I don’t know about yours, but my family is all about Thanksgiving leftovers! We specifically make more food than we need, so we’ll have plenty of leftovers. My husband is crazy for the turkey! We’ll be having 6 people at dinner and he wants to cook a 30 pound bird! It’s that barbecuing! I’m telling you! (See my blog post on November 7 – Thanksgiving Tips Part 4 – Barbecued Turkey)
After a day or two of eating the leftovers as is, I start getting a little bored with them, but I hate throwing food out. It’s time to get creative!!!
One of the things I like to make with our leftovers is what I call Thanksgiving Lasagna. Now it’s not “lasagna” as we usually know it and there isn’t actually any pasta involved, but it has that layered effect that you get with lasagna.
You can really do the layers any way you choose, but my one piece of advice would be to be sure you scatter the more liquid ingredients, like cranberry sauce and gravy, throughout the lasagna, so they can help keep the other ingredients moist.
Thanksgiving Lasagna
Spray a baking/lasagna pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer ingredients as suggested below. If it seems a little dry, add some of that turkey stock that you made or some chicken broth.
• Sweet potatoes or yams
• Vegetables – Green bean casserole or carrots would be good!
• Turkey
• Cranberry sauce
• Dressing/stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Top with your favorite shredded cheese
Bake until cheese is melted and lasagna is heated through. Timing will depend on the size of your pan. Probably about 30-45 minutes.
Another layering option: Layer a bit of leftovers between two slices of bread to make a delish sandwich. You can even butter the bread on the outside and put in a Panini press or waffle iron to crisp it up and make it more compact!
Inside Kel's Kitchen 