The definitive guide to Spanish Christmas food, in 20 delicious & easy recipes you can cook today.

xmas-side3Today I’m going to show you how to create an amazing Christmas dinner with 100% Spanish style and taste.

I used some of these exact recipes last Christmas when my boyfriend’s parents came to visit us… they are Italian and what better to impress an Italian, than with food of course?

So I called my mum in Valencia (east of Spain) and thanks to her, my grandmother, half of my family, almost half of the town and Mr Google of course, I had a list of the best possible recipes ever for a great Spanish Christmas meal abroad. The result is this manual that I’m calling…

The Spanish Mother’s Christmas Cookbook.

I put together 20 of the best recipes I cooked for my Christmas meal: Spanish starters, main dishes with meat and fish, desserts and Spanish wines.

You can find most of these ingredients in any supermarket in the UK, and if you’d like to shop for real Spanish Christmas food, we have everything you need in our online Spanish shop as well!

startericon

SPANISH STARTERS

Entrantes

The tapas culture is known all around the world. However, during Christmas tapas are a starter, part of bigger menu divided in “starter – main dish – dessert” (and plenty of alcohol of course). The starters are divided into three groups: seafood, cold meats and soup starters.

You’ll want to choose a starter that matches the main dish that you are going to cook (meat or fish) for your meals: meat will be served after a starter of cured meats (ibéricos) or soup (consommé); fish is introduced by shellfish, crustaceans or the traditional soup of shellfish.

And remember, for most of our Spanish dishes, we’ll use lots of EVO: Extra Virgin Olive Oil!

SPANISH PRAWN COCKTAIL

Cóctel de gambas

SPANISH PRAWN COCKTAIL - Cóctel de gambas

4 PEOPLE

30 MINUTES

EASY

Our Spanish Prawn Cocktail is a really simple recipe to prepare, and at the same time it’s really delicious.
In Spain, a Prawn Cocktail is widely used by many mums that are looking to prepare something fast, cold and easy to whet appetites before the main dish.
Note that in the Spanish version of the Prawn Cocktail, we’ll use a splash of orange juice to give a unique taste to our dish.

INGREDIENTS


Prawns
Ice
Water
Salt
Lettuce
200g mayonnaise
3 spoonful ketchup
1 spoonful Worcestershire sauce
1 splash of orange juice
1 splash of brandy or whisky

METHOD


1. Boil a big quantity of water in a pot while removing the intestine of the prawns with kitchen tweezers. When the water starts to boil, add some salt and the prawns. Lower the heat to medium.

2. When the first prawns start to float, remove them all from water and leave them to cool down in a bowl with cold water and a few cubes of ice.

3. While the prawns are cooling down, prepare the cocktail sauce (salsa rosa) mixing in a bowl all the mayo, ketchup, orange juice, brandy and Worcestershire sauce. Leave to rest for 10 to 20 minutes; the result will be a compact sauce.

4. When the prawns are cold, peel them all. Leave a few of them apart: we’ll use them for the final decoration of the dish.

5. Place some sauce on the bottom of a cup or a wide glass.

6. Add a big spoon of prawns on top of the sauce.

7. Then place slices of lettuce on top (clean them and dry them properly for better results).

8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 and complete the dish with a generous spoon of sauce.

9. Yon can decorate your dish with a slice of lemon and a peeled prawn from step 4.

SPANISH MARINATED MUSSELS

Mejillones en escabeche

SPANISH MARINATED MUSSELS - Mejillones en escabeche

4 PEOPLE

30 MINUTES

EASY

Marinated Mussels is one of the most widely used Spanish food recipes, during Christmas or any other festivity. It’s a dish full of flavour and the perfect starter for a fish Christmas menu. You can find cans of pre-Marinated Mussels in our shop but, if you prefer to prepare them from scratch, our recipe here below is from the great 7 times Michelin starred Spanish chef, Martín Berasategui.

INGREDIENTS


2 kg mussels with their shell cleaned of white threads
300 ml white wine
3 scallions
6 whole cloves of garlic
1 fresh bay leaf
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
a few grains of white pepper (black pepper as alternative)
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
half tablespoon of spicy paprika
200 ml extra virgin olive oil
250 ml cider vinegar
100 ml white wine
salt

METHOD


1. Heat your saucepan with around 100ml olive oil and add scallions, bay leaf, white pepper and garlic cloves. Cook at medium heat for 10 minutes.

2. Add the mussels and the 300 ml of white wine, and leave them cooking until they open.

3. Remove them from the pan and leave them to cool down for a couple of minutes

4. Remove the shells (and throw them away) from all the mussels when you can touch them without burning your hands.

5. Leave the stock and vegetables to boil for a couple more minutes, to allow it to evaporate a little bit. Now add the two types of paprika, mix and add the rest of olive oil, the cider vinegar and the rest of white wine.

