Christmas Side Dishes With Star Quality
Take a little time to make everything on the plate a delight. Here’s our collection of fabulous festive accompaniments…
Tenderstem® Broccoli with Pecans, Blue Cheese & Maple
So quick and easy – so stunning and full of flavour!
Preparation time: 5min
Cooking time: 5min
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 200g packet of Tenderstem®
- 2tbsp rapeseed oil
- 80g blue cheese, crumbled
- 50g pecans, roughly chopped
- 6tbsp maple syrup
- Salt and pepper
To Make:
- Toss the Tenderstem® in the rapeseed oil so that it is lightly coated.
- Heat a griddle pan until it is smoking hot. Place the Tenderstem® on the griddle and cook for 1min or so on each side.
- Once cooked, place in a serving dish and crumble over the blue cheese, chopped pecans and drizzle with maple syrup.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Sausage & Mushroom Stuffing Wreath
Create the perfect edible centrepiece – a delight to the eyes and tastebuds from Just Add Mushrooms.
Preparation time: 30min
Cooking time: 1hr
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 300g closed cup mushrooms, finely diced
- 500g sausage meat
- 3tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 sticks of celery, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 200g chestnuts, cooked, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1tsp fennel seeds, crushed
- 1tsp dried tarragon
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Sliced mushrooms, fried, to serve
To Make:
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan. Grease or line a loaf tin or 25cm cake tin.
- In a large bowl, mix together the mushrooms and sausage meat.
- Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and add the onion and celery. Fry for 5min until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic and cook for a further 1min, before adding the sausage and mushroom mix. Cook until the sausage meat has browned, around 5min, stirring frequently.
- Take off the heat and leave to cool for 10min. Add the chestnuts, herbs, egg and breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper and stir all the ingredients together thoroughly.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and press down firmly. Bake in the oven for 50min until firm to the touch.
Roasted Parsnips With Honey Mustard Dressing
A humble side dish worthy of a Supporting Actor nomination!
Preparation time: 15min
Cooking time: 25min
Serves 4-6 as a side dish
Ingredients:
- 4tbsp Crisp ‘n Dry oil
- 500g parsnips, peeled
- Good pinch sea salt
- Few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped
For the dressing:
- 1tbsp Crisp ‘n Dry
- 1tbsp honey
- 1tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1tsp white wine vinegar
To Make:
- Preheat the oven to 190ºC/ 170ºC fan/ gas 5. Heat a large shallow roasting tin or heavy baking tray.
- Peel the parsnips and halve lengthways, then halve again lengthways if they’re very large. Place in a large bowl. Drizzle over the Crisp ‘n Dry and season with a good pinch of salt.
- Transfer to the hot tray and roast in the oven for 15min. Remove and turn the parsnips then roast for another 10min or until they’re a lovely golden colour and cooked through. Transfer to a warm serving dish and sprinkle over the thyme leaves.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl or jug. Pour into a jar or bowl and allow people to drizzle a little dressing onto the hot parsnips. This works well with roast pork or chicken or alongside sausages.
Brussels Sprouts and Parsnip Gratin
A rich, creamy sauce transforms your Brussels into a dish in themselves in this recipe from Dobbies.
Preparation time: 30min + resting
Cooking time: 55min
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- Unsalted butter, softened, for greasing
- 500g parsnips
- 500g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
- 300ml double cream
- 200ml full fat creme fraiche
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 bay leaves
- 1tsp fine sea salt
To Make:
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas 6. Grease a deep 30cm x 20cm baking dish.
- Trim the parsnips and slice as thinly as possible. Trim the Brussels sprouts, reserving any pretty leaves that detach, before slicing the rest – they don’t have to be too thin. Layer up in the prepared dish.
- Put the cream, creme fraiche, garlic and bay leaves in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in salt and plenty of black pepper.
- Pour the cream over the vegetables, pressing them down in the liquid so they’re just covered. Arrange the bay leaves on top, then cover the dish tightly with foil.
- Bake for 25-30min until the vegetables are almost tender. Remove the foil, press down again if needed, and cook for a further 10-15min, or until set on top and starting to brown at the edges.
- Leave to cool for 5min before serving. Remove the bay leaves and scatter with the reserved sprout leaves, if preferred.
