Christmas Leftovers: Turkey or Ham Carbonara

Christmas has come and gone and the fridge is full of leftover ham and turkey, but you can’t eat other toasted ham sandwich if you try. So what to do with the leftovers? Here’s one of my favourite recipes for Turkey or Ham Carbonara, depending on what is leftover in your house.

Ingredients:

30g unsalted butter

4 rashers of bacon, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons of pine nuts, toasted lightly

4 eggs, whisked

300ml thickened cream

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/3 cup (25g) finely grated parmesan, plus extra to serve

500g spaghetti noodles

2 cups (350g) shredded cooked turkey or shredded leg ham

2 tablespoons of chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to serve

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, then drain well.

Method:

Melt the butter in a deep frypan over medium flame.

Add the bacon  to the pan and cook until just starting to crisp. Add the pine nuts stirring to cook the flavours together.

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, then drain well.

In a large heatproof bowl, mix the eggs, cream, garlic and parmesan together. Add bacon and pine nuts, and season with salt and pepper.

Add the cooked and drained pasta to the egg mixture and stir it together for 1 minute.  The heat from the pasta will cook that sauce.  Stir through the turkey or the ham leftover from Christmas Dinner and sprinkle with fresh flat leaf parsley.