HEY there lovely people, last
week I gave you the Christmas lunch big hitters.
So this time round what I’ve tried to do is to pull together a selection of
those nice bits and pieces that will elevate your festive offering beyond
expectations.
I’m talking outrageously delicious dishes that embrace and use up leftovers –
including my hearty turkey pie, smoky chowder and beautiful Brussels sprouts
pasta (trust me when I say it’s seriously tasty!).
As well as a lightly spiced Rescue me kedgeree for those in need of a
pick-me-up.
I’ve also given you some show-stopping sweet treats, seasonal salads, a boozy
orange-spiked hot chocolate and a super-simple Christmas smoothie.
Season’s greetings – I hope you have an amazing day!
Big love, Jamie O.
Turkey, pork and cranberry pie
With its crumbly pastry, flavour-packed filling and spicy cranberry
topping, this twist on a festive classic is hard to beat.
Plus, there’ll be no leftovers in sight – double bonus.
Sage leaves, to serve (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil
Pickles, to serve
Filling
2 large brown onions, thinly sliced
Olive oil
250g higher-welfare smoked bacon, cubed
½ a bunch of sage, leaves chopped
500g higher-welfare leftover roast turkey, shredded
250g higher-welfare pork shoulder, minced or finely chopped
250g higher-welfare pork belly, half minced, half chopped
½ nutmeg, grated
2 tbsp English mustard
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp ground white pepper
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Pastry
820g plain flour
300g dripping
1 large free-range egg, beaten
Gravy
3 gelatine leaves
150ml organic chicken stock
Cranberry topping
500g cranberries
200g soft brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
Peeled zest and juice of 1 orange
180ml port
1 tbsp honey
Serves 10
1 – Make your filling. Put onions in a frying pan with a splash of
olive oil and cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes, or until dark, sweet
and sticky, adding the bacon and sage after 10 minutes.
2 – Once cooked, allow the onion mixture to cool, adding it to a
large bowl along with all the other filling ingredients and mix well.
3 – Next, make the pastry. Place flour in a bowl and set aside.
Place the dripping and 300ml of water in a small pan and heat gently until
the dripping melts. Bring it just to the boil, then quickly stir the liquid
into the flour. Let it to cool slightly – you want it warm and pliable but
cool enough to handle.
4 – Knead the dough until smooth. Cut off a quarter, wrap it in
clingfilm and keep it for the top of your pie. Place a deep, 23cm-round,
loose-bottomed cake tin on a flat baking sheet. Working quickly, while the
dough is still pliable, press it evenly over the base and up the sides of
the tin to about 1-1.5cm thick – and ensure there are no holes.
5 – Preheat oven to 180C/gas 4. Fill the pie with the meat
filling, then roll out the reserved pastry. Place it on top of the pie,
pinching all around the edges to seal the pastry and create a raised crust.
Gently press the top of the pie so you get a gentle indent to hold the
cranberry topping.
6 – Using the handle of a wooden spoon, carefully pierce a hole
in the centre of the pie lid to allow the steam to escape. Cook the pie in
the oven for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 160C/gas 3 and cook for a
further 2 hours 30 minutes.
7 – Remove the pie from the oven, brush the top with beaten egg
and pop it back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Leave it to cool.
8 – Soak the gelatine in cold water for five minutes, then
remove and squeeze out the excess water. In a pan, heat the stock over a
medium heat until almost boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the
gelatine. Leave to cool to room temperature.
9 – Pour the stock into the pie through the hole in the top, adding
just a little at a time and allowing each addition to sink in before adding
the next.
10 – For the cranberry sauce, simmer ingredients in a pan, stirring
occasionally, for 20 minutes, until thick. Taste it, and if it’s too sour
add more sugar. Allow to cool, then remove cinnamon stick, cloves and peel.
Leave the sauce to cool and thicken further, about 45 minutes, then spoon on
top of the pie and pop it in the fridge to set overnight.
11 – For the sage leaves, heat the olive oil and fry the sage
leaves until crispy. Put these on top of the pie and serve with your
favourite pickles.
Per serving: 948 cals, 46.2g fat (17.2g sat fats), 40.8g protein, 94.5g
carbs, 30.5g sugars.
Turkey chowder
This is a great way to use up all sorts of leftovers, but is also a
super-delicious recipe in its own right.
