Turkey and Leek Pie, inspired by Jamie Oliver

Turkey's are big. More often than not, there's more leftover turkey than you want to see. Our 25lb bird is a little big and there's limit to the number of turkey sandwiches, turkey salad and turkey soup that you can eat in the month of November. I don't break a sweat thinking about cooking a Thanksgiving meal, we host a four-course dinner every single Friday night.  It's the leftover turkey that I am thinking about!  This time last year, faced with more turkey than I knew what to do with, I looked for a solution, and oddly enough, I found the solution to this age-old American problem in the hands of a Londoner.

Photo Credit: njsouthall

Jamie Oliver has been taking the US by storm. The Naked Chef want's to revolutionize the way America feeds her children. They guy knows how to use his god-given skill set to make the world a better place through healthier eating, home cooked food, and solutions for your leftover turkey. To quote Mr. Oliver "This is dead simple, completely versatile and absolutely gorgeous. It’s not a pretty-boy pie; it’s a proper, old-school pie that everyone will be over the moon to see on the table. I’m putting leftover white turkey meat to good use here, but you could also mix brown meat in there too."

I've adapted this a little, nixing the butter and the bacon to make it suitable for a kosher diet, but it's inspired.  Simply put, there's no better way use for leftover turkey. If you are fed up of seeing that bird or are ready for a month of veganism after Thanksgiving, this dish will freeze well too.

Leftover Turkey and Leek Pie Recipe

Let's gather our ingredients:

• At least 1.5lb leftover turkey meat
• 1 box of pre-made Puff Pastry
• 3 – 4 leeks, washed, trimmed, diced
• Half of a red onion, diced
• ½ bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
• 2 cups of (home-made) chicken stock
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 heaped tablespoons (whole wheat) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 12 jarred or vacuum packed chestnuts, roasted and peeled – optional
• 2 sprigs fresh sage, leaves picked
• 1 free-range egg, beaten

Gently heat your olive oil in your favorite, large (cast iron) skillet. Add your diced red onion and leeks, and allow them to cook for about five or six minutes until they start to turn see-through. And a salt and pepper to taste and your fresh thyme then turn down the heat and cover so that they continue to cook but the moisture stays in. Stir every five to ten minutes so they don't burn.

Once your leeks are soft and juicy, dice/shred/tear your turkey meat in to the skillet and slowly add up to 2 cups of your (home-made) chicken stock. Gently sprinkle the flour in to the skillet while continuing to stir and allow the gravy to thicken and coat the rest of the ingredients. Be sure to do this slowly.

Take a large, deep, baking pan and dust a surface with flour. Roll out your pastry so it's roughly double the size of your dish. If you have chestnuts, great! Crumble over one half of the pastry and tear some fresh sage leaves over the chestnuts. Fold the plain half of the pastry back over itself to envelope the chestnuts and sage.

Now, spoon the mixture from you skillet in to the baking dish and make sure it's even. Lay the pastry on top of the mixture and tuck in the edges. This dish is a little rustic so worry not if it doesn't look perfect. Add a pinch of salt to your beaten egg and brush the pastry with your egg-wash. Score the pastry and bake on 350 for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Now that I've shared my favorite left-over turkey recipe, how about you tell me yours?