Ingredients

450g short pasta (fusilli, penne, rigatoni – I used some Christmas Pasta like this one)

50g butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed

50g plain flour

700ml milk

6 tbsp grated parmesan

500g turkey & stuffing (or other meats) leftovers, roughly chopped – I used turkey, chestnut & sausage stuffing

~100-200g leftover hard cheese grated (cheddar, Gouda or Gruyere would work well – something with flavour that will melt)

Juice 1/2 lemon

150ml 1/2 fat creme fraiche

1-2 slices day old sourdough (or whatever bread you have), processed into breadcrumbs

1 tsp olive oil

Method:

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add your pasta & cook until al dente (you may want to do this after you’ve started on the sauce, depending on the cooking time for the pasta)
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic & cook until lightly golden.
3. Add the flour & cook stirring continuously for 1-2 mins
4. Add the milk gradually, whisking until smooth between each addition. If you have any leftover gravy, you could also add this to the sauce as this point for some extra flavour.
5. Cook this, mixing continuously, for a few minutes until thickened. Stir in some pepper, 4tbsp of grated parmesan & a few handfuls of your grated hard cheese of choice (make sure there is enough leftover to sprinkle over the bake at the end).
6. Add the pasta, turkey meat/stuffing & creme fraiche to the sauce. The creme fraiche is needed to cut through what is otherwise a very rich dish.
7. Season this to taste with salt, pepper & lemon juice.
8. Turn your grill onto high heat.
9. Pour the pasta into an 30cm x 20cm baking dish. Sprinkle the grated hard cheese over the top. In a separate bowl stir together the breadcrumbs, remaining 2tbsp of parmesan and 1tsp olive oil. Spread this mix over to the top of the pasta.
10. Grill for a few minutes until the cheese is melted & the breadcrumbs have browned. Keep an eye on this as it can burn very quickly.