Olive oil
4 rashers of higher-welfare smokey streaky bacon rashers, finely chopped
3 onions, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped, stalks finely chopped
1 cooked jacket potato or 200g leftover roast veg, chopped
500g higher-welfare leftover roast turkey
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 heaped tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 litre organic chicken stock
Corn cut from 4 cobs, or 3 large handfuls of frozen sweetcorn
20–50ml single cream, to taste
40g grated cheddar cheese
To garnish: crackers or thin toast, crisp higher-welfare streaky
bacon, chilli sauce
Serves 4-6
1 Fry bacon, onions, garlic and parsley stalks in a drizzle of olive
oil for 5–10 minutes, till sticky. You want it to be really dark to get the
best flavour.
2 Add the potato or leftover roast veg, any leftover dark turkey meat
and the red pepper. Add the cayenne pepper and sweet smoked paprika and fry
for 10 more minutes.
3 Add the stock and then bring to the boil. Use a hand blender to blitz
the soup briefly to thicken it. Add the corn and any shredded white turkey
meat and dash of cream to taste. Let it bubble away for a few minutes to
heat through, then season to taste. Sprinkle over the parsley leaves and
cheese.
4 Serve with thin slices of toast or smashed crackers, and with crisp
bacon pieces, and a splash of chilli sauce, if you like.
Per serving: 591 cals, 22.2g fat (7.4g saturated), 55.9g protein, 39.5g
carbs, 12.9g sugars.
LA-style turkey salad
A beautiful, Californian-style zingy salad, jam-packed with punchy flavours
and attitude. Enjoy!
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp paprika
½ tsp white pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 skinless higher-welfare turkey breasts, or about 600g higher-welfare
chicken if you prefer
2 ripe avocados, halved and stoned
4 tbsp fat-free plain yoghurt
2 limes, plus extra to serve
1 jalapeno or red chilli
Large bunch of coriander
2 corn tortillas, sliced into 1cm strips
4 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
1 cos lettuce, cut into wedges
1 little gem lettuce, cut into wedges
1–2 pink or red grapefruit, peeled and segmented
Mixed baby cress, to serve (optional)
1 – Preheat your oven to 180C/gas 4. Place a griddle pan over a
high heat. Mix the cayenne, paprika, white pepper and oregano with a good
pinch of salt and a little olive oil and rub over the turkey breast. Put the
turkey on the pan, turn the heat to medium, and cook for 20–25 minutes,
turning halfway.
2 – Blitz one avocado in a blender with the yoghurt, lime juice,
jalapeno, most of the coriander and a good drizzle of olive oil until you
have a creamy salad dressing and season to taste.
3 – Spread the corn tortilla strips on a baking sheet and bake
until golden and crisp.
4 – When your turkey is almost cooked, add the bacon to the pan
for the last few minutes to crisp up. Then transfer the turkey to a board to
rest, before slicing thinly. Toss the turkey in a bowl with the lettuce
wedges and avocado dressing, then scatter over a board.
Crumble over the bacon, add the tortilla strips, then use a spoon to scoop out
little nuggets of the remaining avocado and add these. Finish with
grapefruit segments, mixed cress, if using, and the remaining coriander
leaves. Serve with limes for squeezing over.
Per serving: 301 cals, 14.3g fat (3.3g saturated), 21.6g protein, 18.5g
carbs, 10.5g sugars.
Rescue-me kedgeree
“It’s breakfast, lunch or dinner – and the best hangover cure in the
world.”
250g basmati rice
4 large free-range eggs
2 fresh bay leaves
2 lemons
500g undyed smoked haddock fillets, skin off, bones removed, from
sustainable sources
Olive oil
Knob of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
Small bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
1 heaped tbsp Madras curry paste
Lemon wedges, yoghurt and sliced chilli (optional), to serve
Serves 4-6
1 – Bring 2 pans of salted water to the boil. Rinse the rice
under running water until all the starch has been washed away. Put the rice
in one pan and cook for two minutes less than the cooking instructions.
2 – Add the eggs and bay leaves to the other pan and squeeze in
the juice of half a lemon. Add the squeezed lemon half to the pan and leave
to simmer for 7–8 minutes, adding the haddock halfway through.
3 – Meanwhile, get a large pan on a medium heat and add a
drizzle of oil and the butter. Add the onion and fry for a few minutes, then
add the coriander stalks and chilli and leave them to sweat.
4 – Roughly chop the coriander. When the rice is cooked, drain
it, and put aside. After 3–4 minutes your haddock should be flaking apart;
carefully pour most of the water away.
5 – Transfer the eggs to a colander and rinse them under the cold tap
until they’re cool enough to peel. Discard the bay leaves and lemon half.
