Baking often creates leftover pastry. Make sure you do not waste any, by turning scraps into delicious treats. If you have any kids around, get them involved in cutting out cookie shapes, making pizzas, cheesy breadsticks . . Alternatively, as I found in the past, leftover pastry also makes wonderful play dough that will keep them entertained for hours :).
Here are some of my favourite ways to use leftover pastry dough, alongside some extra recipe ideas below. Have fun!
3 Great Ways to Use Leftover Pastry Dough
1. Freeze It
When you have enough leftover pastry dough to make another tart or pie, the easiest thing to do is to freeze it. Simply wrap it in cling film, mark it with the date and stick it in the freezer. It is best to use frozen pastry within 3 months as quality will decline over time. To be extra safe, I avoid re-freezing previously frozen pastry dough.
2. Make Mini Tarts / Pizzas / Quiches
If you have mini tins, you can use the extra dough to make mini tarts, quiches or pizzas. Kids usually love the individual pies and they also make a great addition to lunch boxes. Simply line the tins with pastry and use some extra filling. This works for both sweet or savoury recipes and with all types of pastry.
If you do not have enough filling, simply make some more. First, make a flan base by beating some cream and 1 to 2 eggs together in a bowl.
For a sweet pastry, put an apple or pear (previously peeled, cored and sliced) on top of the pastry. Add sugar to the flan base plus vanilla or cinnamon if you wish. Pour the flan base over the fruit and bake together with your main pie for 15-20 mins.
For a savoury option, use leftover vegetables or meat. If you do not have any cooked vegetables, just use grated courgette, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes etc.. Add cheese, seasoning and herbs to the flan base and fill the mini quiche tins. Here again, bake together with your main pie for 15-20 mins.
Other alternative fillings you can use include jam, chutney, mincemeat etc…
Mini pizzas are easily put together by adding your favourite topping on top of puff pastry. (see Just-Rol recipe link below).
3. Biscuits and Snacks
Leftover pastry can also be transformed into delicious sweet/savoury biscuits or snacks. Just roll out the dough sprinkle with cheese or sugar. Fold and roll again. Cut out in shapes, sticks etc..
Place cut out dough on an oven tray lined with a baking sheet. Sprinkle with extra cheese/sugar if desired. Cook at the bottom of the oven with your main tart or pie for 10-15 mins or so until golden.
Additional ideas for savoury biscuits: herbs (thyme, rosemary etc..), pesto, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, seeds (poppy, sesame etc..).
Additional ideas for sweet biscuits: cinnamon, ginger, mixed spices etc…
Recipes ideas
Pie Crust Pin Wheels
Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks
Vegetable Mini Quiches
What is your favourite way to use leftover pastry? Share your tips below in the comments box.
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How come you claim to be about ethics when you say – it’s not about not eating meat but about eating less or getting it “humanly”? It’s like asking a serial killer to not stop killing but to kill less or not to hurt the victims that much and you know, having them free range lol. I mean, go ahead and do what you want but don’t encourage others to go for a lazy approach like yours. xx
Claudia – I take your point yet I do not think that the flexitarian approach is lazy in any way. Being a true vegetarian or vegan is not for everyone. The idea of going meat-free one day a week (or more) is less daunting to most people than going vegetarian. There is a lot to gain by having an increasing number of people eating less meat. I am trying to encourage people to eat less meat and when they do eat to choose better quality meat (+ fish and dairy) raised to higher welfare standards. Labels can be misleading so organic and grass-fed is best, free range at the very very least. I am so happy to see the number of vegetarians and vegans going up but the fact is that the majority of people still do eat meat and way too much meat. So unless the majority of people who are still eating meat don’t demand higher welfare it is not going to improve the welfare of animals currently being farmed in appalling conditions. Yes it is still killing and everyone as their own personal views on this. I try not to judge just encourage people to make better choices. This approach got me to where I got from a committed carnivore to someone who only eat meat very very occasionally (3 times this year to be exact).
Really enjoyed this pie.