How to Make the Most of Your Christmas Leftovers

Transform your Christmas dinner leftovers into delicious modern dishes to excite even the most jaded palate.Turkey Fattee. Photograph: Kate Whitaker for Observer Food MonthlyTurkey fatteeFattee is a Lebanese dish of layered crisp pitta bread, rice, chilli sauce, garlic, yoghurt, herbs... need I go on?Serves 6For the chilli sauceunsalted butter 2 tbspground coriander 1 tspground cumin 1 tspground cinnamon 1/2 tspsweet smoked paprika 1/2 tspchilli flakes 1 tsppassata 500mlred wine vinegar 2 tbspsugar 1 tspsalt and pepperFor the garlic yoghurtgarlic clove 1, crushed to a pastethick plain yoghurt 300gsalt a good pincholive oilFor the pitta crispsbutter 50gpitta breads 3cooked turkey 300-500g, shreddedolive oilsalt and pepperFor the ricebasmati rice 250golive oil 2 tbsptinned chickpeas 400g, drainedcinnamon stick 1star anise 3chicken stock 500mlTo finishfresh mint, coriander and parsley a big handfulUp to 3 days ahead (minimum 1 hour): To make the chilli sauce, melt the butter over a medium heat and add the spices and chilli flakes. Stir for a minute, then add the passata, vinegar and sugar. Season and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Set aside. Beat the crushed garlic into the yoghurt with a good pinch of salt and a slug of olive oil. Store in the fridge.Up to 1 day ahead: For the pitta crisps, preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Melt the butter. Lightly toast the pittas in a toaster, then halve them through the middle so you have six thin pieces. Brush with butter and bake in the oven for 8 minutes, until golden. Sprinkle with sea salt then store somewhere handy.1 hour ahead: Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Toss the turkey with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put in a baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes until hot. Keep warm.30 minutes ahead: Gently reheat the chilli sauce. Rinse the rice under running water for a few minutes, then shake dry, or dry-ish. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the rice. Stir for a couple of minutes over a good heat until lightly toasted, then add the chickpeas, spices and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer very gently for 12 minutes without removing the lid. Take off the heat and leave for another 5 minutes, still covered. Now uncover and leave for a couple of minutes before fluffing up with a fork.To serve: Layer up, starting with a pitta crisp, then the rice, then the turkey, followed by chilli sauce and garlic yoghurt. Garnish with a big handful of fresh herbs and serve.David Williams's wine match for the fatteeTaste the Difference 12 Year Old Oloroso Sherry, Jerez, Spain (£8, Sainsbury's)Well, there has to be sherry somewhere at Christmas, but there's more to this match than using up the bottle you've got in for great-aunt Mavis. There's a dried orange tang, a touch of clove and other sweet spice, and plenty of acidity that works so well with all the garlic and spice.

 

Salad of goose or duck with orange and watercress

The simplest of salads, but a rather luxurious one nonetheless.Serves 6-8 as a starter or 4 as a light mainFor the dressingDijon mustard 2 tspgarlic a tiny clove, crushed to a pastethyme a sprigred wine vinegar 2 tbspolive oil 6 tbspsalt and pepperFor the saladorange 1watercress 100gparsley leaves about 20gleftover roast goose or duck shredded or slicedhazelnuts a few, chopped and toastedpomegranate seeds a handfulUp to 1 day ahead: Make the dressing by shaking all the ingredients together in a jar; set aside.Up to 6 hours ahead: Using a small, sharp knife, slice off the orange peel, taking off all the white pith but taking care not to whip off too much flesh. Slice the orange into thin rounds, then tear into small pieces. Cover and chill.To serve: Toss the watercress and parsley leaves with the dressing. Garnish with the duck or goose, orange, hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds, and serve.

 

Turkey pho

Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup, thus making it pretty much the perfect tonic to jaded, hungover Christmas palates. It's fresh, lively and deeply nourishing.Serves 6For the broth2 onions halved and peeledfresh ginger a few fat slicesstar anise 5cinnamon sticks 2fennel seeds 1 tspgarlic 2 cloves1 Thai chilli choppedturkey or chicken bones, or a chicken stock cubefish sauce 3 tbspcaster (superfine) or palm sugar 1 tbspFor the soupvermicelli rice noodles 300gleftover turkey 300g, shreddedcoriander leaves a big handfulThai basil or mint leaves a big handfulbeansprouts 50glime wedges 6Thai chillies 4, choppedSriracha hot sauce (optional)Up to 3 days ahead (minimum of 3 hours): To make the broth, put a large, heavy-bottomed pan over the highest possible heat. Add the onion and the ginger. Burn them. Really burn them. Add the star anise, cinnamon, fennel seeds, cloves, chilli, turkey bones, fish sauce and sugar. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2-3 hours, until reduced by half. Strain and leave to cool, then chill, or continue to the next step. Cook the noodles according to packet instructions, then cool in a bowl of iced water before draining.30 minutes ahead: Put the broth over a medium heat. When hot, add the turkey to warm through. Taste the broth and add salt if necessary. Warm some large bowls.To serve: Divide the noodles between the bowls. Spoon over the broth. Garnish with the herbs, beansprouts, lime and chillies, and serve.Scaling up: Thai chillies are punchy, so go easy with them. For more broth just add extra water, a stock cube and a little more fish sauce to taste.

 

Panettone bread and butter pudding

Serves 6-8butter a little, softened, for greasingdouble cream 400mlwhole milk 400mlvanilla pod 1, split down the middleegg yolks 4caster sugar 150gpanettone 600g, fatly sliced and buttereddemerara sugar 1 heaped tbspThis recipe is entirely adaptable, in that you can really use any old bread for it, but panettone should add a nip of luxury, as well as plenty of flavour. Where with a classic bread and butter pudding you tend to add orange zest and currants and the like, with a panettone they're already incorporated into the bread.Adapt quantities to fit the amount of panettone you have (one vanilla pod will be ample, mind), though honestly you don't need to be too precise here.Up to 3 days ahead (minimum 1 hour): Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Lightly grease a large baking dish and sit it in a large roasting pan.Put the cream, milk and vanilla in a pan and bring to a boil over a medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large, heavy bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. When the cream and milk are just below a boil, add them to the egg yolks, whisking all the time. Remove the vanilla.Put a layer of buttered panettone in the baking dish, then pour over some of the custard. Continue until you've used it all up, then sprinkle the sugar over the top.Pour boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the side of the baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes, until a crust has formed but the centre still has a little wobble. Serve, or leave to cool, cover and chill.To reheat (if necessary): Reheat at 180C/gas mark 4 for 20 minutes.From Do-ahead Christmas by James Ramsden (Pavilion, £16.99). To buy a copy for £13.59 from the Guardian Bookshop, click here. This article was originally published on The Guardian