6. Leave to boil for 8 minutes (so that the vinegar would taste less strong). Now turn off the fire to let the sauce (escabeche) to cool down.

7. After 10 minutes add the mussels to let them absorb the flavour of the sauce.

8. After 5 more minutes it’s ready to eat!

MAMA’S ADVICE


We recommend waiting at least 12 hours before eating this dish. It’s not imperative but this way the mussels will soak up more sauce and taste better.

IBERIC HAM CROQUETTES

Croquetas de jamón ibérico

IBERIC HAM CROQUETTES - Croquetas de jamón ibérico

4 PEOPLE

30 MINUTES

EASY

Croquette is one starter loved by kids and grown-ups. It can be a great addition to your festive menu!

In this recipe we use Spanish Iberic ham, for a perfect aperitivo (any day of the year ? ).

INGREDIENTS


100 g jamon serrano or iberic in small cubes
4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
1 to 2 glasses of milk
a pinch of nutmeg or black pepper
breadcrumbs
1 egg

METHOD


1. Mince the onion and cook it with olive oil at very low heat for a couple of minutes.

2. Add the flour, butter, a pinch of nutmeg or black pepper and mix it properly.

3. Now add the milk little by little without stopping to mix the dough, that need to be consistent. Add the ham and keep mixing.

4. Continue to mix the dough until it separates itself easily from the pan and has a consistent texture.

5. Remove from the pan and leave to cool down. Our advice: leave the dough to rest for 24 hours to assure the best result.

6. Shape the dough into a very long tube and cut it so that every part becomes a croquette.

7. Add a beaten egg in one bowl, breadcrumbs in another.

8. Soak each croquette first in beaten eggs and then in breadcrumbs.

9. Fry each croquette in a pan with plenty of hot oil. Remove them when golden and put them on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.

PLATTER OF SPANISH CURED MEATS

Tabla de Ibéricos

PLATTER OF SPANISH CURED MEATS - Tabla de Ibéricos

5 MINUTES

EASY

This is, without any doubt, one of the most exquisite and famous Spanish plates.

It’s easy to share with family and friends and it simply cannot miss on your table during the festivities.

INGREDIENTS


Jamon serrano
Chorizo iberico
Salchichon iberico
Lomo
Sobrasada

METHOD


Preparing a platter of cured meats is not difficult, but if you really want to amaze your guests we are going to give you some extra tips that only Spanish people know ?

1. The most important point – get quality cured meat (take a look at La Iberica category of our shop). If the cold meat is in the fridge, take it out at least one hour before eating, so that it will reach the perfect temperature of 22°-25°.

2. If you have one, serve the meat on a wooden platter. Spanish cold meats release fats and the wood will absorb them without mixing all the different flavours.

3. Group the cold meats by type; keeping them separated avoids (like in point 2) the fat and the flavours mixing.

4. Spanish cold meats go really well with a nice cheese, some toasted bread and a good bottle of red wine (you can find our wine recommendations here).

CHRISTMAS CONSOMMÉ

Consomé de Navidad

CHRISTMAS CONSOMMÉ - Consomé de Navidad

6 PEOPLE

4 HOURS

EASY

Christmas consommé is without a doubt one of the most traditional recipes during the Christmas festivities in Spain.

To make it great, use ingredients of good quality (bio and free range) and (if you’d like to add them) never mix bones of different animals.

Better served in a cup, rather than a plate.

INGREDIENTS


200 g veal shank
300 g chicken
100 g flank Serrano ham
veal bones
150 ml dry white wine
1 large onion
1 carrot
2 leeks
a few sprigs of parsley
2 whole cloves of garlic
Salt

METHOD


1. Start by cleaning the meat, removing the sinews and fat or any gristle and pealing the vegetables (previously cleaned) without cutting them.

2. Place everything in a pot and add 2 litres of cold water, the white wine, and a little bit of salt. Heat to medium-high.

3. When the water boils, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 3 hours and 30 minutes. From time to time, remove impurities and foam from the stock with a slotted spoon.

4. When 3.5 hours have passed, remove the meat and chop it.

5. Pass all the stock through a strainer to remove all impurities left.

6. Add salt and the chopped meat to the stock. You are now ready to serve!

SEAFOOD SOUP

Sopa de marisco

SEAFOOD SOUP - Sopa de marisco

8 PEOPLE

4 HOURS

MEDIUM

The seafood soup is another star dish on a Christmas table.

It’s the perfect starter if you are cooking fish for a main dish and you can freeze any leftovers to use any other day to prepare a delicious seafood paella.

INGREDIENTS


1 haddock
1 kg clams
1 kg prawns
1 kg mussels
1 monkfish tail
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
White wine
Olive oil
Sweet paprika
Chilli pepper

METHOD


Before you start: Just know that every ingredient will be previously cooked by itself in a pot with just a little bit of water to cover it. Later you’ll store each ingredient individually on a plate, ready to be used later on in the recipe. Remember to keep all the different stocks you make all together in a big pot, we’ll use them in the final part of the recipe ?

