Recipes: How to make the most of your leftovers

LEFTOVERS have a bit of an image problem. They’re often seen as the sad bits of lettuce or remnants of a meal at the back of your fridge that you know you should use up, but they don’t really seem all that appealing.

Back in wartime, it was the “financially proper” thing to use up leftovers, explains food writer and author of new cookbook Second Helpings, Sue Quinn, but that later changed.

“There was a period in the Sixties where leftovers fell out of fashion a bit – not using leftovers for dinner was almost a sign that you were comfortably middle class,” she says.

But things are shifting again, now that there’s a “perfect storm of environmental problems and financial crises”, Quinn adds, putting the spotlight back on leftovers.

“It’s focused all our minds on really valuing the food we have and eating all of it. It just makes sense, doesn’t it? It makes sense on every level not to throw money into the bin,” Bournemouth-based Quinn explains.

“And people are starting to have a greater appreciation that food waste goes into landfill, which rots and methane gas goes into the atmosphere, and that causes environmental issues.”

If those reasons aren’t compelling enough for you, Quinn adds: “They’re low effort, because you’ve already done the bulk of the hardcore cooking.”

Looking to make the most out of your leftovers? Quinn has a few top tips…

Store them properly

Storing your leftovers properly “really does make a huge difference”, says Quinn, 57.

She suggests tinfoil is the “enemy of leftovers” because it covers them up: “We can’t see what they are, so they get gradually shoved to the back of the fridge and we discover them a week later, mouldy.

So really thinking about storing your leftovers will enable you to see what you’ve got and it’s much easier to get inspired.

Do the prep

Quinn’s top advice is to do all the prep before you put your leftovers away – taking the example of a roast chicken.

“My approach is to pull the meat off the chicken as soon as you possibly can, put it in a lovely container with a lid so it’s airtight, use a marker pen to put: ‘This is shredded chicken’.

That’s much more appealing – someone’s going to use that much more quickly than a manky plate that looks as though it’s going to take you an hour to deal with.

Don’t be afraid to buy more

It’s a common misconception that you have to use up your leftovers all at once, but Quinn just doesn’t buy into this theory.

“You don’t have to get to ground zero in your fridge. On a Monday morning after a roast, the aim is not to clear everything out – you still have to be eating [that week],” she says.

“You just have to prioritise the elements that are going bad first. Most leftover cooked food can last three or four days in the fridge if you store it well. There’s no reason you can’t use it piecemeal and buy more ingredients to use with it – and then really enjoy the dish that you’re doing, rather than scraping it all into a pan and getting rid of it.

“Put a little bit more thought into it,” she adds – and if that requires buying a few more ingredients, so be it – so long as everything is used up at some point.

Lean into spice

Quinn calls spice the “secret weapon to leftovers”, because they mean you can “choose your own adventure” and make the next meal totally different to the first one.

For example, in her latest cookbook she’s got a recipe for roast dinner enchiladas.

“You transform [your roast dinner] into something completely different, because of the spice journey that you’re taking with the enchiladas, and also the form that it’s taking – you’re wrapping it in tortillas and it’s a completely different experience. 

It really doesn’t taste like something that is leftovers.

Change your mindset

Ultimately, Quinn wants to challenge our misconceptions around leftovers. Her advice?

“Celebrate leftovers – don’t just think of them as something you need to use up because you should. Use them up in a way that’s really special and get the most out of them.

“It’s an opportunity for deliciousness, rather than something you should get rid of.”

Second Helpings by Sue Quinn is published by Quadrille. Photography by Facundo Bustamante. Available now

CRISPY CHILLI RICE

USE up leftover rice with this tasty recipe.

“Fried rice is delicious, but crispy rice is an even better way to deploy cold leftovers,” says Sue Quinn, author of Second Helpings.

“It’s made by scorching rice in a hot pan until the grains turn crunchy and deeply tasty.

“In many cuisines, crispy rice is treasured; it features in the Persian dish tahdig, for example, and Spanish paella (where the prized crispy bits at the bottom of the pan command their own name – socarrat).

