Ferran and Albert Adrià examine Massimo's turkey-based ragu of everything. As featured in Bread is Gold

What to do with Xmas leftovers, by the world’s best chefs

Here's what Massimo Bottura creates with old turkey when Ferran and Albert Adrià are in his kitchen

Anticipating having Christmas leftovers? Then we have the book for you. In Bread is Gold, Massimo Bottura records the recipes he and has friends have come up with, to turn unwanted ingredients into nutritious meals for the needy.

The ingredients delivered to Massimo’s Refettorio Ambrosiano – a haute-cuisine soup kitchen he founded in Milan back in 2015  – by local restaurants and catering suppliers included plenty of stuff you may have enjoyed on Christmas day, including turkey, ham and panettone.

However, given Massimo’s and his friends’ pedigrees, the recipes they cooked up are a step beyond your usual Boxing Day turkey sandwich. Consider this dish, created at Refettorio Ambrosiano when Ferran and Albert Adrià were putting in a charitable turn behind the stoves.

Ferran’s restaurant, elBulli, topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list five times, before closing in 2011; Massimo’s Osteria Francescana was number one in 2018. You’d be hard pressed to pay for such gastronomic talent; and, while the chefs were cooking with lowly ingredients, they still worked their Michelin-starred magic.

As Massimo recalls in his book, Ferran and Albert made chicken croquettes and rice pudding for their service, while Bottura himself cleared out the kitchen’s leftovers by making an all encompassing turkey ragu.

“Ferran asked, ‘What is it made of?’” Massimo writes in Bread is Gold. “I answered, ‘Everything.’” Hence the dish's name. Here’s how to make your version, though remember, this version serves 12, so unless you’re opening the doors to the poor and needy yourself this Boxing Day, you might want to scale it all back a bit.

 

Ragu of Everything

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

9 oz (250 g) pancetta, chopped

2 large onions, diced

6 carrots, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 lb 2 oz (500 g) turkey breast, cut into 1-inch (3 cm) chunks

21/4 lb (1 kg) ground (minced) chicken, beef, and veal

9 oz (250 g) speck, chopped

1 lb 2 oz (500 g) fresh tomatoes

1 cup (250 ml) canned whole peeled tomatoes

5 bay leaves

1 sprig thyme

Salt

Method

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Add the pancetta and cook until browned, about 10 minutes.

Next, add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the carrots and celery and sauté for another 10 minutes.

Add the turkey and the ground (minced) meat in batches, stirring constantly until browned, about 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. 

Add the speck and cook until browned, about 15 minutes. 

Add the fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, bay leaves, and thyme and simmer until thick and reduced, about 90 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and thyme.

Season to taste with salt. Let cool in the saucepan for 2 hours before serving or refrigerating.

Reheat over low heat before serving.

 

Bread is Gold
Bread is Gold

This isn’t the only great Boxing Day dish in the book; there are recipes for panettone icecream, pork and ham bone broth, and plenty more besides. Order your copy of Bread is Gold here today.