Christmas Leftovers Quiche

A turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce sandwich eaten walking around the Christmas markets which fill the streets of my town at this time of year, fairy lights twinkling in the background, the scent of pine and roasting chestnuts on the frosty air is my idea of Christmas bliss. Especially if they serve it warm and in a large floury white bap.

Although in Sheffield, they would not call it bap, more likely a breadcake or even, an oven bottom! It’s almost more delicious than Christmas dinner itself and I simply couldn’t imagine a better time of year that turning leftovers into a myriad of meals as fabulous as the festive feast itself. This Christmas Leftovers Quiche is a homemade version of my favourite seasonal turkey sandwich.

As you may have noticed, even when I am only feeding two at Christmas, I cook enough to guarantee a panoply of leftovers. After the hours of chopping, steaming, sautéing and stuffing, you really want Christmas Dinner to deliver more than one serving. Most often, the leftovers begin with a sneaky turkey sandwich late on Christmas Day itself (shhh, don’t tell my personal trainer 😉 ), then we have a large pan of bubble and squeak come Boxing Day morn.

Later that night, the cold cuts come out and it’s an every man for himself, DIY dinner with a cursory bit of salad and lots of pickles, dips and sauces to lubricate!  However, there is inevitably still food left come the following day but it’s not enough to make a proper meal instead. Enter my Christmas Leftovers Quiche!

Made with my trademark pizza dough base as per all my quiches, this one is super easy to make. Far less faff than making pastry and a lot lighter to eat, which is crucial after all that bacchanalian feasting! I spread the dough with the last of my cranberry sauce, then fill with little rags of turkey meat (perhaps the leg meat which is often less popular could be used up here), cubes of ham, a few chopped roasted carrots and parsnips plus a little bacon if I’d lucky from cooking the turkey.

A sour cream based savoury custard lends much-needed acidity and tang to all those rich, roast meats and sweet cranberries. As eluded to previously, Hungry Hubby cannot *bare* blue cheese but should you be lucky enough to have a regal wedge sitting pretty in the fridge, then I wholeheartedly advise tucking nuggets into your quiche before baking. 

Slithers of Brie would be equally welcome if you have one going spare. Not only does this quiche help clear out your cold cuts, it will help clear your cheeseboard ready for more dietetically virtuous days of New Year. What do you normally have leftover at Christmas? Do let me know what leftovers you normally have and what you put in your quiche!

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Christmas Leftovers Quiche

A great way to use up the last of the leftovers from Christmas, and you can customise it to your own preferences easily. The pizza dough in place of pastry also makes this a very easy throw together affair.

Servings: 6

: 227 kcal

Author: Just Jo

Ingredients

For the base

• 160 g strong white bread flour
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 tsp dried yeast
• 110 g water approx
• 1 tbsp fine polenta plus 1 tbsp bread flour to dust the tin with

For the filling

• Approximately 2 cups worth of leftovers - turkey ham, 1 inch cubes of stuffing, roasted veg chopped into small chunks, pigs in blankets or even a few sprouts will do!
• 3-4 tbsp cranberry sauce
• 175 g sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp dried mustard powder or dijon mustard will do
• 50-100 g cheese of your liking e.g. Brie Stilton or in our house - Red Leicester!

Equipment

• 23-24 cm loose bottomed or ceramic tart tin
• Welsh bakestone* optional but helpful if you have one
• A heavy duty baking tray if you don't have a bakestone

Instructions

1. Mix the dough ingredients together and beat with a dough hook in a stand mixer for 5-10 minutes until you have a soft and slightly tacky dough. Bring together into a ball, grease the bowl and cover, leaving to prove for at least one hour but you can leave it 24 hours in the fridge.
2. Preheat oven to 180˚C with either a bakestone or a heavy duty baking tray on the middle shelf to heat up.
3. Dust the base of the tart tin with the polenta and flour then when the dough is proved, punch dough and pat out to a round slightly smaller than your tart tin on a lightly floured work surface.
4. Transfer to the prepared tin and pat and push the dough up the sides of the tin - I tack it over the rim a little so it doesn't shrink back.
5. Spread enough cranberry sauce over the base to create a thin even layer (remember it's quite sweet so you don't want to over do it).
6. Scatter over your chopped up leftovers - make sure nothing is bite sized and distribute everything evenly to prevent fights over who got more stuffing later!
7. Whisk up the sour cream, eggs, spices and pour over the filling evenly.
8. If using a hard cheese, coarsely grate it. If using a softer cheese like Stilton then break off little nuggets and scatter over the surface of the quiche, again, evenly.
9. Bake on the preheated bakestone or baking tray for 40 minutes until golden brown and the "pastry" cooked through.
10. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. See note below about safe storage if not gobbled up immediately!

Recipe Notes

Regarding food safety, do note that once the quiche is cooked, the meats you use will have been reheated through twice - once the first time of cooking and a second in the quiche. This means once it has gone cold you may store it in the fridge for up to 48 hours but it should not be reheated a third time.
*= I really do recommend a bakestone for cooking any breads on - it gets super hot and conducts brilliantly. Even using the ceramic dish I have in the photos here, my quiche had a fully cooked, crisp golden base - not a hint of a soggy bottom!

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