1. Boil the haddock and the monkfish tail for 5 minutes . Strain the stock into a big pot; clean the fish and put it aside on a plate.

2. Boil the clams for 5 minutes. Put them aside; strain the stock into the pot (from step1)

3. Boil the prawns for 5 minutes. Strain the stock into the pot. Peel the prawns and keep the meat, head and skin.

4. Boil the mussels until they open. Strain the stock; remove the shell and keep only the meat.

5. Take the pot from step 1 that will now contain all the stock you’ve made and add the previously shredded haddock and the clams.

6. Meanwhile, use a blender to grind the head and skin of the prawns with a little bit of water. Strain the result and add it to the stock that is currently cooking.

7. Add the monkfish tail to the stock. Cook at low heat for 30 minutes.

8. Chop the onion and the garlic; sauté them in a pan with oil for a couple of minutes on a medium heat.

9. Add a splash of white wine, a splash of water, a pinch of sweet paprika and cook for a couple of minutes more. You can now add it to the pot and cook all at medium heat for 20 minutes.

10. You can now add the mussels, the peeled prawns and (optionally) some chili pepper. Cook for 15 minutes at low heat.

11. Serve and enjoy!

MAMA’S ADVICE


Like for every soup, the difference between an average soup and an amazing one is its ingredients. If you can, try to get fresh ingredients. Fresh fish and shellfish will give your soup an unforgettable taste.

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MAINS: FISH DISHES

Platos de pescado

In Spain it’s common to celebrate Christmas twice: the night of Christmas eve (nochebuena) and of course at lunch time the day of Christmas!

In 16 hours, we are going to eat plenty of foods, so it’s tradition to opt for a fish dinner on the 24th and a meat lunch on Xmas Day.

The reason? Just to have more space in the stomach for the day of Christmas and sleep well the night before =)

Let’s start with some great fish dishes!

BAKED SEA BREAM

Besugo al horno de Navidad

BAKED SEA BREAM - Besugo al horno de Navidad

4-6 PEOPLE

1 HOUR

EASY

Baked Sea Bream is another common recipe; it is usually baked, but another way to cook it is on a barbecue.

We are going to show you the most traditional way to prepare a besugo (sea bream) during the Spanish Christmas festivities.

Inspiration from eladerezo.hola.com

INGREDIENTS


1 Sea Beam (1.3 to 1.6 kg)
3 potatoes
2 whole cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
A few drops of vinegar
10 ml white wine
30 ml chicken stock
Salt
1 lemon

METHOD


1. Prepare a pot with water and add the potatoes (previously cleaned), bay leaves and add a few pinches of salt. Cook at high heat until boiling, then lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes. Now remove the potatoes and leave them to cool down.

2. Peel the potatoes, slice them and place them on a non-stick oven tray, possibly on top of some baking paper.

3. Clean and season the sea bream. Now make some small cuts in the fillet, into in every cut goes half a slice of lemon. Now let’s put our besugo fish on the top of our potatoes. It already looks delicious.

4. Turn on the oven to 170° and heat it. Leave it empty for now.

5. Peel and cut the cloves of garlic. Toss them on a wide frying pan or skillet and sauté them over high heat.

6. Add the fish stock and the wine to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.

7. Pour the stock on the top of the fish. You are now ready to put your tray inside the oven that should have reached the perfect temperature of 170°.

8. After 20 minutes check if the fish is ready. It may take up to 25 minutes to be well done but not overcooked. When you feel that it’s ready, remove from the oven and serve!

SOLE FISH WITH ORANGES

Lenguado a la naranja

SOLE FISH WITH ORANGES - Lenguado a la naranja

4 PEOPLE

70 MINUTES

MEDIUM

This dish is perfect if you opt for a light and low-calorie Christmas lunch.

You will surprise your guests with this recipe, which is perfect for kids and adults. You can serve it along with some white rice, purée of potatoes or simply roasted vegetables.

Inspiration from cocinayrecetas.hola.com

INGREDIENTS


6 sole fish (approx. 300 g each)
1 kg oranges for juicing (or half litre of orange juice)
500 g oranges for slicing
100 gr butter
70 ml olive oil
40 g flour
1 egg
Salt

METHOD


1. Cut the heads off the fish and boil them in a pot with water. In 30 minutes you’ll have a nice fish stock that you’ll use later.

2. Cut the fish is half and remove the bones. Beat the egg in a bowl, dip the fish in the egg and dip them in the flour.

3. You can now fry the fish in a pan and then place it on kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.

4. Take 1 kg of oranges and juice them. If you are feeling lazy, you may use pre-made juice, but obviously the result won’t be the same. Take the remaining half kg of oranges and cut them in round slices.

