Our Favourite Festive Recipes

Image courtesy of @kierancwhite via Unsplash.

Reading time: 5 mins

There’s no denying it: we bloody love Christmas.

And what is Christmas without family, festivities and, of course, FOOD!

That’s why, as part of our usual #sketchnotecookbook, we’ve put together a special festive edition, so we can celebrate the holidays the NSC way: with a dash of design, a sprinkling of sketchnotes, and a heaped tablespoon of indulgence.

Read on, festive reader, to see my favourite Christmas recipes, inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook (buy it here).

BISCOTTI
Makes approx. 40 pieces
Cooking and prep time: 1hr 15 mins (plus time for chilling)

Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter (room temperature)
250g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (we used vanilla essence, as we couldn’t find any paste, and it worked well)
1 clementine
3 large eggs
600g tipo 00 flour
150 quality dark chocolate
75g blanched almonds
75g blanched hazelnuts (we used ordinary hazelnuts, which tasted fine and added more colour to the biscotti)
Optional:
2 tsp cinnamon
2tsp nutmeg

These biscotti are super-easy to make, and they last for about 2 weeks if kept in an airtight container.

Ideal for Christmas gifting, or just having on-hand for unexpected Christmas guests.

The cinnamon and nutmeg isn’t actually in Jamie’s recipe, but they add more of a festive flavour and smell to the biscotti.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS: 4 WAYS (Brussels in a Hustle)
Serves 6-8 people
Cooking and prep time: approx. 20 mins

Ingredients:
1kg brussels sprouts
1 red onion
50g unsalted butter
4 sprigs of fresh sage
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic

The Marmite of Christmas - the humble brussels sprout.

Both Tassia and I love sprouts, but the rest of the family would rather pile up on the turkey and skip them at Christmas.

Of course, that’s sacrilege, so I looked into other ways to serve the sprouts to satisfy the philistines.

Jamie’s serving suggestions for sprouts are amazing - the most recent one we’ve tried is Brussels in a Hustle, which went down a delight with the whole family.

ROASTED PARSNIPS with bay leaf glaze
Serves 10 people
Cooking and prep time: 1hr 20 mins

Ingredients:
1.5kg parsnips
Olive oil
4 fresh bay leaves
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp runny honey
1 bunch of fresh thyme
2 heaped tbsp ground almonds

Parsnips are an absolute winter staple, and there are so many ways to serve them, but this traditional version from my mate (I wish) Jamie Oliver is easily one of the best.

Interestingly, this recipe was also what sparked my love of red wine vinegar - it’s a real food game-changer, and is now a cupboard essential in our home.

RED CABBAGE
Serves 8-10 people

Ingredients:
1 red cabbage
4 smoked bacon rashers
Olive oil
2 eating apples (we used Golden Delicious for the sweetness)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 heaped tsp fennel seeds
100g dried prunes
1 clementine
6 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Another must-have for the NSC Christmas lunch, red cabbage adds both deliciousness and an aesthetically-pleasing redness to the plate, because, after all, Christmas lunch must be both tasting and looking great.

The prunes and apples really complement the cabbage with sweetness, while the rosemary brings more savoury flavours, and the zest of the clementine throws in a touch of bitterness to really set the whole dish together.

CAULIFLOWER CHEESE with an almond and breadcrumb topping
Serves 8 people

Ingredients:
1kg cauliflower
75g cheddar cheese
2 garlic cloves
50g unsalted butter
50g plain flour
600ml semi-skimmed milk
500g broccoli
2 slice of stale bread
2 sprigs of thyme
Olive oil
25g flaked almonds

Cauliflower cheese really is decadent in a dish. It’s something of a controversial Christmas side dish, I’ve been told it’s not ‘traditional’ in other households, but it’s always been a part of my family festivities, and everyone loves it.

Rest assured, it’s still very much cauliflower cheese, even with the broccoli, since the broccoli only serves as an extra thickening agent to the sauce.

Plus, it’s a great way to get the kids to eat more veggies!

GLAZED CARROTS
Serves 8 people

Ingredients:
1kg carrots
50g unsalted butter
6 garlic cloves
8 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 clementines
2 tbsp runny honey
2 fresh bay leaves

A classic Christmas dish - carrots!

They’ve got to be sweet, they’ve got to have a bit of crunch, and they’ve got to be packed full of flavour.

Don’t forget to save a carrot for Rudolph before you start prepping!

THE BEST ROAST POTATOES
Serves 10 people

Ingredients:
2.5kgs medium Maris Piper potatoes
4 tbsp goose fat or unsalted butter
Olive oil
1 bulb of garlic
½ bunch of sage (approx. 15g)

What’s Christmas without some roast potatoes?

The ingredients list looks quite a lot shorter than the other side dishes in this list, but that’s the magic of potatoes!

The main thing that makes Jamie’s roast potatoes the best is the not-so-secret technique of squashing the potatoes partway through roasting to get that all-important crisp on the outside.

Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

BAKED BREAD SAUCE
Serves 8 people

Ingredients:
2 onions
1.4l semi-skimmed milk
3 tsp English mustard
3 cloves
3 fresh bay leaves
1 whole nutmeg
25g unsalted butter
1 rustic white bread loaf

A bit of a twist on a classic sauce, this recipe really smashes the idea of bread sauce being a ‘bland’ and ‘flavourless’ accompaniment to the British roast dinner.

It makes a lot of bread sauce, so be sure to scoop loads out with your Christmas lunch.

CRANBERRY SAUCE
Serves 8-10 people

Ingredients:
300g fresh cranberries
4 eating apples
50g unsalted butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
4 sprigs fresh thyme
50 ml spiced rum

No more store bought cranberry sauce for your turkey!

As I’ve said before, Christmas is all about decadence and indulgence, so why not have cranberry sauce with a little rum?

As an added bonus, it only takes 20 minutes to make!

That’s it!

Our favourite recipes for Christmas!

We can’t recommend Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook enough - it’s a must-have for those who love traditional Christmas food, and for those who want to shake up traditions and make their own.

If you have any Christmas recipes that you’d like to share with the NSC community, feel free to pop them in the comments - we may even make them into the #sketchnotecookbook as a Christmas present to you!

Merry Christmas from everyone here at NSC!