I had just walked back through the door at Casa Adora, Issy at my heels after her stay with K9 Liz, when I started raiding the freezer — and ended up with the best leftover roast chicken toasts I've made in a while. I had been in England — Wembley for the Cup Final, then Stamford Bridge three days later to watch Chelsea take three points off Tottenham. And in between, my eldest granddaughter had made me a great-grandfather for the first time. Welcome to the world, Cruz Morrison.

The leftover roast chicken was in the freezer, forgotten about entirely. Free range, corn fed — perfect for leftover roast chicken toasts. I sweated down fresh red pepper and cherry tomatoes until soft but not mushy, rescued some spinach from the back of the vegetable drawer, toasted pine nuts and poppy seeds with finely chopped garlic, and piled the lot onto properly crispy sourdough with shredded cold chicken and raw red onion. A few drops of Mango Ember fermented hot sauce to finish.

It turned out I had no usable potatoes. No matter — the toasts were more than enough on their own. If you want to turn this into a more substantial main course, serve with oven wedges: parboil, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and pimentón, roast at 220°C for 20–25 minutes until crisp and golden.

How to Make Leftover Roast Chicken Toasts

INGREDIENTS

• 2 slices sourdough, toasted until crispy
• 1 small fresh red pepper, thinly sliced
• 10–12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
• 3–4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• A handful fresh spinach
• A few slices raw red onion
• 1 generous handful leftover cold roast chicken, shredded
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 1 pinch pimentón dulce
• A few drops Mango Ember fermented hot sauce
• Salt & black pepper, to taste
• A squeeze of lemon

METHOD

Sweat the pepper and tomatoes Heat a little olive oil in a pan over a medium-low heat. Add the sliced red pepper and halved cherry tomatoes with a pinch of salt. Cook gently for 8–10 minutes until soft and broken down but not mushy. Set aside.

Toast the pine nuts and seeds In a dry pan, toast the pine nuts and poppy seeds over a medium heat until the pine nuts are golden. Add the finely chopped garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

Wilt the spinach Add the spinach to the residual heat of the pepper pan with a tiny splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Stir until just wilted — 1–2 minutes. Squeeze out any excess moisture.

Toast the bread Toast the sourdough until properly crisp — it needs to hold the weight of the toppings without collapsing.

Build the toasts Spread the wilted spinach over each slice. Spoon the pepper and tomato mixture over the top. Add the raw red onion and shredded chicken.

Finish Scatter over the pine nuts and poppy seeds. Drizzle with olive oil, add a squeeze of lemon, dust lightly with pimentón dulce, and finish with a few drops of Mango Ember fermented hot sauce.

To serve with wedges Parboil potato wedges in salted water for 5–6 minutes. Drain and steam-dry. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of pimentón. Roast at 220°C for 20–25 minutes, turning once, until crisp and golden. A squeeze of lemon and a few drops of hot sauce when they come out of the oven.

If it's vegetables rather than chicken you're trying to use up, my Creative Ways to Use Up Leftover Vegetables is worth a look too.

FOOTNOTE

This recipe is part of my Chicken Recipes collection — a growing collection of chicken recipes cooked and perfected at Casa Adora in rural Andalucía. Find more leftover roast chicken toasts ideas and food adventures here. Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef