Pancetta-wrapped turkey breast with herby lemon & pine nut stuffing

Ingredients

• butter, for greasing
• 20 rashers pancetta (2 x 70g/2oz packs) or thinly sliced streaky bacon
• 3kg 6lbs 8oz butterflied turkeys breast 

For the stuffing

• 25g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions, halved and sliced
• 140g pack pancetta cubes or bacon lardons
• 50g pine nuts
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 25g pack sage, leaves only, roughly chopped
• zest 2 lemons
• 2 x 20g/1oz packs flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 100g coarse white breadcrumbs
• 1 egg, beaten

For the gravy

• 300ml dry white wine
• 300ml chicken stock
• 142ml pot double cream
• handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

1. First prepare the stuffing. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan, then soften the onion without colouring for 10 mins. Tip into a bowl. Add the pancetta or bacon to the pan, fry for 5 mins until golden, then add the pine nuts, garlic, sage and lemon zest. Fry for 1 min more until fragrant and the pine nuts are starting to brown. Stir in the chopped parsley. Tip into the bowl with the onions, then bind with the crumbs, egg and seasoning. 
2. Butter and season a sheet of turkey foil or use 2 sheets of foil crimped together to make a sheet about 50 x 60cm. Lay five long pieces of string over the foil like rungs of a ladder, ready to tie the breast together. Arrange the pancetta or bacon in a lattice over the middle of the foil, on top of the string.
3. Open out the butterflied breast, skin-side down, and slash each side several times. Cover with cling film and bash with a rolling pin until the meat is about 5cm thick all over. Trim the sides so that you have a roughly rectangular shape (but be careful not to cut the skin). Lift onto the pancetta, then fill any gaps with the trimmings. Season, then press the stuffing along the middle of the joint. Pull up the sides at one end, tucking in the short end, then tie the string tightly so that the stuffing is encased. Repeat with all the strings. Wrap up tightly in the foil, then turn the roll over so that the pancetta is on the top. Can be left in the fridge for up to 2 days.  
4. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Sit the joint in a roasting tin and roast for 40 mins per kg or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out very hot and the juices run clear. Unwrap for the last 10 mins of cooking. 
5. Lift the joint onto a board and leave to rest, covered, for at least 10 mins. For the gravy, heat the tin on the hob, then splash in the wine and any juices. Reduce by half, then add the stock and repeat. Pour in the cream and bubble to a slightly reduced sauce. Season to taste, then stir in the parsley.  

Christmas spiced red cabbage

 

Ingredients

• 1 large red cabbage (about 1kg/2lb 4oz)
• 25g butter
• 2 red onions, finely chopped
• finely grated zest and juice 1 orange
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 150ml port
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

  Method

  1. Peel off the outer leaves of the cabbage, then cut into quarters and slice out the core. Use a sharp knife or the slicing attachment of a food processor to thinly slice the cabbage.
  2. Heat the butter in a large saucepan, then tip in the onions and gently fry until softened, about 5 mins. Add the orange zest to the pan along with the cinnamon stick, then cook for 1 min more. Add the shredded cabbage, then pour over the port, red wine vinegar, orange juice and 150ml water. Bring up to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for 45 mins-1 hr until the cabbage is softened.

Christmas ice cream Sundae

Ingredients:

• 75 g dried blueberries
• 75 g dried cranberries
• 100 ml limoncello, plus extra to serve
• 411 g mincemeat
• 284 ml double cream
• 3 tablespoons chopped candied peel
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• zest of 2 limes
• zest and juice of 2 clementines
• 1 litre good-quality vanilla ice cream
• 8 meringue nests
• 1 sprig of fresh mint, leaves picked
   Method:
  Place the first three ingredients in a bowl and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Spoon the mincemeat into a small saucepan and warm it up – keep stirring while it melts and smooths out a little. Take off the heat, add the soaked berries and limoncello and leave to cool.
  
  In a mixing bowl, whip the double cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold in the candied peel, ginger, lime and clementine zest. Spike the cream with a few drops of the clementine juice.
  
  Scoop balls of ice cream into small bowls and top each one with a spoonful of the mincemeat mixture. Put dollops of spiked cream on top and crumble over some pieces of meringue. Keep layering the dessert like this until all the bowls are full or you've used up all the ingredients.
  
  
  

  Nutritional Information Amount per serving:

  • Calories 637 32%
  • Carbs 75.0g 33%
  • Sugar 73.0g 81%
  • Fat 32.5g 46%
  • Saturates 18.5g 93%
  • Protein 6.8g 15%

  Of an adult woman's guideline daily amount

   
  

Roast duck with spicy Christmas rub & Marsala gravy

  Ingredients:

• 1 duck (roughly 1.6kg)
• sea salt
• reshly ground black pepper
• 2 heaped teaspoons of five-spice
• 1 clementine
• 6 fresh bay leaves

• For the gravy

• 1 bulb of garlic, halved across the middle
• 2 carrots, trimmed and sliced
• 2 red onions, peeled and sliced
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 100 ml Marsala
• 1 litre organic chicken stock
  
   Remove any excess fat from inside the cavity of the duck, then using a sharp knife carefully score the breast and legs all over in crisscross fashion, roughly 1cm apart. Season the duck with salt, pepper and the five-spice, rubbing all over so the flavour catches in all the nooks and crannies. Halve the clementine and place it into the cavity along with the bay leaves. Place the duck in a medium-sized roasting tray, cook at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for around 1 hour 20 minutes. 
  When the time's up, remove the duck from the oven and drizzle your par-boiled veg (see Gorgeous roast vegetables) with some of the fat from the tray then toss to coat (save the remaining fat for another day). Lift up the duck, scatter the garlic, carrots and onions into the tray and sit the duck back on top. Cook for a further 40 minutes, or until the duck is beautifully crisp and the meat falls easily away from the bone.
  Remove the duck to the tray of roast veg while you finish your gravy. Add the flour to the broken-down veg, then mash everything together with a potato masher, scraping up all the sticky goodness from the bottom. Place over a medium-high heat. Pour in the Marsala, stir well and let the alcohol cook off for a minute or two. Add the stock, then bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for around 15 minutes, or until thickened and reduced. Strain through a coarse sieve, skim away any fat from the surface, then season to taste. Shred or carve up the duck, then serve with a jug of gravy, apple and cranberry sauce, crispy roast veg and all the trimmings.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Nutritional Information Amount per serving:

  • Calories 430 22%
  • Carbs 23g 10%
  • Sugar 9g 10%
  • Fat 28g 40%
  • Saturates 7g 35%
  • Protein 20g 44%

  Of an adult woman's guideline daily amount