Making a Christmas dinner can be hard work, but trying to fit all your leftovers into the fridge can also be an achievement in itself.
If you still have too much holiday food left and are not sure what to do with it then consider cooking a “super easy” stew with dumplings, all made with leftover Christmas dinner.
This “surprisingly simple” dish was created by legendary chef Jamie Oliver, who has said this “one pot wonder” is a way to transform your leftovers into a “hearty dish.”
In a video online, Jamie said: “I’ve got the best recipe for leftover turkey, you’re going to love it! Beautiful turkey stew, with sweet leeks and smoky bacon biscuit dumplings.
This is the most delicious dish…it’s all good. It’s going to make the most incredible stew. Then we’re going to make these dumplings which are so good too… comfort food at its best!”
READ MORE: Royal Family’s favourite Boxing Day meal is the ‘ultimate comfort food dish’
Method
To make the dumplings:
Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) or Gas Mark 6.
To begin, chop up your bacon and then cook in a frying pan on a medium-low heat. While it is frying, prepare your leeks by washing and finely cutting them up.
Add one tablespoon of olive oil alongside your leeks into the pan. Fry for 15 minutes until fully cooked then remove from the heat and set aside to cool down.
In a large bowl, place your self-rising flour and maize flour (or polenta). Dice the butter and then add it to the bowl as well.
Use your hands to rub the butter into the flour until you get a breadcrumb texture. Make a dent in the middle of the mixture and then pour it into the buttermilk.
Continue to use your hands to carefully mix the breadcrumb mixture into the buttermilk by bringing the breadcrumbs of the outside of the mix into the middle until you have a dough. Make sure not to overwork it as it needs to be light.
Stir in your leeks and bacon into the dough and then flour-dust a counter surface.
Roll out the dough until it is around 2cm thick and roll pit as many dumplings as you can, but you should be able to get at least 12 from your mixture.
Brush the dumplings with a beaten egg and set aside for now.
To make the stew:
Prepare both your onions and celery by chopping them up and then adding them to your oven-proof dish.
Place the dish on the stove on medium heat alongside one tablespoon of olive oil. If have saved any turkey fat trimmings, add it to the dish for more flavour.
Add your onions and celery to the pan alongside some thyme and bay leaves. Cook the vegetables for 15 minutes, then stir in your mustard, plain flour and stock to make a thick sauce.
Add your leftover meat and stuffing to the sauce then take off the heat. Take out all your thyme and bay leaves, then season with salt and pepper to your liking.
Make it come together:
Place your dumplings on top of the stew and bake in the oven for around 25 to 30 minutes, or until the dumplings are golden and the stew is bubbling.
Your delicious Christmas leftover stew is now ready to serve.
