Looking for a quick recipe for Christmas?
If like many other people you’ve been to busy to prepare Christmas dinner with enough anticipation and the celebration is now pending over your head, don’t panic! The following recipe is perfect if you’re looking for a recipe that won’t take too long but still impress your guests [Related topic: special events]
You can get this entire dinner done in less than 2 hours with the help of a few hacks.
(Original Recipe By Justine Pattison)
What will you need for the recipe?
- Ready-made appetizers that you can get from the supermarket.
- Store-bought dessert – and now you don’t have to worry about those 2 things, just serve them.
- 5kg of fresh or at least, fully thawed Turkey crown
- 6 slices of smoked bacon (thin slices)
- Vegetable oil or butter for greasing
- 2 medium leeks, trimmed
- 5 thick slices of white bread
- 120g of mixed nuts and dried fruit you can get a packed mix from the convenience store.
- A handful of fresh thyme, finely chopped
- The zest of a large lemon
- 450g of pork sausage meat
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- 2kg of potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 4 tbsp of oil or animal fat
- 8–12 chipolata sausages, wrapped in bacon
- Fresh rosemary
- 2 tbsp of runny honey
- 750–900ml of readymade chicken gravy
- 2 thin slices of smoked back bacon, roughly chopped
- 4 tbsp of red wine
- 2 tbsp of cranberry sauce
- ½ tsp dried sage
- 600g/1lb of ready-prepared carrot sticks
- 2 tbsp of orange juice
- Butter
- 3 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley
- 2 pinches of caster sugar
- 25g of butter
- 4 thin slices of bacon, cut into ¾in pieces
- 300g of ready-trimmed baby Brussels sprouts, halved
- 200g of cooked and peeled chestnuts, halved
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
How will you get all of this ready in 2 hours?
Yes, it seems like an impossible task but is actually not, most things you’ll be able to find at the store ready-made and the others won’t take too much of your time if you follow these instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF if it’s a fan oven and 400ºF if it’s a gas one
- Put your turkey crown on a lightly oiled baking tray and pat it dry with kitchen paper.
- Proceed to season with lots of ground black pepper and cover the breast with bacon slices.
- Next, cover the turkey with a lightly oiled sheet of tin foil and roast the turkey for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, get the stuffing ready by melting the butter in a large non-stick frying pan.
- Slice the leeks thinly and add them to the pan.
- Cook them over low heat for 3–4 minutes, or until softened, and don’t forget to stir regularly.
- Put the leeks into a large, shallow ovenproof dish.
- Then, tear the bread into small cubes and don’t worry about the crusts, add them too.
- Put the nuts and fruit onto a board and cut any large nuts in half or quarters, and add them to the bread and leeks.
- Add three-quarters of the thyme to the stuffing mixture and sprinkle the lemon zest on top.
- Add the sausage meat and add salt and black pepper to taste.
- Mix all the ingredients with your hands until it’s chunky but completely integrated.
- Spread the mixture loosely over the dish and set aside.
- After the turkey has been cooking for 1 hour, take it out of the oven and lower the temperature to 400ºF or 345ºF depending on if you’re on a fan or gas oven.
- Take the turkey crown carefully off the tray and place it directly on top of the stuffing.
- Then place it in the oven again and roast the turkey with the stuffing for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and cook further for 15 minutes, or until the turkey is fully cooked and the juices run clear when the thickest part is pierced with a skewer.
- In the meantime, roast the potatoes to make better use of the time.
- Put the potatoes in a large saucepan or fireproof casserole and cover them with cold water.
- Place them over a high heat and bring them to boil. Then, lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes and return them to the saucepan. Shake vigorously to knock the potatoes about and scuff up the surface – this will make them much crisper when they roast.
- Add oil to the potatoes and mix well.
- Scatter the potatoes in a single layer onto a baking tray and roast them for an hour, or until the golden and crisp outside and tender in the center.
- While the turkey and the potatoes roast, tuck a small sprig of rosemary and put it under the bacon as you wrap the sausages.
- Place them on a lightly oiled baking tray and drizzle with the honey.
- Roast for 15–20 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked through.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and cover it loosely with kitchen foil and a couple of dry tea towels.
- Leave it to rest for 15 minutes.
- Put the carrots in a microwave-proof serving dish and pour over the orange juice, and butter before sprinkling with parsley.
- Add sugar and season with salt and lots of black pepper.
- Cover the carrots with cling film or a plate and cook on the high setting for 8 minutes, or until just tender but don’t forget to stir halfway through cooking.
- Put the butter, bacon, sprouts and chestnuts in a large non-stick saucepan or sauté pan and season well with black pepper.
- Add around 200ml of cold water and bring to the boil.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly until the sprouts are tender and the liquid has evaporated.
- Put the gravy, bacon, port, cranberry sauce and sage in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Lower the heat and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Season with black pepper and salt.
- Keep warm until you serve it.
If you follow this steps you’ll have a full Christmas dinner in a couple hours to celebrate with your loved ones.