Boxing Day Leftovers Pie with Easy Pastry Top

WRITTEN BY

SERVES:

4-6 PORTIONS

Prep Time:

15 MINUTES

Cook Time:

35 MINUTES

This is a great recipe to use up all the Christmas dinner leftovers in one pastry top pie. You can use whatever you have to hand on Boxing Day: potatoes, kumara, peas, beans, pumpkin, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, ham, turkey, chicken. This pie is not biased.

And because it's all very last minute and you didn't buy any pastry at the store, we've given you an easy pastry top recipe with ingredients you will already have in your pantry.

_INGREDIENTS:

_{PASTRY CRUST TOP (MAKE AT LEAST 1 HOUR BEFORE & REFRIGERATE):}

60g butter, cold
180g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
Sea salt
3 eggs, 1 for crust glaze
1-3 Tbsp water

_{PIE FILLING:}

1-1.4kg leftover pre-cooked vegetables: potatoes, courgette, tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, kumara, carrots, pumpkin, onion, peas, beans, capsicum, broccoli, mushrooms
350-400g leftover pre-cooked meats: ham, turkey, chicken

_{BECHAMEL SAUCE:}

50g butter
50g plain flour
500ml whole milk
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

_{INSTRUCTIONS:}

Make your pastry ahead of baking and place in the fridge. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, season with salt, then grate the cold butter in using the large holes on a standard box grater. Whisk 2 of the eggs and mix into the flour. Mix in a tablespoon of water at a time, until the dough comes together into a soft, rollable dough. Roll into a round, place in an airtight container, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan). Chop up all your leftovers, vegetables and meats, into bite-size pieces and mix together in a bowl.
Make the bechamel by melting the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour and whisk it continuously into a roux. Cook on a medium-low heat for at least 1 minute. Pour in the milk, a little at a time, while whisking, until it's gone. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring intermittently, until it thickens.
Gently fold the bechamel through the vegetables and meats and place in an ovenproof dish. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out into an evenish circle, enough to cover the circumference of your oven dish plus 2cm. Place on top of the filling, pushing down around the edges (like you are tucking it into bed), and trim off any excess pastry. Using a fork, press dent marks around the edge for decoration.
Whisk the last egg and brush over the surface of the pastry. Pierce 2 slits in the top for steam to release, and bake in the middle of the oven (with a tray on the second shelf down to catch overflow) for 25-35 minutes, until the crust has evenly browned. Once out of the oven, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and serve with Christmas leftover greens or salad.

Recipe by Kylee Newton, author of The Modern Preserver