When Christmas rolls around, everyone is so focused on the menu for the big day that it’s easy to overlook what happens after.
Given that a disproportionate amount of the UK’s total food waste for the year is chucked away during the festive period – 2 million turkeys (if you can get your hands on one), 5 million Christmas puddings and 74 million mince pies – it’s just as important to plan recipes for your leftovers as it is the big feast.
But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck to reruns of roast dinner up until new year – in fact, it’s an opportunity to get creative.
From a pigs in blankets pasta to a sprout and pancetta chow mein, this month’s Budget Bites column – where we’ve teamed up with Sorted Food to bring you easy, affordable and (most importantly) tasty recipes once a month – is dedicated to turning Christmas classics into speedy suppers.
And just in case you don’t want to wait until after Christmas to add a bit of festive fun to your weeknight dinners, we’ve also provided a handy shopping list with ingredients that are used across all recipes to minimise food waste.
Leftover pasta cooking water is key here to help achieve a glossy sauce, so don’t throw it away after draining the pasta!
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
40g diced pancetta
4 pork sausage
2 tbsp vegetable oil
200g dried pasta
10g fresh sage
30g hard Italian cheese
80g cooked chestnuts
Method:
1. Fill the kettle with water and put it on to boil – this will be for the pasta later.
2. Tip 40g of pancetta into a large frying pan. Squeeze in the fillings from the casings of 4 sausages and drizzle over 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
3. Place the pan over a medium heat and allow the fat to render from the meat. Fry for 6-8 minutes, until golden and crisp, tossing and breaking the sausage meat up occasionally. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
Chow mein is the perfect for vehicle for leftover veg