5. In a pan, melt 70 g butter and fry the orange slices on both sides. When they are ready, put them aside.

6. Add 30 g more butter to the pan. We are going to make a tasty sauce with the 40 g of flour, the orange juice, and the stock prepared before (step 1) and a little bit of salt. Stir the mixture until it thickens, then remove from heat.

7. We are almost ready! Place the fried fish on a tray or plate and cover with our sauce. The final touch: decorate the fish with the fried oranges.

PRAWN-STUFFED HADDOCK

Merluza rellena de gambas

PRAWN-STUFFED HADDOCK - Merluza rellena de gambas

4-6 PEOPLE

30 MINUTES

MEDIUM

Haddock is a kind of fish that is used a lot in the kitchen, it’s very versatile and perfect for our special Christmas recipe: we’ll stuff it with prawns and leek.

Inspiration from uncaldoyunclic.com

INGREDIENTS


1.5 kg haddock fillets already cleaned
0.5 kg leek
0.5 kg prawns
2 glasses of prosecco/cava/champagne
100 g butter
Salt

METHOD


1. Melt 50 g butter in a pan and add the white part of the leek previously cut a la julienne and let it cook at low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Now add the sparkling wine and let it cook for a few minutes until the alcohol evaporates.

3. In another pan, sauté the prawns for one minute. After that, add them to the first pan with the leek and cook for 2 minutes more. You can now remove all from the heat and put aside.

4. Preheat the oven to 170 °. Lightly grease a baking dish.

5. Lay the haddock fillets in the prepared baking dish. Brush each one with melted butter. Place a heaped tablespoon of the prawn and leek mixture onto half of each fillet, and fold the other half over to cover. Add some salt on top and secure with toothpicks if desired. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.

6. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then remove the cover and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until the top has browned and the fish flakes easily with a fork.

COD IN PIL PIL SAUCE

Bacalao al “pil-pil”

COD IN PIL PIL SAUCE - Bacalao al “pil-pil”

4 PEOPLE

30 MINUTES

MEDIUM/HIGH

Pil-Pil is a traditional dish from the Basque region of Spain and fairly well known internationally.

We’ll see how to make this exquisite dish and surprise your guests this Christmas.

Inspiration from recetasderechupete.hola.com

INGREDIENTS


1-2 desalted cod fillets per person
350 ml extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic

METHOD


The cod is a very salty fish so, before we can prepare our recipe, we need to remove the salt from the cod. To do that, cut the cod into pieces and leave to soak in pot for a minimum of 36 hours, changing the water every 8 hours.

After 36 hours the cod will be desalted and ready to be cooked.

1) We are going to need a wide pan, so that we can position all the pieces of cod one next to the other.

2) Fry the garlic (previously sliced) in the pan with all the olive oil. When ready, remove the pan from the heat and leave the oil to cool down.

3) Turn the heat on to medium-low heat and add the pieces of cod with the skin upwards.

4) While cooking, swirl the pan gently with semicircular movements, to create the sauce. The secret of this sauce is really the continuous movement of the pan, that will make the cod lose its gelatin, which will mix with the oil and garlic to create a fine sauce. In Spanish, this ritual is called “al pil-pil”, and that’s where the name of the recipe comes from! If the cod is good quality, the oil should start to turn white after a few minutes of shaking and the sauce should bind after 15-20 minutes.

5) Continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the cod is ready. Congrats! You just created an amazing dish!

GRILLED SEA BREAM

Dorada al horno

GRILLED SEA BREAM - Dorada al horno

4 PEOPLE

30 MINUTES

EASY

This last plate that we recommend is for all of you that are thinking of cooking lots of different plates and need the main dish to be easy, fast and in the oven, leaving space on the stove for other recipes.

Inspiration from pimientamolida.com

INGREDIENTS


1 sea bream of 1 kg or 4 smaller fish gutted and prepared (you can ask your fishmonger to do it for you)

1 teaspoon pepper
1 sprig of thyme
A few rosemary sprigs
A few leaves of sage
Parsley
2 cloves of garlic
half a chopped fennel
2 tomatoes
1/2 glass of fish stock
50 g butter
2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs

METHOD


1. Wash the fish and dry with kitchen paper.

2. Lay the sea bream on a tray on a foil-lined baking sheet and make slashes down each side of the body about 1cm deep. Add salt and pepper on the outside and on the inside.

3. Mince the herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley) and stuff half of them inside the fish, together with the crushed garlic.

4. Heat the olive oil gently in a pan and fry the fennel.

5. Now pour the fennel sauce over the fish . Cut the tomatoes in half and place them on the foil with the fish and season with the rest of the herbs.

6. Pour some olive oil over fish and tomatoes and grill in the oven (previously heated) at 160°.

7. After 5 to 10 minutes add some fish stock on the top of the fish and sprinkle some breadcrumbs to get a golden and crunchy cover for your fish.

