We all know Christmas can be an expensive time, and this year with soaring inflation, the price of our Christmas food shop will be noticeably higher. However, you don’t need to splurge on a fancy festive menu and with a few simple tricks and shortcuts, you can put on a showstopping Christmas spread without compromising on quality or flavour. A thrifty way to make the most of your Christmas budget is to familiarise yourself with Christmas leftover recipes. ‘TwixTmas Pie’ (T for turkey & T for tarragon!) is the ultimate in comfort food, uses up all the roast dinner leftovers and will feed a hungry family.

Ingredients

(don’t worry too much about exact amounts, just use what you have)

Leftover mashed potato

Cooked turkey or chicken

Cooked carrots and peas (or any leftover veg)

Tarragon

Leftover gravy

Cornflour

Double cream

Grated cheddar cheese

Method

1. Scatter meat and veg together in the bottom of a baking dish.

2. Mix a tbsp of cornflour with a splash of water. Use this to thicken your gravy over a low heat before stirring through a few spoonfuls of double cream (or more if you enjoy a creamy sauce) and a handful of chopped tarragon. The result should be a very thick sauce.

3. Pour this sauce over the meat and veg before topping with the mash. Spoon the potato into peaks then sprinkle over generous handfuls of cheese. These peaks will turn into gorgeous crunchy bits as the pie cooks.

4. Preheat the grill to 190ºC and cook until the top is browned and the sauce starts to bubble up beautifully from the sides of the pie. This should take about 40-45 mins.

5. Delicious served with buttered savoy cabbage.