If you love Christmas but don’t love meat, these simple but effective, yuletide-inspired dishes will set you up for the big day.
As part of our Budget Bites column – in response to the rising cost of living we teamed up with Sorted Food to bring you easy, affordable, quick and (most importantly) tasty recipes once a month – the below dishes are perfect for time-poor cooks on a budget this Christmas.
One shopping list with ingredients used across all recipes also ensures minimal food waste, making your weekly food shop go that bit further. You just need to decide where to shop, and when to start cooking...
Shopping list
- 365g Brussels sprouts
- 2 large parsnip (approx 300g each)
- 2 large sweet potatoes (approx 300g each)
- 100g loose white potatoes
- 60g rocket/arugula
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 1 red onion
- 250g ricotta
- 150g creamy blue cheese
- 730ml milk
- 320g ready rolled puff pastry
- Olive oil
- Cider vinegar
- Honey
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground allspice
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 100g couscous
- 30g pine nuts
Spiced baked ricotta with sprout, orange and pine nut couscous
If you can’t track down the ricotta for this dish, feel free to swap it out for feta.
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
250g ricotta
1 tbsp honey
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice
265g Brussels sprouts
100g couscous
1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
30g pine nuts
1 orange
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C and line a small tray with baking paper. Fill a kettle with water and put it on to boil – this will be for the couscous later.
2. Plonk 1 250g packet of ricotta onto the lined tray. Drizzle over 1 tbsp of honey and scatter over ½ tsp of cinnamon and ½ tsp of allspice. Season generously with salt.
3. Bake the ricotta in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until golden in places. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
4. Finely shred 265g of sprouts on a board with a sharp knife – take your time and be careful!
5. Tip 100g of couscous into a large mixing bowl. Finely grate over the zest from 1 lemon and drizzle over 2 tbsp of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, then give everything a mix.
6. Pour enough boiling water over the couscous to just cover the grains, then give everything a good mix and chuck the sprouts on top. Cover with cling film and microwave on full power for 2 minutes. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
7. Once the ricotta is golden in places, tip 30g of pine nuts onto the tray. Bake for a further 4-5 minutes, until the pine nuts are lightly golden. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
8. Cut the top and bottom from 1 orange so it can stand up on the board without rolling. Carefully cut off all the peel, cutting from top to bottom between the flesh and skin, then rotating slightly and repeating.
9. Cut out the individual segments by slicing either side of the lines that separate them.
10. Once the couscous is soft, use a fork to fluff the grains and mix the sprouts in. Squeeze over the juice from the lemon, add the orange segments and mix once more.
11. Load the couscous onto plates and top with dollops of the baked ricotta. Scatter over the pine nuts and tuck in!
Spiced sweet potato and blue cheese tart
We use a microwave to par-cook the sweet potatoes before baking them on the tart in this recipe – but you can pre-roast them if you have the time.
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes (approx 300g each)
1 red onion
3 tbsp olive oil
100g creamy blue cheese
30ml milk
220g ready rolled puff pastry
100g Brussels sprouts
60g rocket/arugula
1 tbsp cider vinegar
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C and line a medium baking tray with baking paper – this will be for the tart later.
2. Peel and cut 2 large sweet potatoes into rough 1cm chunks.
3. Halve, peel and thinly slice 1 onion. Chuck the potatoes and onion into a large mixing bowl, drizzle in 2 tbsp of the olive oil, season with salt and toss everything together.
4. Cover with cling film and microwave on full power for 6-8 minutes, until the potatoes are softened but not fully cooked. Give everything a toss halfway through, then get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
5. Add 100g of blue cheese and 30ml of milk to a measuring jug. Blitz until smooth with a hand blender – we are looking for a mayo-like consistency.
6. Cut 220g (T) of pastry from your roll for the week, saving the rest for another recipe – or grab it from the fridge if you have already cut some off for another recipe. Lay it on the lined tray.
7. Score a 1cm border around the edge of the pastry with a sharp knife – this will be your “crust”. Spread the blue cheese mix over the centre making sure not to go over the scored lines.
8. Once the potatoes and onion are ready, spread them out into 1 even layer over the blue cheese. Brush a little milk over the crust if you have time – it will add a bit of gloss!
9. Bake the tart in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until the pastry is puffed up and golden. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
10. Finely shred 100g of sprouts using a sharp knife, then add them to a large mixing bowl with 60g of rocket. Crack on with a bit of washing up and get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps when the tart is 2 minutes off.
11. When the tart is 2 minutes off, drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of vinegar over the rocket and sprouts. Season with salt and give everything a good mix.
12. Cut the tart in half and serve with the salad. Enjoy!
Parsnip soup with blue cheese and crispy pastry dippers
These pastry dippers make a fantastic addition to nibbles platters – keep this recipe in your back pocket for all your Christmas party food needs.
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
2 large parsnips (approx 300g each)
100g loose white potatoes
700ml milk
1 vegetable stock cube
½ tsp ground allspice
100g ready rolled puff pastry
50g creamy blue cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Peel 2 parsnips and 100g of potatoes. Cut them into bite-sized chunks, then tip them into a medium saucepan.
3. Tip 700ml of milk over the veg, season with a pinch of salt and crumble over 1 stock cube. Add ½ tsp of allspice.
4. Place the pan over a medium heat, bring everything up to a boil and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until the veg is soft. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
5. Cut 100g (S) of pastry from your roll for the week, saving the rest for another recipe this week – or grab it from the fridge if you have already cut some off for another recipe. Lay it on a medium tray, sandwiched between 2 sheets of baking paper.
6. Lay another tray on top of the baking paper sandwiched pastry and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
7. Once the veg is soft, use a hand blender to blitz everything until smooth and silky. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Crack on with a bit of washing up while you wait for the pastry.
8. Divide the soup between bowls. Crumble over 50g of blue cheese, drizzle over 2 tbsp of oil and serve with shards of the crispy pastry.
