An ideal place to smuggle leftovers – for today or for the freezer, these pasties are as versatile as the scraps of whatever you have left over from your dinner – just knock up (or buy) a quick shortcrust pastry and you’ll have lunch in a jiffy for not very much at all. 

Serves 6 at 13p each

250g fat (butter, marge, or a combination), 60p (Vitalite, £2.40/kg)

500g plain flour, 18p (55p/1.5kg, Sainsburys Basics)

a few teaspoons ice cold water

Any quantity of leftovers: finely chopped veg, potatoes, stuffing and a good slug of fresh extra thick gravy

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

First make the pastry. Dice the butter or marge. Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the butter. Rub into the flour with your fingertips to a breadcrumb texture, then add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix with a knife to form a dough.

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces, cover and chill for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, take your solid leftovers and mash them roughly together in a large bowl. Add a little wetness – either gravy, cranberry sauce, apple sauce or a little stock. You don’t want a slushy mixture that will leak through your pastry, but you do want a pleasantly moist one.

Lightly grease a baking tray. Lightly flour your work surface. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out one piece to just shy of 1cm thick. Lay a large side plate on top and cut around it with a blunt knife to form a round shape. Place a few tablespoons of the leftovers mixture in the centre. Carefully lift each side so they meet in the middle, and pinch together with your fingertips. Pinch and fold the sides in, and place on the baking tray. Repeat until all the dough and leftovers are used up.

Melt a little extra butter and brush it over the pastry, or use your fingers if you don’t have a pastry brush. Bake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes until golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Jack Monroe. First published in A Year In 120 Recipes, 2014. 

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