8. After 5 to 10 minutes more, remove from the oven. Put the fish aside.

9. Boil some stock in a pan and mix it with butter. We’ll put this sauce on the top of the fish just before serving it on the table. Feel free to decorate with potatoes and cherry tomatoes. Enjoy!

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GREAT SPANISH WHITE WINES

that are perfect with fish

There’s nothing better than a white wine to accompany a fish/ shellfish menu. Grab one of these 6 Spanish wines and you’ll have a perfect match.

They all have a great score on the wine app Vivino, and we recommend them all ?

  • Taleia 2013. Origin: D.O.C. Costers del Segre. Varieties: sauvignon blanc y semillon. Winery: Castell D’Encus. Talarn (Lérida) (Lérida). www.encus.org
  • Barón de Ley Tres Viñas 2009. Origin: D.O.C. Rioja.Varieties: viura, malvasía y garnacha.Winery: Barón de Ley. Mendavia (Navarra). www.barondeley.com
  • Ossian 2012.Origin: Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León.Varieties: verdejo.Winery: Ossian. Nieva (Segovia). www.ossian.es
  • Viña Mein Barrica 2014.Origin: D.O. Ribeiro.Varieties: treixadura, lado, godello y albariño. Winery: Viña Meín. Leiro (Orense). www.vinamein.com
  • V3 Viñas Viejas 2015. Origin: D.O: Rueda.Varieties:verdejo.Winery: Menade. Rueda (Valladolid). www.menade.es
  • Marina Alta 2013.Origin: D.O Alicante Varieties: Moscatel de Alejandría. Winery: Bocopa Alicante www.bocopa.com

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MAINS: MEAT DISHES

Platos de carne

After a “light” xmas dinner the 24th of December, it’s time to gather again around the table for the lunch, la comida de Navidad :)

On Christmas day, Spanish people mostly eat meat based dishes. Here our recommendations.

PORK SIRLOIN WITH SWEET POTATO PURÉE AND GRILLED ONION STOCK

Solomillo de cerdo con puré de boniato y caldo de cebolla tostada

PORK SIRLOIN WITH SWEET POTATO PURÉE AND GRILLED ONION STOCK - Solomillo de cerdo con puré de boniato y caldo de cebolla tostada

4 PEOPLE

30 MINUTES

EASY

A quick, easy and tasty recipe if you don’t have much time to cook on Christmas day: this recipe with pork and sweet potatoes may be what you’re looking for.

Inspiration from gastronomiaycia.com

INGREDIENTS


1 pork sirloin, sliced (around 650 g)
250 g sweet potatoes
1 large white onion
12 small oyster mushrooms, white mushrooms or egg mushrooms
500 ml chicken stock
1 soup spoon soy sauce
1 soup spoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
2 small garlic cloves
EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Black pepper
Salt
Fresh thyme

METHOD


1. Take the sweet potatoes previously boiled and place them cut in pieces inside your blender. Add 400 ml of chicken stock, cumin, ground ginger, lemon juice and a garlic clove. Add pepper, salt and olive oil and blend all the ingredients. The result should be a thick purée, remember that we’ll add more stock to our dish later. Keep warm for later.

2. To prepare the onion stock peal the onion and cut it into big slices. Fry them in a pot with a little bit of olive oil, and when brown add 100 ml of chicken stock and the soy sauce. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover and keep aside for later.

3. We’ll now need a big pan to prepare the pork. Add salt and pepper to the meat and start to cook with EVO at medium heat. While cooking the meat, add the mushrooms, a minced glove of garlic and a sprig of thyme. The mushrooms will be ready in just 2 to 4 minutes. Remove them and leave them aside covered.

4. Add to the meat (that’s still cooking) 3 to 4 spoons of onion stock, cover the pan and let it cook for 10 more minutes – the real time will depend on the thickness of the meat.

5. Place the purée on round plates, add the portion of meat on the top on that and decorate with the mushrooms. Add more onion stock around the purée and finish it with a leaf of thyme. Serve and enjoy!

SPANISH-STYLE CHRISTMAS STUFFED TURKEY

Pavo relleno de Navidad

SPANISH-STYLE CHRISTMAS STUFFED TURKEY - Pavo relleno de Navidad

12 PEOPLE

4 HOURS

MEDIUM

Stuffed turkey is a must all around the world for Christmas. We bring to you the original recipe from the kitchens of the Spanish mothers, plus some tips to surprise your guests this Christmas.

Inspiration from directoalpaladar.com

INGREDIENTS


A turkey (4 to 5 kg)
Butter or EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Salt
Onion
50 ml sweet white wine (like Muscat)
300 g bacon
1 apple
Diced toasted bread
Dried apricots
Dried plums
A glass of chicken stock
For decoration: a bag of mixed green salad, a bunch of grapes, and an orange.

