Leftovers, what do you do with them?

We had meatloaf for dinner the night before last, its literally been years since I made a meatloaf, but the request had been made and as I'm on a bit of a budget kick the two tied in together. However, we had leftovers, even after sending a roast vegie and meatloaf lunch off with the Darling, we had leftovers, so what with the budget kick and my hating to waste food, something had to be done.
A quick net search and about the only thing that came up was either fritters or bung it in a can of soup and call it a.............well I've forgotten what it was called and it is probably a fine thing to do but just didn't seem to be up my alley, so I went with the fritter idea, there was a nice sounding potato fritter, not unlike roesti so I went with that. The only thing I would change is the size of the meatloaf chunks, as the potato cooked down the chunks became more of an accessory than an integral part of the fritter. The whole thing was surprisingly tasty and very easy, I topped the fritters with a fresh tomato and caramelised onion sauce and a sno pea salad.

Fritters for 3 serves

4 medium potatoes, grated and squeezed dry

1 medium onion, grated

1 egg

1 Tablespoon plain flour, approx

salt and pepper

leftover meatloaf, cubed, 1 to 1 1/2 cups small chunks

Olive oil

Grate the potatoes, and using you hands, take handfuls of the grated potato, squeeze the excess potato juice out over the sink and place dry grated potato into a large bowl.

Grate the onion, add to the bowl with the potato.

Add egg to the potato and mix together well.

Sprinkle the flour over the potato, just enough to pull the mixture together, Add the meatloaf chunks and season.

Heat a good coating of oil in a heavy based fry pan.

When pan and oil are hot, place 1/4 cup measures of the potato mixture into the pan, press down to flatten slightly.

Cook over low heat until fritters are well browned and crisp on both sides. The center of the fritters will be creamy when fully cooked.

You will need to use two pans if you are cooking a number of fritters or remove the first batch to the oven to keep warm and continue using the one pan.

When fritters are all done, place on serving plates, top with tomato sauce and the sno pea salad and Enjoy!

Caramelised Onion and Fresh Tomato Sauce

1 medium onion, finely sliced

2 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped - I didn't bother peeling the tomatoes, I rather like the skin left on the chunks

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon stock or water.

Heat oil in saucepan and add onions, fry over a medium heat until the onions caramelise, turning a nice soft brown, don't allow the onions to catch and burn, they will go bitter.

Add the tomato chunks and stir through. Place lid on pan and allow to cook down, stirring occasionally.

Add a little stock or water if the sauce is becoming too thick or beginning to stick to the pan.

Sno Pea Salad for 3

150 - 200 grams sno peas,

1/4 red capsicum

1/4 green or yellow capsicum

1/3 long red chilli - more if you love chilli

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

3/4 tablespoon lemon juice

Blanch the sno peas in boiling water for 1 min, drain and refresh under cold water.

Drain well and place in bowl

Very finely dice the red chilli, place in screw top jar with soy sauce, brown sugar and lemon juice, shake well and allow to sit for a few minutes.

Slice capsicums finely, add to sno peas and pour dressing over to serve.