6 – Add the curry paste to the pan of onions and stir it through, fry
for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, tip in the rice and stir it through –
don’t totally mix, it’s nice to have a bit of a marbled effect.
7 – Roughly chop the peeled eggs into the pan, then flake over the
haddock. Roughly chop coriander leaves and add most of them to the pan with
the juice from the remaining lemon. Gently fold together.
8 – Pop the pan on a low heat for five minutes to get nice and hot,
then have a taste and adjust the seasoning. You shouldn’t need too much as
the smoked fish gives it lots of flavour.
9 – Get a fork and fold it over a few times to keep it nice and
light. Once it is sizzling, take it off the heat, scatter over the rest of
the coriander, pop in some lemon wedges and serve with yoghurt and sliced
chilli, if desired.
Christmas bubble ‘n’ squeak
A bit of a special treat for Boxing Day morning, and the perfect way to use
up any festive leftovers.
Knob of butter
Olive oil
8 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon, sliced
A few sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked
A handful of cooked chestnuts
A few spoonfuls of leftover gravy
800g leftover veg (you want about half of it to be potatoes)
12 quail eggs
Chilli sauce, to serve (optional)
Serves 4
1 – Add the butter and a splash of olive oil to a large
non-stick pan and place over a medium heat. Add the bacon and rosemary and
leave to crisp up and turn golden. Halfway through the cooking time crumble
in the chestnuts and stir everything well.
2 – In a bowl, mix your gravy with the vegetables, mashing
everything together with a potato masher. Press the mixture into the pan and
leave to get a gorgeous crisp golden base for about 8 minutes, then drizzle
with a little olive oil and flip sections of the hash over, pressing it down
as you go. You could also slide the whole thing on to a plate and flip it
that way – but it really doesn’t have to be perfect. Cook for 10 minutes,
until golden.
3 – Meanwhile, fry your quail eggs in a separate non-stick pan
with a little olive oil for 1 minute, or until cooked.
4 – Serve everything together. Dish up a spoonful of the hash,
topped with a couple of the quail eggs and drizzle with some chilli sauce,
or the condiment of your choice.
Per serving: 549 cals, 60.5.g carbs, 16.5g protein, 28.6g fat (8.3g
saturated), 21.9g sugars.
Brussels orecchiette
Turn the leftovers from my brussels with hustle recipe (visit
for recipe) into this awesome pasta dish with a whole lot of personality.
500g dried orecchiette
250g leftover Brussels sprouts
2 garlic cloves
4 anchovies in oil, roughly chopped
Worcestershire sauce or balsamic vinegar
40g parmesan, plus extra to serve
1 lemon (optional)
Serves 6
1 – Cook the orecchiette in salted boiling water according to
packet instructions. Meanwhile, gently heat the leftover sprouts in a pan.
Add the garlic and anchovies and season with a few good splashes of
Worcestershire sauce or balsamic vinegar. Cook for 5 minutes, or until
combined and fragrant.
2 – Drain the pasta, saving a little of the cooking water, then
toss through the sprouts with the parmesan. Season to taste and add a
grating of lemon zest and a squeeze of juice, if you like. Add a splash of
cooking water to loosen, if needed. Serve straight away with extra parmesan,
if you wish.
Per serving: 346 cals, 4.4g fat (1.6g saturated), 15.8g protein, 58.9g
carbs, 4.8g sugars.
The ‘sit-on-it’ sandwich
A fantastically indulgent way to use Christmas leftovers – make sure you
press down firmly on your sarnie to get all the flavours working together,
double-wrap it in foil, pop it in oven, then head out for a quick snowball
fight in the garden to work up an appetite!
250g leftover stuffing, broken up
4 tbsp cranberry sauce
140g leftover cheese, at least half should be cheddar
1 ciabatta, split horizontally
160g higher welfare carving ham, sliced
6 silverskin onions
Salad, to serve
Serves 4-6
1 – Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Mix the stuffing with the
cranberry sauce.
2 – Grate hard cheese, such as the cheddar; thinly slice if
using soft cheese, such as brie.
3 – Fill the ciabatta with the cheese, ham, silverskins and
stuffing mixture, then cover with a pan lid and sit on it to squash it down
(yes, sit on it!). Replace any ingredients that have fallen out, then roll
the loaf up really tightly in two layers of foil.
4 – Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is oozing and the
ham has crisped up. Serve on a plank with a sharp knife and a big salad.
Per serving: 570 cals, 25.6g fat (10.4g sat fats), 27.2g protein, 61.5g
carbs, 12.4g sugars.