METHOD


1. Let’s start by cleaning the turkey really well: remove any feather with tweezers and burn with a match the one that are too small to pluck. Remember to buy a turkey that was previously cleaned on the inside at the supermarket!

2. We can now inject with a syringe 50 ml of sweet wine into several points of the breast and the legs to make the meat more juicy. Add salt inside and outside and spread some butter all around.

3. While the oven preheats to 220°, we can prepare the filling. First thing: let’s rehydrate the dried plums and apricots with water and cut them into pieces.

4. Dice the bacon and add it together with the diced bread and dried fruit into a bowl with a glass of chicken stock.

5. To this mixture, we add the chopped apple and we stuff our turkey. Ideally, you would sew the aperture with kitchen thread to avoid the filling leaking.

6. We can now place the turkey inside the oven. To calculate the time we recommend to cook 45 minutes for every kg of turkey, at a temperature of 180°.

7. You can present the turkey on a big dish decorated with salad and grapes (prepare your Instagram!) it goes great with roasted potatoes and any sauce of your choice.

MAMA’S ADVICE


– To avoid overcooking: after 1h and 30 minutes in the oven you can cover the breast and paws with some aluminium foil.

– To understand when it’s ready poke the thickest part of the meat: the juice that comes out should be clear, not pink.

– After cooking, let it rest for 10 minutes. Take advantage of this time to finish preparing your side dishes!

BEST CHRISTMAS ROAST LEG OF LAMB

Paletilla de cordero asado

BEST CHRISTMAS ROAST LEG OF LAMB - Paletilla de cordero asado

4 PEOPLE

2 HOURS

MEDIUM TO EASY

Roast Leg of Lamb is another must on lots of Spanish Christmas tables! Its meat is really succulent, the recipe is really simple, and the result is simply delicious.

INGREDIENTS


4 legs of lamb
100 ml white wine
150 ml EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
A handful of peppercorns
3 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves

METHOD


1. When you buy the legs at the supermarket, ask the butcher to prepare them so they’ll be ready to be roasted. At home, add salt to your liking.

2. Mince the bay leaves, garlic cloves, and peppercorns. Little by little, add the white wine and EVO until you get a uniform mixture.

3. Use this mixture to paint on both sides of the legs. You can now place them in a ceramic platter and oven cook at 170° (previously heated) for 2 hours.

4. During the cooking, keep an eye on the meat. If you notice that it’s burning or too dry, add some water or paint it again with the leftover of the mixture from step 2.

5. You’ll know that the meat is ready if it’s easy to remove it from its bone. You can serve it with roasted vegetables, or a simple salad.

VEAL SIRLOIN MEDELLIONS WITH CABRALES CHEESE SAUCE

Ternera con salsa de queso Cabrales

VEAL SIRLOIN MEDELLIONS WITH CABRALES CHEESE SAUCE - Ternera con salsa de queso Cabrales

4 PEOPLE

15 MINUTES

EASY

If you opted for a Christmas “petit comité” style, these veal sirloin medallions are perfect for you. The Cabrales is a blue cheese produced in the Principality of Asturias (Spain) with cow, goat and sheep milk. It’s a very flavourful cheese but if you can’t find it, you can easily replace it with Roquefort cheese.

INGREDIENTS


4 veal sirloin medallions
150 g Cabrales cheese (or Roquefort)
100 ml single cream
EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Salt

METHOD


1. Leave the meat to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes before cooking, so that it won’t be cold on the inside.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°. In the meantime, we can prepare the Cabrales cheese sauce. We mix the cheese with the single cream and we boil it at low heat, while mixing with a spoon or, even better, a whisk. When the cheese is melted, pass it through a strainer, cover, and put aside.

3. We place the meat medallions on the pan – that has to be very hot. One minute each side.

4. We can now place the meat in an oven tray and cook for 3 minutes for each side, so that the meat will be medium rare. Feel free to cook more if you like the meat well done.

5. We can serve the medallions in a plate with one or two spoons of Cabrales sauce on the top and a piquillo pepper for decoration.

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SPANISH RED WINES PERFECT WITH MEAT

Vino tinto

Meat and red wine are best friends… Choose yours from this list of 6 amazing Spanish red wines.

Like our white wine, they all have a great score on wine apps like Vivino.

  • Ferrer Bobet 2011.Origin: D.O.C. Priorato. Winery: Ferrer Bobet (Tarragona). www.ferrerbobet.com
  • Geol 2009. Origin: D.O.C. Costers del Segre Winery: Tomás cuisiné (Lleida). www.tomascusine.com
  • San Vicente 2010.Origin: D.O.C Rioja Winery: Señorío de San Vicente (La Rioja). www.sierracantabria.com
  • Aster Finca Otero 2010.Origin: D.O. Ribera del Duero. Winery: Aster (Burgos). www.bodegasaster.com
  • Galia 2010. Origin: Vino de la Tiera de Castilla y León.Winery: Viñas de El Regajal www.elregajal.es
  • Numanthia 2009.Origin: D.O Toro Winery: Numanthia (Zamora) www.numanthia.com

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DESSERTS

Postres

Yes, after all this food you’ll still have space for a dessert!

