In need of some new Christmas recipes to please your guests this year? Read on to find out ten alternative recipes that are bound to impress everyone, from a hearty vegan nut roast to a classic mince pie.
Turkey not your thing? Sway away from tradition and opt for something different like a table pleasing beef wellington from Richard Corrigan or try these delicious Indian spiced roast potatoes to add bring some heat to the dining table. We’ve rounded up plenty of appetisers and desserts too, from clementine salads to chocolate tarts.
Bettina Campolucci Bordi’s Plant Nut Roast
Served with Cavolo Nero & Apple and Cranberry Compote
Plant based chef and Instagram foodie, Bettina Campolucci Bordi has shared the ultimate centrepiece for vegan diners this Christmas. Renowned for her colourful creations, this is a dish that can be enjoyed by all and isn’t as daunting as the long recipe looks – we promise!
Top tip: It’s equally as delicious the day after you make it and can be transformed into a hash or squeezed between slices of bread for the best Boxing Day sandwich.
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METHOD
- Cook the parsnips, swede and sweet potato in a large saucepan of boiling water for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well, then roughly mash.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan (skillet) and cook the leek, garlic and shallot for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms, herbs and some salt and pepper, and fry for a further 5–10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F/gas 8).
- Mix the vegetable mash, mushroom mixture, cooked rice, cavolo nero, ground almonds, walnuts and flax seeds together in a large bowl using a spatula until smooth.
- Line a 900 g (2 lb) loaf pan with baking parchment, then add the mixture. You can also use a patterned, fancy, Christmas non-stick mould but I recommend brushing the inside with olive oil just for good measure (this cannot be lined with baking parchments that would hide the pattern).
- Reduce the temperature of the oven to 200°C (400°F/gas 6), then roast the loaf in the middle of the oven for about40 minutes.
- Remove the loaf from the oven, then lift out of the pan along with the paper (if using). Turn the loaf upside down onto a baking tray (pan) lined with baking parchment.
- Mix the tamari/soy sauce with the maple syrup and mustard, then baste the loaf before returning to the oven to bake for a further 15–20 minutes.
- To cook the cavolo nero accompaniment, massage the leaves with a little of the olive oil and a pinch of salt until soft. Preheat a medium frying pan (skillet), add a drizzle of olive oil and the garlic and fry the cavolo nero for5 minutes. Add the tamari/soy sauce and sesame seed oil, then set aside.
- To make the compote, add the apples, cranberries, ginger, maple syrup and lemon juice to a large saucepan, then pour in the water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10–15 minutes until the mixtureis soft and chunky, and all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Once the nut roast is ready, allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve on a platter with the sautéed cavolo nero and apple, cranberry and ginger compote, then top with some toasted walnuts
James Strawbridge’s Winter Citrus Sprouts
Proving that Gen Z’s shouldn’t be cancelling the Christmas sprout is chef and sustainability advocate James Strawbridge. He’s created a winter citrus sprouts recipe in partnership with 44 Foods that’s aiming to inspire Brits to spruce up their sprouts in time for Christmas Day lunch.
Top tip: Put a spin on your brunch favourites and pair these sprouts with smoked salmon, poached eggs and sourdough toast for a warming winter brekkie that’s sure to please everyone.
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METHOD
- Start by preheating your oven to 180˚C.
- Slice your sprouts in half then add all the citrus zest and juice.
- Drizzle with rapeseed oil, sea salt and pepper.
- Grate in some root turmeric and add your lemongrass and chilli cashews.
- Toss well and then roast in the oven for 15-20 mins.
Purchase all of the ingredients at www.44foods.com
Richard Corrigan’s Beef Wellington
Skip the turkey this Christmas and opt for only the best beef wellington in the business, from Richard Corrigan of course.
A British classic in its own right, recreate your own and you’ll be diving into buttery, flakey pastry and rich, rosy red beef come Christmas Day lunchtime. Bring this out to the table before cutting and you’ll be guaranteed to impress the in-laws with your culinary prowess.
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METHOD
For the mushroom filling:
- Sweat the mushrooms, garlic and butter until dry and season. Place in the fridge to cool down for later.
For the savoury crepe:
- Mix the eggs and flour first,then slowly add in the milk and then the butter–the final mixture should be able to pass through a strainer.
- Heat a lightly buttered pan and pour the mixture in, turning the pan as necessary to ensure an even layering. Flip once one side begins to lightly brown. Chill in the fridge.
For the beef:
- Season the beef with salt, pepper and seal around the side of the beef rib in mustard,then roll in clingfilm and chill in the fridge.
