Fancy something a little different this Christmas? Here is my Festive Mincemeat stuffed Panettone French Toast. Rich and indulgent, this is sure to put a smile on your face.
Ingredients
1 thick slice of panettone
Mincemeat – use my quick and easy recipe to get the most delicious mincemeat for this dish
1 egg
50ml milk of choice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 small knob of butter
To serve
Extra mincemeat
Yoghurt of choice
Berries of choice
Method
Take your thickly cut panettone and make a small pocket in the centre with a knife (like a pitta bread). Fill the pocket with 1-2 tsp mincemeat.
In a large dish crack the egg and add the milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Mix well.
Soak the panettone in the egg mixture for 5 minutes on all sides.
Heat a frying pan over a low heat and add the butter.
Cook the panettone for 2-3 minutes per side till golden brown.
Serve topped with extra mincemeat, yoghurt and berries.
With so many people being left with extra food this year, try turning it into delicious meals of their own. This is made using all the usual leftover foods I have from Christmas Day.
This leftover turkey pie recipe can be used all year round, replace the turkey with leftover roast chicken, swap the sprouts for leeks, carrots, spinach, broccoli or even asparagus; anything goes. You could even swap the turkey stock for leftover turkey gravy.
This also works with meat substitutes for those wishing to make a vegetarian version of this pie.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1 large onion, sliced
30g butter
125g mushrooms, sliced
250g Brussel sprouts, sliced
4 rashers of bacon or 2 slices of ham
50g plain flour
300g turkey, chicken or vegetable stock
150ml double cream
5 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped
15g chives, finely chopped
300g cooked turkey
250g frozen peas
300g puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Method
Gently fry the onions with the butter in a large pan for 2 minutes before adding the mushrooms and cooking for a further 5 minutes.
Add the sprouts and bacon cooking for a further 5 minutes.
Add the flour and coat all of the vegetables and bacon. Slowly add the stock with 100ml of water, stirring constantly to create a smooth sauce. Add the double cream, herbs, turkey and peas.
Allow the mixture to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C convection.
Add the turkey mix into a large ovenproof dish.
Roll the pastry to fit the size of your dish.
Pain the edge of the dish with the beaten egg before laying the pastry lid over the top. Gently press down to create a seal.
Cut a hole in the top to allow the steam to escape and glaze the pie with the egg.
Bake for 35-40 minutes till puffed up and golden brown.
Per sixth: 556kcal/ 37.2 fat/ 20.7g saturated fat/ 27.3g carbohydrates/ 4.3g fibre/ 26.0g protein
A simple wholemeal shortcrust pastry enriched with almonds and butter to give you 8 plant points in total if using my mincemeat recipe.
If you are using shop bought mincemeat you could try adding a little extra fibre diversity by adding in some grated apple, carrot or dried cranberries.
Mix the ground almonds, flour and butter in a large bowl with your fingertips till it resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar, briefly mix, and then add the egg to bind. Knead the pastry till it forms a sticky ball, wrap it up and put it in the fridge to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes. The pastry can be made using a food processor or can be made the day in advance.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/ 200°C convection
Take 2/3 of the pastry and roll to 4-5mm thickness using flour to stop it from sticking. Use a circular cutter 2cm bigger than the tin hole, gently dust the underside and press into the muffin tin. Repeat to make 8 lined holes in total.
Fill each pastry case with around 45g mincemeat, leaving a 1cm gap from the top.
Take the remaining 1/2 of the pastry and roll to a thickness of 2-3mm. Take a cutter the same size as the muffin tin and cut 8 lids.
Using milk or egg, brush the pastry case and stick the lid down.
Poke a hole in the top of each pie to allow the steam to escape.
Optional: decorate the top with any remaining pastry, sticking it in place with the milk or egg.
Bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes till the pastry is golden brown and crisp.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before taking out of the tray and allowing to cool on a wire rack.
Per mince pie: 358kcal/ 18.5g fat/ 10.3g saturated fat/ 41.2g carbohydrates/ 3.6g fibre/ 4.5g protein
My Festive Lentil, Mushroom and Chestnut Wellington is sure to be a crowd-pleaser this Christmas. Packed full of flavours you would expect to find at Christmas and wrapped up in puff pastry. What is not to like?
This recipe is easily adapted to most dietary requirements. Swap the butter pastry to a butter-free puff pastry and swap the egg glaze for a mylk wash to give the pastry a lovely golden glow.
