What to do with your Easter leftovers
Easter Sunday roast
Whether you’re opting for the traditional roast lamb for your Easter Sunday lunch or you’re going for the equally popular roast chicken, beef or nutroast the chances are there will be enough left for some second helpings! If there’s still more than you can get through in one lunchtime, fear not – there’s plenty you can do with what’s left. As long as it’s correctly stored in the fridge, it’s good for a couple of days of easy meals.
Roast meat is delicious enjoyed cold with chutney, a jacket potato and salad next day, and also makes for some next-level sandwiches or wraps for Easter Monday! Our leftover Sunday roast patties are another great idea for using up leftover roast meat, veg and roasties, as well as any gravy you haven’t managed to get through.
You could also reheat meat, roast potatoes and veg in the microwave for dinner next day, freeze them in a freezer bag for another day or add them to a hearty soup, a bowl of noodles or a favourite pasta dish. Cut scraps of leftover meat into strips and bulk out a stir-fry or curry, or for a light lunch or tasty Easter Monday starter, why not try adding your Sunday lunch leftovers to Italian mixed bruschetta?
Hot cross buns
Hot cross buns are always a delicious treat at this time of year, and come in many different flavours. As well as the traditional recipe, the supermarkets are now full of exciting twists on the hot cross bun format, such as apple and cinnamon or chocolate and orange flavours. If you’ve been taken in by this tempting array and bought too many, you’ll be pleased to know that all is not lost!
You can, of course, freeze some of them for another day, but if there’s no room in the freezer or you’ve got some stale buns on your hands, try making hot cross bun bread and butter pudding! Simply substitute normal bread for your hot cross buns for the tastiest spin on this classic dessert – any flavour will work brilliantly. It also works with Italian Easter bread and dove bread (Columba Pasquale), if that’s more your cup of tea!
Easter chocolate
No mention of Easter feasts would be complete without chocolate. If your home is inundated with more chocolate than you know what to do with, it’s time to put it to good use.
First up, you could melt down any plain chocolate you have lying around and use it to make delicious chocolate brownies, sprinkled with broken up sugar-coated chocolate eggs to add some colour and an Easter twist. If there are too many brownies for you to eat straightaway, they can be frozen or given out to friends and family for belated Easter treats.
Colourful sugar-coated chocolate eggs are perfect for crushing and making chocolate chip cookies. Alternatively, leave them intact and use them to decorate chocolate Easter nests. These are great for using up cornflakes, and why not use melted Easter eggs to bind the cornflakes together into nests?
Another tasty use for Easter egg chocolate is our mouth-watering leftover chocolate fridge cake, which couldn’t be easier to make and works just as well with plain, white or milk chocolate. It’ll also use up any raisins and nuts you have lurking in the cupboards! Rocky road and tiffin are other versatile treats you can add virtually any Easter chocolate to.
Finally, you can always melt Easter chocolate and mix it with hot milk to make a deliciously rich hot chocolate. The perfect accompaniment to the last of the simnel cake!
