Big family feasts and holiday meals are the best! That’s when all the best tasting food comes to the table (and the best leftovers)! However, after a few days, I tend to get a little bored of eating the same leftovers. So, instead of eating the same meal over and over again, I like to bake the leftovers into some puff pastry (or pie crust, whatever you have) and eat it as a hand pie.

Hand pies are exactly what they sound like, pies that you can hold in your hand and eat! There are some traditional hand pie recipes, but they can really be any combination of flavors or leftover that you have.

I always have leftover scallop potatoes and ham from Easter dinner, and they seemed like a perfect hand pie filling. I tucked my leftovers into some store bought puff pastry (found in the freezer section) with some Tillamook Swiss Cheese. Make sure your scallop potatoes (or whatever leftovers you are using) are cold when you load them into your shell, that way they aren’t too gooey when you seal the hand pie.

Layer your leftovers in the middle of your pastry dough (make sure to leave enough room around the edges to seal the hand pie). Brush the edges with an egg wash (mix together an egg yolk and a little water) and then seal the pie by pressing the two sides together; mark the edges with a fork.  Poke a few holes in the top to keep the pies from bursting while cooking and then brush the top with egg wash. Throw them in a 400 degree oven until they are gold brown (about 15-20 minutes).

We always seem to have a colony of chocolate bunnies around the house after Easter, so I cracked off a few pieces of chocolate and baked them into a cherry hand pie.

You will want to let them cool a little, but they are definitely best served warm out of the oven!

The options are truly endless; ham, swiss, and honey mustard or how about roast beef, horseradish cream, and provolone. What leftovers would you make a hand pie with?

By Candace

Well, it’s done. The green beans have been devoured, the Pumpkin Ice Cream has mysteriously disappeared and the tryptophan has left your blood stream. But you open the refrigerator and what do you see? LEFTOVERS! Why not combine them into one yummy dish? Turkey Pizza is something my parents created years ago to try to trick a picky-eater (sorry Mom) into eating Thanksgiving food. But now we’ve modified it to take care of all our lingering leftovers in a tasty way.

TURKEY PIZZA

1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
1 ½ cups turkey gravy (either from a jar or from the turkey)
1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 cup leftover stuffing
1 cup cooked and shredded turkey meat
1 cup Tillamook Shredded Italian Blend Cheese
1/2 cup ranch dressing (optional)
1/2 cup cranberry sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) or whatever is recommended on your pizza dough. Roll out the pizza dough, place onto a pizza pan or other baking sheet, and spread 1 cup of gravy over the top of the pizza using the back of a spoon. Spoon the potatoes onto the pizza, in little clumps. Arrange stuffing and turkey on top and spread evenly over the whole pizza. Top with cheese.

Cover pizza with aluminum foil (to protect the turkey from drying out). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until crust is browned and center is cooked through. Serve with a side of ranch dressing or with dollops of cranberry sauce.

The great part about this recipe is that anything goes! If your family is like mine, and someone has already picked away at the stuffing, sub it out for green beans. If you’re out of gravy, a layer of cranberry sauce could serve as a tasty base. Play around with it and share with us your favorite combination!

Do you have any turkey leftover traditions to share?

~ Katie of the Tillamook Team

Photo: Amy – Cutting Coupons in KC

By Katie