To make the wellington gluten-free use a gluten-free pastry and gluten-free oats. If you can’t find the oats, use 100g gluten-free flour in place of the oats and rice flour.
You can also swap a few ingredients around to suit what you fancy. If your festive tipple is not port, you could swap it for red wine, cognac or even keep it alcohol-free by using a little stock. Other herbs that would work well in this wellington include thyme, parsley or marjoram. You could also use dried herbs, but watch out as these can really pack a punch, so half a teaspoon should be plenty to give flavour. You could even change the almonds for alternative nuts such as pistachios or walnuts to give different dietary nutrients; walnuts are the only tree nut to contain significant amounts of alpha-linolenic acid, a type of omega-3 fatty acid which can be converted in the body to EPA and DHA fats found in oily fish. Great for anyone following a strictly plant-based diet or for those who don’t eat fish.
Serves 6-8
Ingredient
120g green lentils
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
200g mushrooms, finely diced
10 sage leaves, sliced
50g almonds, roughly chopped
90g cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
50g dried cranberries
60ml port
50g rice flour
50g cut oats
400g puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Method
Wash the lentils in cold water. Add the bay leaves and bring the lentils to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes till the lentils are soft.
Meanwhile cook the oil and onion together over a low heat till soft and translucent.
Add the mushrooms to the onions and cook the mushrooms till the juices start to thicken slightly. Add the sage and cook for a further minute till fragrant.
Once the lentils are cooked, drain, remove the bay leaves and lightly mash. Add the mushroom mixture to the lentils followed by the almonds, chestnuts, cranberries, port, flour and cut oats. Mix to combine and season to taste.
Allow the mixture to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/ 200°C convection.
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
Roll the pastry into a 35cm by 25cm rectangle. Cut lengthways down to make a 10cm by 35cm smaller rectangle. Remove 2cm from this piece to create a rectangle approximately 10cm by 33cm.
Place the now cooled mixture on this smaller rectangle of pastry, leaving a 1cm gap all around the edge, into a large log shape from short end to short end.
Using the egg, paint over the pastry seam. Lift the remaining larger rectangle of pastry over the mixture and press the pastry to seal with a fork.
Trim any excess pastry and use it to decorate the top of the pie.
Cut a small hole in the top of the wellington to allow the steam to escape and glaze the whole pie with an egg wash.
Bake the wellington for 25-30 minutes till golden brown all over.
Per sixth: 629kcal/ 25.3 fat/ 13.1g saturated fat/ 60.8g carbohydrates/ 8.0g fibre/ 18.3g protein
These cookies taste like a cross between a Hobnob and a spiced Ginger Nuts biscuit. Super easy to make, the hardest part is waiting between each of the different stages!
These are also perfect for little hands which will want to get involved. They can help with pouring the ingredients into the food processors, rolling, cutting and decorating. The use of oats and wholemeal flour means that although they are still a biscuit, they will still be contributing towards fibre intake.
These make the perfect little gift, or can be hung on the Christmas tree as decorations. To do this, poke a hole at the top before baking to allow you to use string to hang from the tree.
Makes around 30 small cookies
Ingredients
75g oats
100g wholemeal flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground sweet cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g butter
70g soft light brown sugar
30g golden syrup
1/2 a beaten egg
Plain flour for dusting
Method
In a food processor, blitz the oats till they resemble flour. Add the wholemeal flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and butter. Blitz together till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and briefly mix together before adding the golden syrup and egg. Mix till the dough forms large clumps before turning out onto the work surface. The mixture should feel a little sticky. If it is dry add a little more egg.
Lightly knead the dough till it just comes together.
Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
Preheat the over to 160°C fan/ 180°C convection.
Line 2 large baking trays with baking parchment.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of 5mm using a little plain flour to stop it from sticking, and cut out your desired shapes using a lightly dusted cookie cutter.
Place the cookies on the lined baking sheet, leaving a 1cm gap between the cookies to allow them to expand slightly.
Bake for 12 minutes for smaller shapes (or those with several holes in them like my snowflakes) and up to 15 minutes for larger shapes till just turning slightly darker on the edges.
Cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Per 10g cookie: 48kcal/ 1.7 fat/ 0.9g saturated fat/ 7.0g carbohydrates/ 0.6g fibre/ 0.9g protein
Dr Pippa 