In Spain, dessert is usually as important as the main: not only for the food, but for the hours people spend together after eating talking. We call that the “sobremesa“, the “table talk”, where you can talk about politics, sports, gossip… the only rule is to have a good time savouring a great liqueur and a slice of a nice cake, like the ones here below!

SOUCHARD NOUGAT WITH OREO CUPCAKES

Cupcakes de turrón Suchard con pepitas de Oreo

SOUCHARD NOUGAT WITH OREO CUPCAKES - Cupcakes de turrón Suchard con pepitas de Oreo

12 CUPCAKES

1 HOUR

EASY

Let’s be honest, one of the best things about a Spanish Christmas, is the nougat: with almonds or chocolate, it’s simply amazing. It goes along very well with coffee or, like we are going to show you, as the main ingredient of Christmas desserts.

Inspiration from lostincupcakes.com

INGREDIENTS


150 g Suchard Nougat with Oreo grains
215 g flour
2 teaspoons yeast
275 g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
160 ml milk
150 g white sugar
100 g icing sugar

METHOD


1. Preheat the oven at 180° and prepare a muffin tray.

2. Mix flour and yeast and sieve this mix into a bowl.

3. Mix milk and vanilla extract in a jar and set it aside for later.

4. Cream together 125 g of the butter and the sugar.

5. When the sugar is well incorporated into the butter, add in the eggs one by one. Add the second egg only when the first one is well mixed with your cream.

6. Add half of the sieved flour and half of the vanilla/ milk mixture from step 3 and mix it until you have a dough.

7. Add the rest of flour and vanilla/ milk mixture and mix it in.

8. When the dough has a proper consistency, we’ll use it to fill up every space of the muffin tray to ¾ full. Oven bake for 12 to15 minutes at 180°.

9. After that, remove them from the oven and leave to cool down for 10 minutes. We can now remove them from the tray and leave them to cool down completely.

10. We can now prepare the nougat buttercream frosting. We start by melting the nougat with a microwave or double-boiler. When melted, leave it to cool down a little.

11. Sieve the icing sugar and we cream it together with 150g butter for around 3 minutes. (If you notice that the mixture is too dense, add a teaspoon of milk).

12. Add the melted nougat to the butter and cream them together for at least another 3 minutes.

13. When the buttercream is properly creamed, fill up a pastry bag and decorate the cupcakes with buttercream and some toppings of your choice.

SPECTACULAR JIJONA NOUGAT CHEESECAKE

Cheesecake de turron de Jijona

SPECTACULAR JIJONA NOUGAT CHEESECAKE - Cheesecake de turron de Jijona

10-12 PORTIONS

2 HOURS 15 MINUTES

MEDIUM

Jijona Nougat is one of the most characteristic sweets in Spain in Christmas. This recipe is perfect for all you cheescake lovers that want to add a Spanish touch to this dessert, so famously delicious.

Inspiration from pemberleycupandcakes.com

INGREDIENTS


(All the ingredients need to be at room temperature – except if explained otherwise.)

For the base:
200 g biscuits (like Digestive or Graham Crackers), crushed
50 g melted butter
40 g white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt

For the filling:
25 g wheat flour
200 g white sugar
half teaspoon salt
700 g cream cheese (like Philadelphia)
300 g Jijona nougat
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
180 ml single cream (mín. 35% MG)
For the topping:
240 ml sour cream
25 g white sugar
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
100 g chopped almonds (slightly caramelised)
3 spoons honey (optional but recommended)

METHOD


For the base:

1. Spread a layer of butter on the bottom and sides of a round cake tin of around 24 x 7 cm.
2. In a bowl, mix the crushed biscuits, melted butter, white sugar and salt properly.
3. Place this mix inside the tin and press it slightly until it’s spread evenly all around the base (use a glass or spoon to make this easier). Place the tin in the fridge for 15 minutes.
4. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 175° and place the tray in the middle.
5. Oven bake the tin for 10 minutes. Remove and leave to cool down while you prepare the delicious filling for your amazing cake.

For the filling:

It’s important to mix all ingredients gently and at slow speed to avoid to including air in the filling.

