Read time: 6 mins.
Entertaining this Christmas and needing some ideas?
We’ve hand-picked for you three easy Christmas recipes that don’t involve turkey!
But first, some fun facts about Christmas food:
- The average Brit consumes over 5000 calories on Christmas Day alone
- Turkey and roast potatoes are the most popular foods at Christmas
- We each eat an average of 27 mince pies every year
- It was once illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas Day, banned by Oliver Cromwell in the 1650’s
- Turkeys can run 25 miles per hour
Now here are our top Christmas recipes for something a little different this year:
Christmas recipe 1: Pork loin with herb stuffing
Courtesy of Jamie Oliver, we’ve chosen this because it’s easy, delicious and we love Jamie Oliver’s family-style meals. Perfect for a family Christmas!
An easy recipe, the only fiddly bit is using a pestle and mortar.
A tasty alternative to turkey.
Oven temp 200’ C or gas Mark 6. Preheat.
Ingredients
- ½ a pork loin, (preferably the rib end), skin on, bone out
- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 3 heaped tablespoons fennel seeds
- 500 g sourdough or rustic bread
- 2 red onions
- 3 cloves of garlic
- a few sprigs of fresh sage
- olive oil
- 1 handful of pine nuts
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Method
- Score the pork skin with a sharp knife at 1cm intervals, and roughly 1cm deep.
- Pick the rosemary leaves into a pestle and mortar, add the fennel seeds and 1 tablespoon of sea salt, then bash to a dry paste. Rub into the score marks on the pork.
- Slice up the bread, and toast until golden. Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the onions and garlic, and pick and roughly tear the sage leaves.
- Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a pan over a medium heat, add the onions, garlic, sage and pine nuts and cook for 10 minutes, or until sweet and soft.
- Season with salt and black pepper, add the balsamic vinegar, then transfer the mixture to a bowl.
- Rip the toasted bread into the bowl, then scrunch everything together really well. Have a taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed. Leave to cool.
- Insert a knife into the eye meat of the pork loin and make a pocket for the stuffing.
- Pack in the stuffing, then roll the pork over and tie it with butcher’s string to secure.
- Place the pork in a roasting tray and roast for 1 hour, or until golden, crisp and perfectly cooked.
Rosemary brings a festive fragrance and scent to this dish and can be used for decoration. Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash.
Christmas recipe 2: Herby slow-roasted chicken
BBC Good Food’s slow roasted chicken is a brilliant alternative to roast turkey.
The chicken needs to be marinated overnight but don’t be put off, this is a simple dish and the herby smell is so Christmassy!
Oven temp 140’C or gas mark 1. Preheat.
Ingredients
- 2 small garlic bulbs, cloves separated but not peeled
- 1 large bunch of rosemary
- 1 large bunch of lemon thyme
- 1 large bunch of sage
- 1 large bunch of bay leaves
- 2 small lemons, zested
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium chicken
- 400g carrot, halved
- 500g baby new potatoes, halved
- 2 medium red onions, cut into wedges
- 100g butter, softened
- 150ml white wine
Method
- Roughly crush the garlic cloves and herbs (a rolling pin or meat mallet is good for this), then put in a large food bag or dish with the lemon zest, oil and chicken.
- Rub everything into the chicken, inside and out. Leave to marinate overnight.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge 30 mins before you want to cook it. Put the vegetables in a large roasting tin and top with the chicken. Scatter the herbs and garlic from the marinade over, around and inside the bird.
- Push the 2 lemons inside the chicken too, halving to fit if necessary. Rub the butter all over the skin and season generously.
- Pour the wine into the tin with 150ml water, cover tightly with foil (so it doesn’t touch the top of the bird) and cook for 2 hrs. Remove the foil and continue cooking for 1 hr more, or until the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear.
- Increase oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 7 and roast for 25-30 mins more until the skin is really crisp.
- Lift the chicken from the tin to rest on a plate for 30 mins, covered again with the foil.
- Meanwhile, put the roasting tin on the hob and bubble to reduce the cooking juices a little. Add any juices from the rested chicken and season to taste. Serve the chicken alongside the buttery veg.
Don’t fancy turkey this year? Try a roast chicken Christmas dinner instead. Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash.
Christmas recipe 3: Miso-glazed roast ham
We’ve chosen another BBC Good Food recipe because it’s perfect for Christmas cooking. To us the best Christmas dinner recipes are hassle free, delicious and a crowd pleaser. And this recipe is just that.
This recipe requires a little more effort but it is still simple and straightforward.
Oven temp 180’C or gas mark 4. Preheat.
Ingredients
- 1 uncooked ham, on the bone (about 5-6 kg)
- 2 celery sticks
- 2 onions, halved
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic bulb, halved
- small pack thyme
- small pack parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp cloves
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
For the glaze
- 90g demerara sugar
- 50ml cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp dark miso paste
- 3 tbsp heather (or any regular) honey
- 1 tbsp dry sherry
- 1 tbsp English mustard
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice
Method
- Sit the ham in a large roasting tin and scatter all the veg, herbs and spices around it. Pour over 750ml boiling water, then cover with a couple of layers of extra-wide foil, sealing around the edges of the tin to make a tent that will trap the steam.
- Roast for 4 hrs, reducing the temperature to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3 halfway through. Remove the foil, then leave the ham to rest in the tin for at least 30 mins or until it is cool enough to handle.
- Meanwhile, tip all the glaze ingredients into a small pan and bring to a simmer, stirring until everything is mixed. Set aside.
- Reheat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lift the ham into a clean roasting tin – reserve the stock for soup. Cut off the skin, leaving a layer of fat all over, then use a knife to score the fat with a diamond criss-cross pattern.
- Roast for 10 mins to allow some of the fat to render, then use a pastry brush to paint the ham evenly with the glaze. Roast the ham for 15 mins more, then add a second layer of glaze and roast for another 15 mins until sticky and caramelised.
- Rest the ham for another 30 mins before serving in thick slices. You should have leftovers to enjoy cold over the next few days.
Ham has been a popular Christmas dish since the 1960s. Photo by Tim Sackton via flickr.
Are you going to give one of these top Christmas dinner recipes a go? We’d love to hear how you get on, if so!
And if you’re still looking for Christmas present ideas, why not take a look at our range?
Oh and before you go did you know an average 80g portion of brussel sprouts contains about 4 x more vitamin C than an orange?! Great news for us sprout lovers!
