This is just one of infinite ways to use up your leftover chicken, which I will sporadically update you with. The whole chicken thing is my saviour at the minute; I can literally eke it out for three days, for me, my partner and 11-year-old stepdaughter.

One thing I do splash out on in the first place is a good chicken. I would love to buy organic chicken, but sometimes I just can’t afford it. I have graduated from the ‘They’re expensive, but worth it’ view to the ‘I just can’t spend €15 on a chicken’ view. Next best is free-range, so that’s what I usually go for. Here’s my latest leftover chicken recipe:

What you need:

Use up every last scrap of that chicken

(Serves 4)

• Half an onion, chopped finely
• Fat clove of garlic, squeezed in
• Two anchovy fillets (from a jar or tin)
• Pinch of dried chilli
• Leftover chicken (I used thigh meat, a little breast and leg)
• 2 0r 3 tomatoes, chopped
• Handful black olives
• Some fresh basil

Method:

Gently fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the anchovy fillets and fry some more until they break up. Add a healthy pinch of dried chilli. Then add two or three chopped tomatoes (throw in a tin if you like), your leftover chicken, a small handful of black olives and some fresh basil.

To serve:

You can serve this deliciously fragrant sauce with some penne or spaghetti, and lashings of parmesan or grana padano. Mmmm!

I’m getting fonder by the day of leftover recipes, out of sheer necessity. I used to turn my nose up when the boyfriend served me yesterday’s food reinvented into something else (usually fabulous - he’s a great cook) but now I never knock it. You simply have to use up what you’ve got and waste nothing.

Related posts:

1. Leftovers: Fishcakes
2. A Can of Tomatoes: Whore’s Spaghetti
3. Wednesday Wind-down: Pasta with Roasted Vegetable Sauce