The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers by Kate Colquhoun Page A

they’ve sucked up and can then be drained on kitchen paper. Alternatively – and this is what I do – you can brush them with a very little oil and bake or grill them instead of frying, turning half way through to ensure they are golden on both sides. Raw minced lamb would also add to the oily situation if you were using it. Leftover lamb, of course, has already lost its fat so, actually, it’s ideal.
Serves 2
1 aubergine, cut into slices about 5mm thick
olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
400g can of chopped tomatoes, drained of their juice
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 small glass of red wine
1 bay leaf
1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teacups (about 200g) leftover cooked lamb, minced or finely chopped
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons plain flour
200ml milk
20g strong hard cheese, such as Cheddar, Parmesan or Gruyère, grated
1 egg
a grating of nutmeg
salt and pepper
Brush the aubergine slices with olive oil and then grill them (or bake them at 180°C/Gas Mark 4) until golden on both sides, turning once. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and cook gently until softened. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato purée, wine, bay leaf and cinnamon. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and very gently simmer for about 20 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the meat and heat through.
Make a cheese sauce with the butter, flour, milk and cheese according to the instructions on page 32 , then leave to cool. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl and add it to the cooled sauce, whisking as you go. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
To assemble the dish, put half the meat mixture in an ovenproof dish and cover with half the aubergines. Repeat with the rest of the meat and aubergines. Pour the eggy, cheesy sauce on top and then bake at 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden. Serve with rice or crusty bread and a crisp salad.

Bobotie comes from South Africa. With its eggy, milky heart, it’s a mildly curried relative of moussaka, but without the aubergines. I love to serve it with a mixture of finely chopped tomato and onion as a relish, and yellow turmeric rice dotted with a handful of raisins.
Serves 4
1 large slice of bread
250ml milk
25g butter
1 dessert apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ teaspoon curry powder
4 teacups (about 400g) leftover cooked lamb, minced or finely chopped
3 tablespoons mango chutney (or any other chutney )
1 tablespoon chopped or flaked almonds
1 tablespoon raisins
a good grating of nutmeg
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 eggs
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Soak the bread in the milk. Squeeze it out and reserve both, separately. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the apple, onion and garlic and cook gently until soft. Stir in the curry powder and cook for 1 minute.
Put the meat in a bowl with the squeezed-out bread, chutney, almonds, raisins, nutmeg, bay leaves and lemon juice, then add the curried onion mixture. Mix the whole lot together and season with salt and pepper. Put the mixture into a buttered ovenproof dish and press down. Then mix the eggs with the milk from the soaked bread and pour them over the meat. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the topping is set and lightly golden.

Pies have long been part of the rhythm of using up cooked meat and heaps of ripening fruit, but nowadays we tend to think of them as difficult to make. It’s just not true, especially if you use bought pastry. This is leftovers, after all, the kind of cooking that is meant to be as relaxed and effortless as possible. Keep a packet of good frozen pastry in the freezer – one of the kinds that use real butter rather than transfats and hydrogenated oils – and you just have to remember to defrost it a few hours before you actually need it. The rest is a satisfying doddle: decide on the shape you want, make a filling with a little