- Use any veg instead of sprouts – raw, leftover roast or cooked veg, it’s all good!
The Christmas leftover toastie
Melty cheese, festive veg, roast meat & cranberry sauce
15 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 2
About the recipe
A Christmas sandwich is a thing of joy – and I’m taking things up a notch with this festive toastie heroing all your lovely leftovers. Dipping into leftover gravy will take this to a whole new level!
Ingredients
120g leftover cooked Brussels sprouts, carrots or other veg
70g leftover roast meat, such as turkey, ham, stuffing, or nut roast
optional: 1 tablespoon mixed pickles, such as cornichons & pickled onions
50g melty cheese, such as Cheddar, Red Leicester, Brie, Camembert, Stilton
20g softened unsalted butter
4 slices of seeded or wholemeal bread
1 tablespoon cranberry sauce, chilli jam or chutney
1 apple (160g)
2 handfuls of watercress (40g)
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
optional: leftover gravy for dipping
Top Tip
As the toastie cooks, I like to rest something flat , like a small chopping board with a little weight on top to ensure maximum surface area and crunch.
Method
- Finely chop the veg, meat or nut roast and pickles, if using, and place in a bowl. Grate in the cheese, season with sea salt and black pepper, and mix together well.
- Lightly butter the bread slices on one side, then turn over and spread with the cranberry sauce. Divide the filling between two slices, spreading it out evenly. Place the remaining slices of bread on top, butter side up, squash down slightly, then cook in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat for 3 minutes on each side until golden and the cheese has melted. (See tip below.)
- Meanwhile, cut the apple into matchsticks and place in a bowl with the watercress. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil and 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, add a small pinch of salt and pepper and toss together.
- Reheat your gravy, if using, then pour into a shallow bowl, ready for dunking. Halve the toasties, then serve with the salad and get stuck in!
- Feel free to add whatever you’ve got to use up: crisp up some turkey skin or crumble in a couple of chestnuts, if you like.
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