Flat Christmas Pie
An inconceivably easy way to use up your Christmas leftovers, or simply just an ideal, festive recipe if you're having people over and want something a bit more substantial than canapés or crisps.
This is one of those recipes where you’re free to break the boundaries - you can use up bits of the Christmas cheeseboard, you can use whatever meat you had for Christmas dinner (it doesn’t need to be turkey), you could even shove in some spare stuffing or pigs in blankets if they’ve survived the Christmas Day scoff!
The inspiration came from a “Flat Ham Pie” I learnt when I was at Leiths culinary school, which I went on to recreate for an instagram video. Since then I’ve done a few other flavour combos, so it dawned on me stuff it full of festive bits & bobs.
This isn’t solely a “leftovers” recipe - it really is worth buying the ingredients and making anyway. It’s Christmas-in-a-bite, between 2 layers of pastry. How bad can that be?!
Ingredients (makes 1 pie - serves 6-8 as a snack)
1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry
100g gruyere (or any cheese) - finely grated
4 raw sprouts - finely sliced
2 handfuls of shredded leftover/cooked turkey or chicken
3-4 slices of ham
2 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp cranberry sauce
1 egg - to glaze
Method:
Firstly, roll out the sheet of puff pastry to thin it out a little then cut in half. Take one half, lay onto a parchment lined baking sheet and prick with a fork all over. Bake in a 180C oven for 10-15 mins until just starting to brown.
Meanwhile, shred the sprouts as finely as you can and mix the sour cream with dijon mustard in a little bowl. Prep all other ingredients for the pie - shred the turkey or chicken, grate the cheese and whisk the egg you’re going to use to egg-wash the pastry later.
Take the par-cooked pastry base and use the back of a spoon to flatten it down. Start layering up your fillings - cheese, sprouts, turkey, ham, sour cream mixture, cranberry sauce and more cheese. I like the egg wash the edges of the cooked pastry base at this point, then drape the other raw pastry half on top and seal around the edges with a fork.
Egg wash the whole thing then use the back of a cutlery knife to make some decorations - feel free to be as creative as you like!
Put the whole thing back in the oven for 20-25 minutes until deeply golden. Let it cool slightly before slicing up and serving straight away! Enjoy!