Originally posted by Jess – December 7, 2016
Hi everyone, Jess here. I know today is Meatless Monday, and in our house we enjoyed a vegetarian Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai this evening before I ran out to the Westford Community Garden meeting. I thought instead I’d share about a dish from a few days ago.
Yup, believe it or not, there’s still more on this dinner table to share about!
I just love looking at a table like this and knowing that it’s all farm fresh and local… We’ve talked about the turkey. We’ve talked about the soup-wielding pumpkins. We’ve talked about the maple-glazed root veggies, the creamy garlic mashed potatoes, the neck squash, the cranberry sauce… What’s left? A little bit of everything, actually! How about a leftover casserole? I wish I could take credit for this idea as it was so yummy, but my mother was the one that suggested it. Thanks, Ma!
I took a buttered baking pan and added in some leftover stuffing (this would allow the stuffing to absorb the flavors of the other layers.) Next I added in a layer of my uncle’s baked beans and mushrooms, followed by a layer of creamy garlic mashed potatoes.
The following layer included bite-sized pieces of leftover turkey, and then a layer of chopped maple glazed root veggies.
Yummy! Finally, I topped the whole thing off with butternut/neck squash and wrapped it up overnight.
The next day, this went in the oven at 350 for about 35 minutes until heated through. Served with gravy and cranberry sauce, this was an absolutely scrumptious dish, dare I say even better than the initial meal, as every bite was flavor-melded taste sensation!
This recipe is of course not limited to holiday dinner leftovers. It’s a flexible dish depending on what leftovers you have, so as always, make it your own. This is definitely a good one for using your acorn squash pile. If you made a chicken from the harvest this weekend, those leftovers would be perfect, too! The only tip I have is to put your drier absorbent layers (such as stuffing or chopped leftover gravy-enhanced dinner rolls) closer to the bottom, and at the top you can put the layers that will most easily smooth things out (such as mashed potatoes or squash) allowing the flavors of the middle ingredients retain moisture during baking. Like stuffing, it’s not much to look at, but absolutely packed with flavor! I hope you enjoy this one, I’d love to hear comments about the variations that you try! Until next time, sweet and savory dreams, my friends!