For many people making Christmas dinner with all the trimmings is just too much bother. Are there just 2 or 3 of you? And do you want the taste of Christmas without hours of cooking and a pile of washing up afterwards?
From turkey to sprouts, prawns to mince pies, here are some festive recipes to try this Christmas. Eat, drink, and be merry!
Don’t forget Boxing Day and all those lovely leftovers. Try making a tray bake or even a macaroni cheese!
Maybe you only have a small kitchen or a studio and space is limited? Look no further, with this traybake you can have the taste and smells of Christmas dinner using just one baking tray.
The turkey, sausage and bacon parcels are cleverly constructed and the flavours merge together really well. The baked Brussels sprouts absorb some of the fat in the tray and are really good!
Now you need a great gravy to go with your traybake.
Christmas Dinner Traybake
Ingredients
For the turkey marinade
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp thyme finely chopped
- 1 Orange zest
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the meat
- 8 turkey breast fillets each weighing about 100g
- 8 chipolata sausages
- 16 Streaky bacon
- salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the roast vegetables and stuffing
- 500 g potato peeled, cut into evenly sized chunks (about 5cm/1¾in across) and rinsed
- 300 g carrots peeled and cut into batons
- 300 g parsnip peeled and cut into batons
- 1 tbsp rosemary finely chopped
- 6 tbsp olive oil or duck or goose fat
- 12 ready-made stuffing balls
For the sprouts
- 200 g Brussels sprouts small, sliced in half
- 2 cloves Garlic crushed to a paste with a little salt
- 180 g chestnuts cooked, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter at room temperature
To serve
- cranberry sauce or jam
- 400 ml turkey gravy
Conversions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 190°C/Gas 6.
- In a bowl, stir all the turkey marinade ingredients together with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- For the meat, add the turkey pieces to the marinade and combine. Cover and leave for 20 minutes in the fridge to marinate.
- To assemble, put a piece of turkey and a chipolata together, wrapping two rashers of bacon around them to hold. Repeat with the remaining turkey pieces. They will look like large pigs-in-blankets.
- For the roast vegetables, place the potatoes, carrots and parsnips in a large pan of cold water with a little salt. Bring to a simmer and then cook for 8–10 minutes – or until the edges of the potatoes are a little soft. Drain well in a colander, shake and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
- Tip the vegetables into a large mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper, add the rosemary and 4 tablespoons of the olive oil (or goose or duck fat). Mix well.
- Spread the vegetables over the roasting tray and roast for 30 minutes. Keep the mixing bowl for the next stage.
- For the sprouts, using the same mixing bowl, season the Brussels sprouts and toss with the garlic, chestnuts, olive oil and butter.
- When the root vegetables have been roasting for 30 minutes, scatter over the Brussels sprouts and chestnuts. Gently move all the vegetables around then cook for a further 10 minutes.
- Place the wrapped turkey and stuffing balls on top of the vegetables. Drizzle the remaining olive oil (or goose or duck fat) over everything and return to the oven for 25 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through. Leave to rest for a few minutes before serving with a jug of hot gravy and a bowl of cranberry sauce.
You may also like one of my other favourite recipes …
I stumbled across site and am thoroughly enjoying your delicious looking recipes and lovely writing style.
A merry Christmas to you and yours xxx
I’m glad you are enjoying the cookbook.
Merry Christmas!