- Lay out the crepe on a cold surface,spread the mushroom stuffing evenly and place the beef on top.Roll the meat and wrap again in clingfilm to set. Cut the clingfilm off and wrap in the puff pastry, then glaze with egg yolk and season with salt.
For the sauce & cooking time:
- Reduce the above to a glaze, then add the butter and tarragon (the butter will thicken the sauce).
- Heat the oven on 270 degrees and place the Wellington in, immediately reduce the temperature to210degrees. If you have a meat probe, remove once the core reaches 47 degrees. If not, this should take approx. 40 mins.
- Rest on a cooling rack for approx. 40 mins-To serve, slice and pour your red wine sauce on the side to finish.
Gousto’s Indian Spiced Roast Potatoes
Sway away from tradition this Christmas and serve up a spin on the classic roast potatoes. Add a splash of heat to the mix and these roasties will tingle in your mouth, putting a spicy twist on the traditional option.
Even if you don’t want to forgo your typical goose-fat roast potatoes on the big day, these are well worth trying another time.
Add a splash of heat to the mix and these roasties will tingle in your mouth…
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METHOD
- Chop the potatoes (skins on) into bite-sized pieces and add to a baking tray.
- Drizzle with vegetable oil, add the spices with a pinch of salt and give everything a good mix up.
- Put the tray in the oven for 30-35 min or until crisp and cooked through. Roughly chop the coriander and slice the red chilli.
- Serve garnished with sliced red chilli and roughly chopped coriander.
Wild by Tart’s Buffalo mozzarella
Served with clementine, almond brittle, pomegranate and oregano
For a light starter before the main Christmas Day lunch or a simple side to serve up over the festive period, Wild by Tart’s creamy mozzarella and clementine salad is fresh, zingy and packs a punch.
For them, the dish is all about the colour. They love ‘the balance of sweet and sour and the texture–a mixture of creamy, smooth mozzarella, the bite of the pomegranate and the crunch of the nut–all in all it should come together nicely as one.’
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METHOD
- First heat the oven to 180°C
- Place the butter in a small pan with the sugar and the cayenne pepper-allow to melt and for the sugar to dissolve. Take off the heat and mix in the flaked almonds. Line a tray with baking parchment and pour on the almond mixture, place in the oven for about 5-8 minutes–till golden. Leave to cool.
- Peel the clementine’s and slice–about ½ a cm thick is great.Divide the clementine’s between four plates and scrunch on top some of your green leaves.
- Next roughly pull apart the mozzarella and place on top on the greens and clementine slices, then crunch over the almond brittle, sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds, fennel seeds and fresh oregano leaves.
- Drizzle with good quality olive oil and season with sea salt and a little black pepper and serve.
Circus’ Chilli Salt Squid
Add some heat to your Christmas and serve up this crowd pleasing chilli salt squid as an appetiser or as a canapé for a dinner party you’re hosting.
This creation comes from executive chef at Circus, Andrew Larsson and as he describes it, it’s his favourite starter to serve up come Christmas time. We just hope Granny can handle the heat…
We just hope Granny can handle the heat…
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METHOD
For the sauce:
- Place vinegar, sugar, red chilli and garlic into a saucepan.
- Gently reduce to syrup consistency.
- With a hand blender, blitz the sauce until smooth.
- Add fish sauce to taste.
- You may need to add a little water to achieve a pouring consistency.
For the squid:
- Clean the squid and slice it very finely, with the knife at an angle.
- Cover well with corn flour, making sure every part of the squid is covered.
- Leave to stand for a few hours, then shake off any loose corn flour. Coat again with fresh corn flour.
- Fry the squid to order in vegetable oil at 180c for about 1 minute, or until the squid is a light golden colour and crispy.
- Season with salt and cracked black pepper,
- Dress in a paper cone and finish with julienne of spring onion and chopped red birds eye chilli.
- Serve with a ramekin of the chilli sauce garnished with a brunoise red onion and cucumber.
Michael Carr’s Dirty Turkey Sandwich
Head chef of Sky Garden’s Fenchurch Restaurant, Michael Carr has shared his ultimate Boxing Day sandwich creation. Made up of all of the Christmas Day leftovers, this sandwich is mega meaty, moreish and utterly delicious. It’s sure to cure any hazy head you’ve got lingering come the morning after the festivities.
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METHOD
- Cut your sourdough bread into thick slices and butter both sides.
- Build up with any relish, sausage meat, turkey breast, cranberry sauce, mayonnaise, leftover crispy vegetables and potatoes, lettuce, red onion and hot dog mustard.
- Put the next slice of bread on top and insert into a warm pan.
