Wondering what to do with your Christmas dinner leftovers this year? If you’re sick and tired of staring at a mountain of leftover food the following days after Christmas then getting creative and reinventing them into something new is the way forward. This Christmas Pasta is a great way to use up all those leftovers and is pretty healthy too.
I hate food waste. I’m always looking for ways to use up the meat and trimmings after our Sunday roast. Normally they go straight into a curry or a stir fry, but a few weeks ago I wanted to try something different, so turned them into a pasta dish instead. The Christmas family feast is usually a great mix of protein vegetables and carbohydrates, which can easily be reworked into another meal.
- 500 g turkey mince
- 500 g linguine
- 155 g smoked bacon lardons
- 400 g chopped tomatoes
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 onion diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 6 Peppadew Mild Piquante Peppers
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 vegetable stock tube
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- Chopped chestnuts and parmesan cheese for garnishing
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Boil some water in a large saucepan and cook the linguine according to the packet instructions. Drain once cooked through and return to the saucepan.
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Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a pan and fry the bacon lardons, diced carrots and chopped onion for 5 minutes before adding the turkey mince. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
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Stir in the minced garlic, stock cube, spices, tomato puree, piquante peppers and bay leaves and mix through for 2 minutes. Pour in the tinned tomatoes and allow the sauce to simmer on a gentle heat for 15 minutes.
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Towards the end of cooking sprinkle in the chopped parsley and pour the turkey ragu over the drained pasta. Mix through so that the pasta is covered entirely.
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Serve and sprinkle chopped chestnuts and parmesan cheese.
Truthfully, I could eat this pasta dish all year round, not just at Christmas. Turkey mince is a leaner meat alternative, so perfect if you’re looking to reign things in a bit after all that festive feasting. Turkey mince is easy to get hold of in the supermarkets these days, however, you could also use shredded turkey, leftover from your Christmas lunch. It really is like your Christmas meal reborn, pancetta represents pigs in blankets and of course, the carrots have been added for a nutritional boost and to show how you can use up any leftover vegetables.
To keep the pasta, even more, Christmas themed, mixed spice and cinnamon gives such a warm flavour. One ingredient that I add to pretty much anything is Peppadew Mild Piquant Peppers. We can’t get enough of them and always make sure we have a jar on hand to add to meals. They really perk up any dish, so great to brighten up those Christmas leftovers like they do in this pasta dish.
I think this would make the perfect Boxing Day lunch and if you’re looking to make it lighter, you could easily serve it with some courgetti. Also, if you have any brussel sprout haters in the house this is the perfect way to disguise them.
If you’re looking for more Christmas recipes to try, why not have a look at these:
Goat’s Cheese, Pepper & Honey Vol-Au-Vents
Pomegranate, Mango & Brie Salad
What do your make with your Christmas dinner leftovers?
*Recipe commissioned by Peppadew, but all opinions are my own.
Yes I’m all for this. Got to love pasta and sometimes we just end up having a repeated Xmas dinner but I like the look of having something different x
We normally just have a repeat too, but definitely going to make this now.
Oh yes please, I love newideas for making pasta more interesting and this is great!
Thanks Laura. It’s nice that it’s a bit festive too.
This is a great idea to change it up a bit instead of having a repeat, and you’ve made it quite easy to adapt to what you might have left over from your Christmas meal. Thanks for this recipe!
Thanks Sarah, you can basically throw whatever you want into make it your own.
A lovely way of using up some Christmas bits and bobs – and you’ve made me super hungry!
Thanks, Ren! Pasta is a lovely way to use up those leftovers.
Pasta is such a good way of using leftovers isn’t it? We often have some mushrooms or bacon left. We so often go down the creme fraiche route so good reminder to go the tomato route next time!
You can literally throw anything in and it still comes out great.
I hate throwing food away so this is such a great idea to use your leftover Christmas meat x
Food waste really winds me up, so I always try and make the best of the left overs.
This looks really nice and I bet the peppers in it give it a really nice flavour
The peppers really make the flavours pop. Love them!
This sounds like a delicious dish. I could literally eat pasta every day.
Me too, I love pasta it’s just so comforting.
That doesn’t look bad at all. I have to admit that there is little chance that my family dinner has anything else but the classics, but I’m a guest, I won’t complain!
Mika
Ha! Thank you.
This looks amazing, I think I would eat Pasta everyday if I could x
You’re not alone on that one!
This looks and sounds amazing and I know it’s something that the kids would enjoy so going to have to give it a try
The kids really do love it!
This looks like a lovely filling comfort dish, perfect for the colder weather, yum!
A perfect comforting dish!
Oh my…this looks LEGIT DELICIOUS!!! And i’m a fan of pasta and this looks just so easy to whip up. Great tip!!
I have never ever cooked with Turkey mince so this has really got my attention x
What a gorgeous sounding pasta recipe! I do love those peppers. They pack such a kick!
Ooh! Christmas pasta, what an exciting mix, I like that you could make leftovers into a pasta dish the next day xx
We love Brussels sprouts in this household so would gladly add them to our leftovers pasta dish. This is a great way to use the leftovers and not waste food x
The thought of a festive pasta has never crossed my mind! Brilliant idea!!
Thank you! A great way to use up those leftovers.
What a brilliant way to use up the christmas leftovers, there are only so many days you can have a roast dinner ! My children all love pasta, so this looks perfect
I love creating new dishes from leftovers. Sometimes I like the new dish better than the original! I usually visit friends on Christmas so don’t have leftovers. The ground turkey is a great way to make up for that.