This year I cooked my very first turkey. I was cooking for 7
and following advice from my mother bought a turkey that fed 8-10. Now, I probably
should have realised that following advice from my mother would entail in rather
large portions, but I did not realise how big turkeys are! Even after some
pretty hefty platefuls I still had enough to feed a small army so my quest this
week is to use it up. I should note at this point I cooked this on 21st
and froze it whilst I went away for Christmas, as such I didn’t have any cooked
veg leftover but if I did I’d have thrown them in at the same time as the
turkey all chopped up. I had some fine beans left from our fake Christmas (which
were an entirely unnecessary purchase as I already had far too much food and
therefore didn’t even get cooked) so I used them up in this along with 3
leftover baby courgettes. You could use any number of other vegetables in this;
carrots, green peppers, sprouts, cabbage, parsnips whatever you’ve got
available really. Add the harder veg just after the leeks and the softer veg
near the end and you’ll be grand. I also cooked this in goose fat for that
added touch of decadence and it’s actually far healthier than many of the other
fats.
Ingredients
Leftover turkey *
500g leeks
250g mushrooms
250g extra fine beans
200g bacon lardons **
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2-3 sprigs thyme
Sprig fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon dried sage
½ teaspoon dried oregano
2 heaped tablespoons flour
1 litre chicken/veg/turkey stock***
About 100 ml double cream
300g puff pastry ****
1 egg, beaten
*use whatever you have left and add more veg if necessary to
bulk it up. I used about 700g
**if you have cooked a ham/gammon then you can use that
instead of these
***I actually used half chicken soup and half vegetable
stock
****you can get this already rolled to make this super easy!
Dice the onions and garlic, finely chop the leeks and beans
and halve or quarter the mushrooms depending on size. Shred or pull apart the
turkey into chunks.
Heat a small glug of oil/knob of butter/blob of goose fat
(delete as applicable) on high and add the lardons. Cook until the fat on the
bacon is melting, moving occasionally to ensure they don’t burn or stick, and
turn the heat down. Once starting to brown add the onions, leeks and garlic.
Cook with the lid on, stirring occasionally, for about 30
minutes, until the mixture is about a third of its original volume.
Add the
mushrooms and beans and continue to cook for another five minutes or so.Whilst this is cooking take out your pastry and roll out to
about ½ cm. Add turkey, herbs and
mustard and mix to ensure everything is moist before adding the flour and
mixing again.
Once the flour is incorporated slowly add the stock and turn
the heat up. Add the cream, bring it to the boil and then turn off the heat and
taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as you see fit.
Using a slotted spoon fill your pie dish with the filling, keeping the excess liquid to serve with pie, cover
with pastry and cut off any excess. You can add an extra strip around the edge,
pinching it to the dish if you have enough leftover.
Cut a cross in the middle
of the pastry to allow steam to escape (you can also slash it across diagonally
if you prefer), glaze with a beaten egg and cook in a hot oven (200-220 C)
until golden and crisp.
