combine with the spicy veg. Add the bay leaf, if using. If your pan is very large, you may need to add a bit more stock or water to cover, but don’t make it too soupy. You want the final mixture to be quite rich and thick.

Simmer for 10 minutes. If you’re using fresh rather than roast roots, simmer for an extra 5-10 minutes at this stage.

Now add the turkey and cook until thoroughly heated through, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and about half of the coriander and/or mint.

Scatter over the remaining coriander and/or mint, and the toasted nuts, if using. Serve with basmati rice, naan or flatbreads and

* This curry makes a great pie filling if you have any left over, or for curried turkey parcels, small amounts of leftover curry can be wrapped into wontons or enfolded into a pastie. Make sure they are baked until the filling is piping hot.

Roast root vegetable hummus

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Serves 2-4

This is a great snack or starter, served with crudites or warm flatbreads, or spooned into toasted pitas with salad and/or shredded cold meat. Use whatever leftover roast root veg are to hand, and if you have some roast onions or garlic, chuck those in, too.

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

100g-300g roast root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, celeriac and perhaps some roast onion

Juice of 1 small lemon

2 tbsp tahini or thick natural wholemilk yoghurt

2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil, plus extra to finish

1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ tsp cumin seeds, bashed, or a good pinch of ground cumin, plus extra to finish (optional)

Good pinch of dried chilli flakes, plus extra to finish (optional)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a food processor, whiz the chickpeas, root veg, lemon juice, tahini or yoghurt, oil, garlic, cumin and chilli flakes together until fairly smooth. If it’s too thick, thin with some hot water until you get the consistency you like.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon the hummus into a bowl or on to a plate, sprinkle with a good pinch of crushed cumin seeds and chilli flakes, if you like, and trickle on some olive or rapeseed oil.

Sealed in a container, this hummus keeps well in the fridge for up to a week.

* You can use leftover home-cooked chickpeas if you like: 250g cooked chickpeas is roughly equivalent to what you get in a 400g tin. If you don’t have chickpeas, cannellini or butter beans work well, too.

From River Cottage Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Bloomsbury, $45).

Cherry clafoutis

Matt Preston

Pictured on our cover; serves 6-8

This classic French dessert originates in the Limousin region of France, with the name coming from the local dialect word that means “to fill”. It should be noted that a clafoutis can be made only with cherries and if you make it with any other fruit it’s a flaugnarde. Please remember to remind your friends of this if they ever have the temerity to offer you a quince or apricot clafoutis. You will be making them wiser cooks and no one ever begrudges that sort of mentorship, do they?

200ml milk

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

80g plain flour

70g unsalted butter, melted

400g cherries, pitted

40g butter, roughly chopped

icing sugar, to dust

Preheat the oven to 200C and generously butter a round, shallow baking dish, about 23cm in diameter.

Combine the milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, salt and flour in the bowl of your food processor and pulse briefly. Pour in the melted butter and pulse to combine and form a batter.

Spread the cherries over the base of the buttered baking dish. Pour the batter over the cherries and bake for 10 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 175C and dot the chopped butter over the surface of the clafoutis. Return to the oven for another 25-30 minutes, or until the batter is cooked through.

Serve the clafoutis warm, with a dusting of icing sugar.

From The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better by Matt Preston (Pan Macmillan, $40)