Stuffed Mexican Rolls (or another way to use up bread that's nearly past it)

I got back from a weekend away at the snow (the reason for no Sunday post) to find some sad looking rolls that I forgot about. I had meant to pop them in the freezer but in my organising to head away with two small kiddos it somehow slipped my mind!

I really do hate food waste so I was trying to think up a way to use them for dinner that didn't involve heating them with soup. I feared that even some generous warmth wouldn't quite be enough. I also had some black beans in the fridge in need of quick use and an idea was born: Stuffed Mexican Rolls.

Stuffed Mexican Rolls

This is clearly a VERY loose recipe so consider it more inspiration than 'how-to'.

First up I fried the black beans with some spices and leftover roast turkey. I generally have a few portions of leftover roast meats in the freezer as I find them so useful to top a pizza, toasted sandwich or stir through a pasta for a quick meal. Being a Mexican inspired dish I went for cumin, paprika and garlic for the spices. Once the spices were starting to toast a little I added a dash of water to loosen the mix and lightly mashed the beans. For a little colour I added spring onion tops (fresh coriander would have worked well here too).

Mixed up and ready to stuff.

Once this mix was cool I stirred through some grated cheese. Then it was time to stuff. I cut slits in the rolls about 7/8ths of the way through - pretty similar to making garlic rolls. Then in went the mix and a little more cheese on top before popping in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes or until looking golden and tasty.

Stuffed & ready for extra cheese & baking.

I'm a big fan of adding lots of extra to my Mexican dishes so I had fun piling extra flavourings on top. I went with some sour cream (which was also ready to use up), preserved salsa and fermented chillies. Et Voila - dinner is served.

Baked and ready for additional toppings (see first pic above for finished product).

I think this idea would lend itself to many different flavour combinations and I'll definitely be trying out some different ones with future 'less than fresh' rolls. A few ideas I'm saving for next time:

• Roast pork, cheese, mustard and saurekraut
• Salami, pesto, tomato and cheese
• Bolognaise mince or leftover stew and cheese
• Roasted vegetables, haloumi and salsa verde
• Dahl or curry topped with yoghurt & chutney

It's always satisfying when a kitchen experiment turns out so well. Especially when I can find another way to use up bits of bread and cut back on food waste. This one's going straight to the pool room....

Any experimenting going on around your place of late?