“Here, I’ve spiked cold rice with chilli sauce and tomato purée, and then seared it in a thin layer.

“The recipe serves two, but for more than this, fry the rice in batches. If there is too much in the pan it will steam rather than crisp up.”

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

260g cold cooked rice

3-4tbsp sriracha sauce or chilli crisp oil (depending on how spicy you want your rice)

1½tbsp soy sauce

2tbsp tomato purée

2tsp sesame oil, plus extra for drizzling

2tbsp vegetable oil, for frying

1 spring onion, finely sliced

Fried eggs, to serve

Steamed greens, such as pak choi, to serve

Method:

• 1. Mix together in a bowl all the rice ingredients except the vegetable oil and spring onion. Make sure all the rice grains are well coated.
• 2. Heat a large heavy frying pan, non-stick ideally, until very hot. Add the vegetable oil and swirl to cover the base.
• 3. Add the rice, spread it out over the base of the pan in a thin layer and flatten with a spatula. Fry over a medium-high heat for two minutes without disturbing.
• Drizzle a little sesame oil over the rice and flip chunks of it over – it should be burnished and crisp in parts. Fry for another two minutes, pressing down again with the spatula.
• 4. Flip the rice again. It should be a mixture of crisp and not so crisp grains. If this hasn’t happened yet, keep frying, flipping and pressing but be careful not to overcook the rice – you don’t want it dry and hard. Serve the rice hot, with a fried egg, greens and spring onion sprinkled on top.

Roast Dinner Enchiladas

TURN your roast dinner into something completely new with this recipe.

“Often, there’s not enough left of any one ingredient after a roast dinner to pull together a whole new meal – you’ve just got scraps of meat and vegetables,” says Sue Quinn, author of Second Helpings.

“These enchiladas are the perfect carrier for whatever’s left – gently spicy, filling and comforting. Use whatever jumble of cheeses you have in the fridge, too.”

Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)

500–600g leftover cooked meat and/or vegetables, chopped

200g grated hard cheese, such as Cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyère, Lancashire or a mix

4 large tortilla wraps

For the tomato sauce:

2tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2tbsp chilli powder

2tbsp smoked paprika

1tbsp ground cumin

1tsp dried oregano

2tsp brown sugar

1tsp fine sea salt

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

Method:

Sticky Ginger Cake

YOU’LL ever throw leftover porridge out again.

“It’s easy to make too much porridge and easier still to chuck out what you don’t eat – but that would be wrong,” says Sue Quinn, author of Second Helpings.

“There are lots of lovely ways to use up leftover porridge but the best, in my opinion, is this divine sticky ginger cake. Of course, you don’t have to make this as soon as you’ve finished breakfast.

“Leftover porridge will last in the fridge for a couple of days, and it freezes well – just defrost when you feel a sticky ginger cake urge coming on.”

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

Vegetable oil, for brushing

175g plain (all-purpose) flour

½tsp ground cinnamon

1½tsp ground ginger

¾tsp bicarbonate of soda

A pinch of fine sea salt

80g unsalted butter

130g golden syrup

130g black treacle

140g cold porridge

1 large egg

25g chopped crystallised ginger, roughly chopped Method:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas mark 4. Line a 20-centimetre square baking dish with baking paper so it comes up and over the sides: lightly brushing the dish with oil first keeps the paper in place.
• 2. Put the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a mixing bowl and combine with a fork.
• 3. Melt the butter in a medium pan then remove from the heat. Stir in the syrup and treacle. Loosen the porridge (oatmeal) by stirring it well, then add to the buttery syrup along with the egg. Beat with a wooden spoon to thoroughly combine and break up larger bits of porridge.
• 4. Stir the mixture into the flour and spices, until everything is fully combined. Pour into the prepared dish, making sure the batter fills the corners. Smooth the top and stud with chopped ginger.
• 5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until firm to touch and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave in the dish for 10 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack to cool using the overhanging baking paper as handles.