Free The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers by Kate Colquhoun

into smallish pieces, right at the start with the onion marmalade. Leave out the capers. Chunks of fennel could also be added with the potatoes.

These very gentle Middle Eastern dishes give you something entirely different for your leftovers repertoire, using yogurt or sesame paste (tahini) to make a caressingly creamy sauce into which you slip the meat or fish. I learned how to make them from the cookery writer Anissa Helou, whose thoughtful dishes are always incredibly healthy, as well as delicious. Serve with warm flatbreads, chopped basil or coriander and a green salad.

This Lebanese dish is most often prepared with whole fish but you can also use leftover fish.
Serves 2
100ml tahini (sesame paste )
115ml water
juice of 1 large lemon
a little vegetable oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 teacups (about 200g) leftover fish, flaked
salt
Put the tahini in a mixing bowl and gradually stir in the water and lemon juice until you have a pale liquid the consistency of a thin, creamy soup. Add a little more water if it looks too thick.
Pour a little vegetable oil into a frying pan over a medium heat, add the onions and fry until golden. Add the tahini and salt to taste, then allow to bubble until you see a little oil rising. Turn off the heat and slip the fish gently into the sauce. Serve tepid or at room temperature.

This recipe can be used as a basis for cooking other meat in yogurt, varying the taste by replacing the coriander with mint or basil. Indeed, you could make it entirely vegetarian by using a can of chickpeas or some cooked cauliflower florets or diced courgettes in place of the lamb.
What rescues this deliciously mild and velvety dish from blandness is the pungency of the garlic and the aromatic hit of the herbs. For a slightly thicker sauce, you could omit the stock.
Serves 2
1 heaped teaspoon soft butter
a small bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
500g plain yogurt (even better if you can find the thick, curdy yogurt freshly made daily in some Middle Eastern grocery stores )
1 egg, lightly whisked
2 teacups (about 200g) leftover lamb, fat and gristle removed, torn into good-sized pieces
the white heads of 8 spring onions
210ml stock (optional – if you are after a thicker sauce, leave it out )
salt and pepper
Melt the butter in a small frying pan over a medium heat, add the coriander and garlic and sauté for a minute until the garlic is softened but not browned. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Put the yogurt in a heavy-based pan, add the whisked egg and mix well. Bring gently to the boil, stirring regularly to prevent curdling, then turn down the heat and simmer for 3 minutes, still stirring.
Now add the meat to the yogurt sauce, along with the spring onions and the garlic and coriander mixture. Add the stock, if using. Simmer gently for 3 minutes. Serve immediately, with vermicelli or rice.

Neither casserole nor curry, this ragù transforms the idea of a ‘Bolognese’ into a meltingly tasty sauce for pasta or to eat on its own with rice. Kids love it, it freezes well and you can turn the last bowlful into a great lunchtime soup by thinning it with a little stock or water and blitzing in a blender.
Always prepare the meat well first by trimming off all fat and gristle and chopping or mincing it very finely. If you are doing this in a food processor, use the pulse button: you really don’t want to turn the meat into a paste.
I prefer not to drain the tomatoes for this sauce as, when cooked at a slow bubble, all the liquid reduces, leaving behind its flavour. If you are in a hurry, though, do strain the tomatoes.
Serves 2
a little butter or olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 good-sized garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf
a sprig of thyme, if you have it
400g can of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato purée
2 teacups (about 200g) leftover roast lamb or beef, finely chopped or minced
salt and pepper
Heat a little butter or olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic