Six ways to use up surplus chocolate, meat and vegetables from Easter according to top chefs
In many households, Easter Sunday means bringing lots of food to the table - which can often lead to fridges full of leftovers on Easter Monday.
While some will enjoy eating the same meal two days in a row others may want to experiment with using up their leftovers in different ways.
Top chefs have revealed their recipes for creating unique meals from surplus Easter ingredients, including roast potatoes, chocolate and meat.
Whether you're after new lunch ideas or want an easy dinner fit to feed your family, these creations might inspire you to try something new...
Leftover potatoes: Batata Harra
Batata Harra is a gorgeous carb -heavy Lebanese treat popular across the Middle East (stock image)
Batata Harra - ingredients
- Potatoes
- Red peppers
- Coriander
- Chilli
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Pita (optional)
- Harissa spice mix
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lemon juice
- Ground sumac berries
Matt Webster, the director of herbs and spices company Seasoned Pioneers suggests this quirky recipe if you're inspired by flavours of the Mediterranean.
Transform leftover potatoes into a delicious, spiced Lebanese dish, Batata Harra, by popping them into the frying pan with a few extra ingredients.
This delicious little side dish goes well with every kind of Middle Eastern cuisine - but it's also perfect for a little treat on its own.
The vegetable dish native to Lebanon consists of potatoes, red peppers, coriander, chilli, and garlic that are all fried together in olive oil.
It can be served plain or in a pita.
All you need to do is lightly fry some garlic, paprika and harissa spice mix. Stir for a minute, then add in the leftover roast potatoes and stir together until evenly coated.
Add fresh coriander leaves, salt and pepper and mix.
Before serving, add a sprinkling of ground Sumac berries and lemon juice.
What you'll be left with will pair very well with other Mediterranean snacks like hummus, tabbouleh salad, or even falafel.
Leftover chocolate: DIY Easter ice cream
A woman's hand holding a waffle sweet ice cream cone decorated with Easter mini chocolate eggs over pastel light background (stock image)
DIY Easter ice cream - ingredients
- Tub of vanilla ice cream
- Leftover Easter chocolate
Candice Bannister, the owner of Machester-based bakery Candy’s Cupcakes has an eye for sweet treats.
As the sun comes out, many will be enjoying their first ice creams of the year.
Candice recommends combining any leftover chocolate goodies you might have from Easter treats (if you still have any lying around) with a tub of vanilla ice cream.
In order to combine the two, Candice recommends taking the ice cream out of the freezer for a short while so it can soften.
Once it is soft enough, throw in your broken up or crushed Easter chocolate and give it all a good mix.
Put it back in the freezer and you're left with some very special ice cream that could last you months.
Ice cream is thought to last up to four months in the freezer, giving you plenty of time to feast on the frozen dessert.
Leftover chocolate: Morning pastries
An innovative way to use up your leftover Easter chocolate is to stuff some pastries with it, and you're left with DIY chocolate croissants!
Morning pastries - ingredients
- Ready-made pastry
- Leftover Easter chocolate
- 1 beaten egg
Candice also recommended making morning pastries.
Breakfast pastries always feel like a decadent treat - and what better time to treat yourself than on a bank holiday?
The chef shared her recipe for a delicious, chocolatey pastry that can be created with your leftover Easter confectionery.
All you need to do is grab some ready-made pastry, and crush up your favourite Easter chocolate, if you're lucky enough to have leftovers.
This works whether you've got your hands on Creme Eggs, Mini Eggs, Malteser bunnies, or any other chocolate you like.
Add it to the middle of the pastry, then fold it around the chocolate, before cutting it into squares or circles.
Then brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg.
Pop it in the airfryer for 10 minutes at 160 degrees and you'll get the perfect flakey pastry and gooey inside.
Leftover chocolate: Easter hot chocolate
Hot chocolate presented in a white mug, with mini Easter eggs and an Easter bunny for a festive touch
Easter hot chocolate - ingredients
- Leftover Easter chocolate
- Milk
- Whipped cream (optional)
- Crushed mini eggs (optional)
Another sweet suggestion from Candice is hot chocolate. This might be a comfort drink you associate with winter, but the drink still has a place in spring, according to the star baker.
Another quick recipe if you've got leftover Easter hot chocolate to hand - and you only need two ingredients.
To make your very own homemade hot chocolate, break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it in a pan.
Once melted, mix it with warm milk to create a deliciously decadent hot chocolate.
For some extra decadence, add some whipped cream and top with crushed mini eggs.
This is a perfect trick if you find your kids struggled to polish off their Easter eggs over the long weekend.
And it's a great way to recreate the luxurious product at home, as consumers are said to be seeking out top quality hot chocolates more and more.
Leftover meat: Gravy baguettes
A baguette filled to the brim with leftover meat from an Easter roast, paired with sweet potato chips (stock image)
Gravy baguettes - ingredients
- ‘Bake at home’ baguettes
- Leftover gravy
- Leftover meat and potatoes
Matt also suggested whipping up some these quick and easy baguettes with your leftover roast meat - whatever you chose the day before.
However, he recommended adding another dimension to your baguette - by adding some moisture and saltiness with gravy.
Adding this element to the dish also makes use of any roast dinner liquor you didn't manage to get through the day before - and often, gravy can go to waste.
Matt recommends packing your gravy baguettes with any and all of the elements from your roast dinner that might be left behind, including meat and potatoes.
Get yourself some 'bake at home' baguettes and follow the instructions on the packaging, he says..
Then proceed to fill them up with whatever leftovers you have left.
Once you've done this, you can drizzle on some gravy and dig in - but you might want to have a napkin to hand...
Leftover meat: Easter paella
Chicken paella, a traditional Spanish dish made of rice with chicken and vegetables in a pan, on a grey background (stock image)
In a slightly different take on using up leftover meat, Matt also suggested adding some saffron and paprika to whizz up a paella.
Having remnants of meat can be overwhelming as there are so many recipes you can opt for.
But something like paella is perfect as you can simply whack together whatever's in your cupboard and call it a day.
To start, mix the saffron and wine together and leave them to stand.
Then stir fry the onion until it's soft, add the paella seasoning mix, rice, pepper, beans, saffron and wine and simmer until all the wine is absorbed.
Add the tomatoes and half the stock then simmer it gently for 10 minutes, taking special care not to stir.
Place all the remaining ingredients, including your leftover meat over the rice, cover and simmer, adding stock as required but still not stirring, until cooked for about 10 minutes.
Leave it to stand covered for five minutes and then serve.
Matt's paella ingredients
- Leftover meat
- Saffron (approximately 10 threads)
- Dry white wine (175 ml)
- Olive oil (2 tablespoons)
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- Paella seasoning mix (4 teaspoons)
- Paella rice (300g)
- 1 large red pepper (chopped)
- Green beans (200g, chopped)
- Tomatoes (400g chopped)
- Chicken stock (600ml)
- Peas (80g)
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