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This post was created in collaboration with Opies. We don’t really have traditional ‘leftovers’ in our house: as there is just the two of us unless something is a main meal that can be reheated the next day for another dinner to save me from cooking, I only cook enough for the two of us to cut down on waste. As a result, my ‘leftovers’ dishes tend to focus on things where you can’t help but yield extra, like my Leftover Roast Chicken Pie and my Vietnamese-style Leftover Turkey & Sweet Potato Curry. But, all that changed recently and these fantastic Leftover Roast Potato Cakes were born.
Thanks to the last minute nature of Christmas last year and the fact I found myself cooking a turkey crown solo for the first time ever, there were a tonne of leftovers, including leftover roast potatoes and parsnips which we could not manage after I’d gone big on all the trimmings to make ourselves feel better, like my family stuffing recipe and lots of bacon wrapped chipolatas.
So, on Boxing Day when I made us breakfast I had a bit of a play around, turning our leftover roast potatoes and parsnips into crisp little potato cakes fried in butter, seasoned and bound with leftover bread sauce. Last year we had them with bacon, avocado and eggs, but this year I’m going to be sure to make extra roots so that I can serve them with smoked salmon. I do love bacon, but what can be better than a good side of smoked salmon over Christmas?
Also inspired by some wonderful leek and cream baked eggs which came with smoked salmon and a tonne of capers I made last time my best friend and her husband stayed (and I promise I’ll share in the New Year) I’ve added a zingy side of capers and chopped cocktail gherkins (cornichons will also work!) from my friends and fellow Kent-dwellers Opies. Ahead of December they were kind enough to send me a box of goodies to try out in my festive recipes – the kirsch soaked cherries I used to top my Eggnog Panna Cotta recipe were exceptional – and I will admit that whilst you know I’ll find a way to serve capers with anything and everything, I may also have been sneaking the gherkins out of the fridge just to snack on…!
Obviously if you are one of those people who don’t like to buy a jar of something for just one recipe I’ve got you covered with some more recipes you can enjoy over the festive period and into the New Year: both actually created for Opies earlier in the year I’ve got a super quick and easy Tuna & Tomato Penne recipe loaded up with beautifully briny capers, and an Easy Chicken Paprikash recipe which is perfect for winter comfort eating.
Opies products are pretty easy to get hold of, you can find the cocktail gherkins in Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco, you can find the capers in Morroisons, and Opies’ organic capers in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose!
These easy and delicious Leftover Roast Potato Cakes transform leftover roast potatoes and parsnips into delicious potato cakes perfect for a Boxing Day breakfast!
Ingredients
Scale
4 leftover roast potatoes
2–3 leftover roast parsnips (or 2 more roast potatoes)
leftover bread sauce
freshly ground sea salt & black pepper
large knob unsalted butter
light oil
2 tbsp Opies capers in brine
8 Opies gherkins in brine
soured cream
4 sliced smoked salmon
zest of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
Roughly chop the potatoes and the pancakes. In a medium bowl, season them well with salt and pepper before mashing them with clean hands. Gradually add bread sauce until the mixture is sticky enough to shape patties. Divide the mixture into 4 and shape.
Heat the butter and a generous glug of oil in a medium to large non-stick frying pan set over a medium high heat. Once the mixture is shimmering, fry the patties for a few minutes on each side until golden, working in batches if you need to so not to crowd the pan.
Meanwhile, finely chop the gherkins to about the same size as the capers, and mix together.
Divide the potato cakes between two plates and top them with a dollop of soured cream, a couple of slices of smoked salmon and half the caper mixture. Sprinkle lemon zest over each plate and serve immediately.
I'm a food writer living in the English Countryside. Welcome to my online diary where I share easy, weeknight recipes, foodie travel diaries and some of the best places I've eaten out recently.
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