The Soviet kitchen is largely based on use of leftovers.
Check out these ideas of how to re-use things smartly!
scroll down to find the links to the recipes listed by the leftover ingredient
BREAD – stale
helps you give your bread a very tasty and cheesy second life
use up your leftover white bread and apples and flavour it to your taste
aka pappa al pomodoro, a way to use up your bread that unfortunately has become too stale
BUCKWHEAT GROATS – cooked
Blatsaria me kalambokalevro or Cornmeal Greens Pie from Epirus
unusual salty dish with greens in between chewy cornmeal layers
COUSCOUS – cooked
Zucchini and Couscous Cheesy Bake
an improvisation dish using lunch leftovers
EGG WHITE
addictive crunchy-crumbly biscotti
EGG YOLKS
a very sweet and crumbly giant shortcrust cookie from Brittany, France
big and soft cookies
JAM, FRUIT COMPOTES
soft and vanilla-delicious cake for which you can use apples from compote
use apple jam for the cake and apple puree as filling and glaze
Cake with Quadruple Chocolate and Tangerine Apple Marmalade
a super dolce (sweet) and morbido (soft) gingerbread-like Italian cake
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping
will work very nice with jam instead of fresh apples
spicy gingerbread-like muffins
My Friend’s Granny’s “Grated” Pie
from a time-proved hand-written recipe
MILK
Homemade Basa Cheese (Croatian)
turn milk into your own cream cheese!
POTATOES – boiled / mashed
soft and moist bread with mashed potatoes
Koloby, Karelian Pies with Cheese and Potatoes
use either mashed or boiled potatoes for these traditional Karelian pies
Mashed Potatoes, our family recipe
and also some tips what to do with your boiled / mashed potatoes
Pane con Patate ed Erba Cipollina or Potato and Herbs Sourdough Bread
chewy moist bread with burnt potato flavour
Πατατόπιτα (Patatopita, Potato Pie)
a very soft and cheesy pie, nicely crumby and perfectly paired with some sour cream
Shangi with Potatoes (Shangi s Kartoshkoy)
flat pies originally from the North of Russia, can be with a variety of toppings
Τυρόπιτες και χορτόπιτες με ζύμη πεϊνιρλί (Cheese and Greens Pies with Traditional Peinirli Dough)
you can use leftover mashed potatoes as a filling for these pies
Pane a Spiga con Patate or Spike-Like Potato Bread
a giant loaf of soft and sweetish white bread
RICE – boiled
flat cheese pies with thin dough and a similarly thin layer of filling… with rice!
this pie is not your normal rice pudding. It has NUTS inside, by the way!
Ualibakh, Traditional Caucasian Fresh Cheese Pie from Ossetia
try my version with leftover boiled white rice
SOURDOUGH CULTURE – don’t just discard it!
Zucchini Rye Pizza from Leftover Sourdough
when there’s some sourdough left, why not turn it into a quick pizza crust?
WINE – yes, why not? white wine in particular
boozy, very soft and syrupy cake
Ciambelline al vino (Wine Donuts)
soft sugary biscuits with a very subtle wine flavour and a crunchy sugary crust
Risotto con zucchine (Risotto with zucchini / courgettes)
creamy chewy risotto made with white wine