- Fry for 1 – 2 minutes on both sides.
- Flip over and add lots of parmesan cheese.
- Put in the oven at 160-degrees for 3-4 minutes.
- Take out the oven and enjoy the best dirty turkey sandwich you’ll ever eat!
Carr’s Frangipane Topped Mince Pies
Love them or loathe them, Christmas time isn’t complete with a healthy helping of mince pies. Make up a batch before Christmas and gift these to all of your loved ones or make these on Christmas Eve to leave out one for Santa.
Carr’s creation takes the humble mince pie one step further and adds a frangipane finishing layer.
Now all that’s left to do is pop on the kettle and enjoy a cuppa with a pie.
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METHOD
For the pies:
- To make the pastry, combine the flour and icing sugar in a mixing bowl, add the butter and work in with your fingers until a crumb consistency is achieved.
- Add in the water and bring together to form a dough. Wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge to rest for at least an hour.
- Once the dough has rested, roll out to a 5mm thickness and cut out 9cm rounds.
- Push the rounds into the cavities of a muffin or fairy cake tin, dock with a fork and then place back into the fridge for 15 minutes to chill.
- While the pastry cases are chilling, preheat your oven to 180°C.
- Once chilled, remove the cases from the fridge, spoon a tablespoon of mincemeat into each, add your topping of choice (see below) and bake in the oven for 25-30minutes until golden.
- Remove and allow to cool.8.Dust with icing sugar and serve
For the frangipane:
- Combine all of the ingredients apart from the flaked almonds either by hand or with an electric mixer to form a smooth paste.
- Spoon 2 tsp of the paste on top of each mincemeat filled pastry case and spread evenly.
- Top with flaked almonds (or more dried cranberries) and bake as directed above.
- Allow to cool until just warm, dust with icing sugar and serve.
Eataly’s Salame Di Cioccolato (Chocolate Salami)
No Christmas is complete without copious amounts of chocolate. For those wanting to use up some of their endless bars that they’ve received over the festive period, try Eataly’s Chocolate Salami recipe for something a little different.
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METHOD
- Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the hot water.
- Beat the butter and sugar together using a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until combined.
- Mix in the melted chocolate and rum until fully combined. Finally, fold the crushed ladyfingers into the mixture.
- Place a large sheet of greaseproof paper on a work surface. Pour the chocolate mixture onto the paper and shape it into a cylinder, rolling the parchment paper around it and twisting the ends so that it resembles a large sweetie in a wrapper.
- Wrap the entire cylinder in aluminium foil and refrigerate until firm for at least 12 hours.
- To serve, unwrap the chocolate cylinder and use a serrated knife to cut thick delicious slices.
Love Fresh Berries’ Christmas Spiced Blueberry Panettones
For those who love to gift baked goods over the holiday season, this year why not give Love Fresh Berries’ Christmas spiced blueberry panettones a go?
This part bread, part cake creation is a festive favourite. These little ones, flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus rinds and ginger, are super unique and will look cute bundled into a gift box for your sweet-toothed friends.
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METHOD
- Melt 200g of the butter gently in a saucepan then take off the heat and leave until it feels warm to a fingertip.
- Add the bread flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon and fruit rinds to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, or a large bowl. Add the yeast and mix together.
- Warm the milk in a second saucepan until it feels just warm to a fingertip. Beat the eggs and vanilla together in a bowl then gradually beat in the warm milk. Gradually mix into the dry flour mix and beat for 4-5 minutes. If you don’t have an electric mixer, use a wooden spoon.
- Gradually trickle in the warm melted butter, beating well after each addition until the mixture is a smooth, glossy and elastic batter. Cover the bowl with a clean tea cloth or cling film and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile brush the inside of the washed and recycled cans with a little oil then line the bases with a circle of non-stick baking paper and the sides with a strip of paper that stands a little above the tins.
- Knock the yeast batter back by beating for 1-2 minutes then stir in the candied fruit and ginger. Add the blueberries and gently stir together so that you don’t break them up. Divide between the lined tins. Cover the tops with a clean tea cloth then leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until the batter almost reaches the tops of the tin.
- Meanwhile preheat the oven to 190oC/170oC fan assisted), Gas Mark 5. Remove the cloth from the top of the breads. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a deep brown and the bread sounds hollow when the tops are tapped. Take out of the oven, brush the tops with the remaining butter then cool for a few minutes.
- Loosen the edges of the panettone, turn out and leave to cool on their sides on a wire rack.
- When cold, wrap in clean paper and return to the washed and decorated tins then wrap in cellophane, tie with ribbon and add labels. These can be kept up to 4 days.
