Our favourite festive recipes

‘Tis the season to eat, drink and be merry - with emphasis on the ‘eat’ part. Festive food is the best kinda food, and we love nothing more than whipping up a seasonal spread to celebrate Christmas, New Years, being off work, seeing friends and family, winning at Monopoly… any excuse!

 

Here are a few of our favourite festive recipes for you to try in the run-up to Christmas and beyond. Enjoy!

 

 

150g self-raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp golden caster sugar

1 egg, beaten

½ tbsp maple syrup, plus extra to serve

200ml full-fat milk

Vegetable oil, for frying

100g pitted dates, chopped

100ml crème fraiche, to serve

 

Put the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl along with a pinch of salt. Mix the egg, maple syrup and milk together, then gradually add the dry ingredients, whisking until you have a smooth, sticky batter.

 

Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, non-stick pan over medium heat and spoon 2-3 small circles of batter into the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes until bubbling, then flip and cook for another minute until fluffy. Repeat until you have 10 pancakes.

 

Serve in a stack with extra maple syrup, a blob of crème fraiche and scattered dates. 

 

 

350g pasta

2 tbsp butter

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp mustard powder

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp mustard powder

3 tbsp plain flour

500ml milk

250g mix of cheeses you have in the house, plus extra hard cheese for the topping

 

Cook the pasta, drain and set aside. 

 

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the garlic, then cook for a minute until softened. Add the mustard powder and cayenne pepper and cook for another minute. Add the flour and stir to make a paste, cooking for about a minute, until the mixture starts to bubble. Remove from the heat and slowly pour in the milk, whisking to avoid lumps. Return to the heat and cook for 5 minutes until thickened, then add the cheese, stir until melted and fold into the pasta. 

 

Heat the oven to 180c/160c fan, gas 4. Put the pasta in a baking dish and top with the extra cheese, then bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. 

 

 

 

1 tbsp olive oil

Knob of butter

1 large onion, sliced

6 sausages (leftover pigs in blankets work well!)

2 tsp English mustard powder

50g plain flour

1 chicken stock cube, crumbled

150ml white wine

500ml chicken stock or leftover gravy

6 stuffing balls

300g cooked turkey, shredded

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

100g low-fat crème fraiche

Bunch of parsley, chopped

800g leftover roast potatoes

20g mature cheddar, grated

 

Heat the oil and butter in a large, shallow casserole dish. Add the onion and cook for 10 mins until very soft, then push to one side and add the sausages, browning them all over (skip if you’re using leftovers). 

 

Remove the sausages and set aside to cool. Add the mustard powder, flour and stock cube to the dish and cook for a couple of minutes, then pour in the white wine. Bubble for a minute then add the stock, stir to make a smooth sauce, season and bubble for 5 mins. Heat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6. 

Cut the sausages and stuffing into chunks and add to the sauce along with the turkey, mustard, crème fraiche and parsley. Bring to a bubble then remove from the heat. Crumble the potatoes over the top, scatter with cheese and bake for 40 mins until crisp and bubbling. 

 

 

 

185g unsalted butter, cubed

185g dark chocolate, chopped

85g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

3 large eggs

275g golden caster sugar

6 mince pies

Icing sugar, for dusting

 

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl. Once melted, leave to cool. Heat the oven to 180c/160c/gas 4 and line the base of a shallow 20cm square tin with baking paper. Sieve the flour and cocoa into a bowl and whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and creamy.

 

Pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the whisked eggs and sugar and fold together in a figure of eight, moving the bowl around until the mixture is dark brown. Be gentle so you don’t knock out the air. 

 

Sift in the cocoa and flour mixture and continue gently folding. The mixture will look dry and dusty, then turn fudgy. Be careful not to overmix it. 

 

Spoon a little mixture into the tin then add the whole mince pies. Spoon over the rest of the mixture, making sure it goes between and over the pies, then level off the top. Bake for 25 mins – if it’s still very wobbly in the middle, bake for another 10 minutes or until the top has a shiny crust. Leave to cool in the tin then dust with icing sugar and cut into quarters, then into four squares.