If you hosted a big Thanksgiving meal yesterday, chances are you’ve got leftovers in the fridge — turkey, greens or just heaps of mashed potatoes that need to be eaten over the next week or so. (We’re big fans of not wasting food here.) The gobbler sandwich is a tried and true way to mow through this stock. But if you’re interested in doing something new, we have some ideas. We asked folks around the station here at WBUR how they repurpose their Thanksgiving leftovers after the big day is done. And as it turns out, some of our colleagues have been quietly innovating in the space, with creations from Thanksgiving leftover egg rolls to “Grav-O.” Here are the recipes and recommendations they shared: Thanksgiving leftover calzones “I like to make calzones with the leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy. I usually use a store-bought ball of dough because I don't want to really cook anything after Thanksgiving — and that's how the recipe is written, but I'm including a calzone dough recipe that I like, too.” — Geoff Graves, chief engineer and broadcast systems manager (Link to recipe) Mashed potato pancakes “The last thing you want to think about the day after Thanksgiving — when you are coming out of that tryptophan haze — is food. But with leftovers in the fridge and maybe family staying overnight, mashed potato pancakes make a great breakfast or brunch. If you are like me, your mashed potatoes already are loaded with sour cream and butter, so they will be set in the morning for this recipe.” — Christine Willmsen, managing editor, investigations (Link to recipe) Thanksgiving leftover egg rolls “Every year, my best friend Jessica invites her closest friends over a few days after Thanksgiving for ‘Egg Roll Day,’ where we take Thanksgiving leftovers (like turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and squash), mix it together in a bowl and wrap it in egg roll wrappers. Her husband Anthony lovingly assembles the mixture and deep fries the rolls outside while we wrap. Then, we dip them in gravy and his homemade cranberry ‘duck sauce.’ “We have experimented with the roll over the years, and made a version with a leftover honey baked ham, cheese and potatoes that was equally good. We've debated what the best ratio of filling-to-wrap is and whether the cranberry sauce should go in the roll rather than out. (Warning: In the roll = it will explode.) One of my favorite events of the year.” — Candice Springer, associate director, CitySpace Thanksgiving leftover nachos “Spread a layer of tortilla chips on a greased sheet pan. Then sprinkle on top bite-sized pieces of leftover turkey, stuffing and any leftover vegetables — ideally Brussels sprouts. Those are your baseline ingredients. But you can also add some dollops of mashed potatoes and gravy. Cover it all with shredded cheese. (My favorite for this is using Trader Joe's Swiss and Gruyere shredded cheese blend — but a plain cheddar, mozzarella or Mexican cheese mix would work totally fine, too.) “Cook in a preheated oven at 425 F for around 10 minutes, or broil on high for around 3 minutes. Just watch it closely so it doesn’t burn. Serve it with cranberry sauce — on the side or plopped on top.” — Nik DeCosta-Klipa, senior editor, newsletters Stuffing fritters “Take your leftover stuffing, add chicken or veggie stock (if needed) and an egg for binding. Form into patties and pan fry on medium heat until golden brown and the egg is cooked through. Optional, but highly recommended: serve covered in leftover gravy.” — Courtney Keller, legacy giving manager Turkey broth “Turkey broth is great for soups! Toss the turkey bones into a big pot of water, simmer with a couple of carrots and celery stalks cut into big chunks, a quartered onion, a quartered turnip and/or parsnip and some parsley, thyme or whatever herbs you like. Let it simmer until the turkey meat is falling off the bone. Turn off the heat. When cool, remove all the stuff, and voila! broth. Once you have the broth, it's a great base for just about any soup or chili. Also, you can freeze it easily and save for winter!” — Elisabeth Harrison, managing editor, news content Turkey chili verde “One year my then-girlfriend and I received a smoked turkey as a gift, and we made a turkey chile verde with the leftovers that I still dream about. We took the meat off the bird and made stock with the carcass, onions, and carrots. Then if I remember correctly we had onions, white beans, tomatillos (but tomatoes would probably have worked), green chiles, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and probably some beer.” — Naomi Sobel, senior leadership gifts officer Turkey tikka masala “I've made this recipe a bunch. It's good for when you just can't eat one more turkey sandwich (which don't get me wrong, I love) because it's completely transformative.” — Dan Mauzy, executive editor, news Turkey tetrazzini “This tetrazzini is “a great way to use leftover ingredients, like peas, onions, mushrooms, cream, and some of the inevitable turkey stock. The only thing you need to buy specifically for the dish are the egg noodles.” — Benjamin Lipiecki, senior financial administrator The leftover sandwich “I am a big fan of the leftover sandwich! Two toasted slices of sourdough bread with mashed potatoes (just trust me) on one side and stuffing on the other with turkey, veggies and gravy in the middle.” — Katie Kirk, marketing operations manager Mac ‘n’ gravy “Back when I could eat dairy, I used to drizzle gravy over leftover mac and cheese.” — Kalyani Saxena, associate producer, Here & Now "Grav-O" “This actually started when we were kids. If you put leftover gravy in the fridge, especially greasy gravy, it kind of congeals into a … gelatin. I agree this is gross. However: You can spread the congealed gravy — which we call Grav-O — onto leftover turkey sandwiches, which we do. The Grav-O is actually a treasured leftover condiment in our house. Chill it, then spread it.” — Barbara Moran, climate and environment correspondent P.S.— OK, maybe you want a professional’s opinion? We’ve got that, too. Here & Now resident chef Kathy Gunst has a deep archive of Thanksgiving leftover recipes, from mashed potato polpettone to turkey pot pie. | 
