No, this is not another Christmas leftovers recipe – although it could be one to bookmark for next Christmas. I just bought some turkey mince on sale at Asda and then wondered what I might do with it. So, hot on the heels of my piled-high beef and ale pie, I figured the mince would make a good basis for another pie filling. Yes! Turkey pie! Why not, I thought? Plus there was some bacon, mushrooms (because I seem to breed mushrooms in the fridge…), cream, post-Christmas Stilton remains,  and some leftover cream cheese from the ridiculous carrot cake – it all added up to the perfect filling for a turkey pie.

I used the same size pie dish and shortcrust pastry as the piled-high beef and ale pie, rolled out the pastry, blind-baked it, and got cracking with the turkey pie filling. As I cooked away, diligently making notes as I went, I realised there was going to be way too much filling for the pastry case. But I was already in too deep with the turkey pie. So once the pastry case was filled and the turkey pie was baking merrily away, I had a brainwave and turned the leftover filling into a pasta bake.

My husband had accidentally cooked a load of pasta that was surplus to requirements (don’t ask!) so I stirred the leftover filling through the glut of penne. Then I got a shallow rectangular baking dish out and layered it with the pasta-filling mix, grated cheddar cheese, sprinkled a few mixed herbs throughout, topped it with more grated cheese and squares of bacon, and baked for about 25 minutes at 180 degrees C.

Scroll down for the turkey pie recipe and in the meantime, here is the pasta bake in all it’s post-oven glory: