This savoury tart is one of my favourite ways to breathe new life into the leftovers that linger after Christmas Day—the vegetables nobody wants cold, and the turkey that feels far too good to waste. Wrapped in buttery puff pastry and enriched with a luxurious feta cream, it transforms odds and ends into a dish that feels entirely intentional. The feta brings a creamy, umami depth that ties the sprouts, chestnuts, bacon and turkey together, keeping everything moist and wonderfully flavourful.
It’s flexible enough to suit whatever you have in the fridge, yet special enough to serve between Christmas and New Year when you still want food to feel festive but a little lighter in spirit. You can, of course, make it from scratch with raw turkey or chicken, but it truly shines as a clever, comforting solution to leftovers. Crisp pastry, tender vegetables, creamy pockets of feta and a scattering of herbs—this is the kind of winter cooking that makes everyone happy to gather around the table again.
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
- 1 packet of ready rolled puff pastry, 320g
- 300-350g cooked turkey meat, cut in small bitesize chunks
- 150g smoked lardons or bacon roughly chopped
- 300g Brussels sprouts
- 180g cooked chestnuts
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 100ml chicken stock
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp of sesame seeds
- 1 tsp nigella seeds
- 50g grated mature cheddar cheese
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- A pinch of chilli flakes
For the feta cream
- 100g feta cheese
- 100g cream cheese
- 6tbsp milk
- 3 sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 1900C.
Place the pastry on a baking tin lined with baking paper.
Use a knife to score gently an inner rectangle, creating a 1.5cm wide border all round and use a fork to prick all over the inner rectangle. Beat the egg yolk with a tbsp of cold water and use it to brush the border of the tart. Sprinkle the border with the sesame and nigella seeds and bake the pastry for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven to 1800C.
While the pastry is baking, bring a pan with salted water to the boil. Trim and wash the Brussels sprouts and cook in the water for 7 minutes. Drain and drop into icy water to stop them cooking further.
Next bring a large sauteing pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil and lardons or bacon. Cook stirring all the time for 3-4 minutes until the fat of the bacon has been released. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the lardons to a dish. Add the chopped onion to the oil and cook for a few minutes till translucent stirring continuously. Drain that too and put into the bowl of the bacon. Next add the sprouts, chestnuts, stock and oregano and cook at a low heat with a lid on for 10-15 minutes till the sprouts are tender. Return the lardons and onions to the pan and add the chopped cooked turkey. Taking care not to use too much as the feta is already salty, season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and stir everything.
To make the feta cream, put all the ingredients into a small blender and blitz.
When you take the pastry out of the oven, spoon the turkey mix within the border with the feta cream intermittently. Sprinkle with the grated cheddar and return to the oven. Cook for a further 15 minutes till the pastry is golden.
Sprinkle with the chopped parsley, chilli flakes and serve.
Note: If using raw turkey or chicken, pat the meat dry, season and brown all over in the pan after you have cooked the lardons. Transfer the meat with a slotted spoon into a bowl and continue with the rest.
Return the browned turkey into the pan when you add the sprouts and chestnuts and cook together as above.