1. Mix flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Use a blender to mix the nougat until you have a soft paste. Set aside.
3. Place the cream cheese in a big bowl and mix for 4 minutes to create a uniform texture.
4. Now add the blended nougat and keep mixing for a couple of minutes until the cream is an even texture.
5. Continue mixing for 4 more minutes adding the flour mix from step 2.
6. Add the vanilla extract and keep mixing.
7. Add the eggs (slightly beaten) one by one.
8. We can now add the single cream and mix once more.
9. Place this mix in the tin on the top of the biscuit base .
10. Place the tin in the oven and bake for 1hour and 15 minutes. The first 10 minutes at 240°, a very high temperature compared to later, only 100° for around 1 hour.

For the sour cream topping:

1. Mix the sour cream, white sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl until you have an even textured cream.
2. When the cake has had its 1hour and 15 minutes in the oven, take it out and place the sour cream on the top. This is made easy with a spatula.
3. Bake at 100° for 15 minutes.
4. You can now turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside for 1 hour more. If you like the cheesecake more creamy, leave the oven door half open. If you prefer it more compact, leave the door closed.
5. Then let it cool down competely outside the oven.
6. When the cake reaches room temperature, cover it with a cooking film and keep in the fridge for 6 more hours. After this time we can remove carefully the tin and cover the cake with chopped almonds and drizzle a little bit of honey on top of them.

SOUCHARD CHOCOLATE NOUGAT PANNA COTTA

Panacotta de turron de chocolate Suchard

SOUCHARD CHOCOLATE NOUGAT PANNA COTTA - Panacotta de turron de chocolate Suchard

6 PEOPLE

20 MINUTES

EASY

If you’d like to prepare a chocolate dessert but you prefer to avoid the classic cake, you can opt for this delicious panna cotta. Instead of using normal chocolate, we choose chocolate nougat, to give a Christmas touch to the dessert.

INGREDIENTS


250 ml whipping cream
75 ml milk
170 g Suchard chocolate nougat
15 g icing sugar
3 natural gelatine sheets or 6 gr gelatine powder

METHOD


1. Hydrate the gelatine sheets with a bit of cold water for 5 minutes.

2. Add milk, cream and sugar into a bowl and heat them up. Add the chocolate nougat in pieces and mix until completely melted.

3. When the liquid start to boil we turn off the heat and add the hydrated gelatine (without the water) to the mix.

4. Fill up some nice glasses with the creamy sauce and cool in the fridge for 3 hours.

5. We can serve with blueberries, ice cream or whipped cream.

CHURROS

Spanish Churros

6 PEOPLE

20 MINUTES

EASY

Spanish people are used to eating churros all winter long. However, during Christmas and New Year’s day, Churros with hot chocolate become one of the favourite treats for kids and grown ups.

Inspiration from gastroandalusi.com

INGREDIENTS


2 glasses of flour
2 glasses of boiled water
half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
half teaspoon salt
1 L EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
sugar to sprinkle

METHOD


1. Add flour, bicarbonate and salt to a bowl

2. Add the boiling water all at once and mix with a wooden spoon until you get an even textured and thick dough

3. If you have one, put the dough in the churrera, make the churros and place on the table. If you don’t have a churrera, you can use a pastry bag with 1m wilton tip.

4. Fry the churros in very hot EVO

5. Remove the churros. Place them on kitchen paper to remove residual oil. Serve with sprinkled sugar and a cup of hot chocolate =)

MAMA’S ADVICE


1. You should make churros with churrera. You can use the pastry bag but the churros need to be ribbed, to avoid them exploding or overcooking when fried.

2. To make a proper dough; use boiling water. Hot water won’t mix with the flour correctly.

3. Please be careful: in this recipe we use extremely hot water and oil. Take all possible precautions to avoid burns!

ROSCÓN DE REYES

Spanish Roscón de Reyes

2HOURS 30 MINUTES

EASY

Roscón de Reyes is one of the most important desserts in all Spanish gastronomy. On the 6th of January it’s Spanish tradition to have an afternoon snack with your family and give presents to the people you love, especially to kids.

This recipe of Roscon de Reyes is the easiest one and will assure you great results.

INGREDIENTS


400 g strong flour (hard wheat or double zero flour)
70 g butter (at room temperature)
100 g sugar
2 eggs
20 ml rum
100 ml water at room temperature
30 ml milk
20 g fresh yeast
1 orange
Half spoon orange flower water
A pinch of salt
Sliced almonds
Candied fruit
Sugar

METHOD


1. Add 350 g of the flour to a big bowl and make a hole in the centre, where we’ll add the sugar, yeast (dissolved in water at room temp), rum, milk, orange zest, orange flower water and the butter.

2. Mix slightly, add one egg, a pinch of salt and we knead the dough.

3. When all the ingredients have mixed, we’ll move the dough to a surface covered in flour and we keep kneading until the dough become elastic and doesn’t stick to the surface. If necessary, we can add some more flour but not too much, to avoid it becoming too dry.

4. We make a ball with the dough and we make a hole in the center. Carefully, we start to stretch the dough to shape it like a big doughnut.

5. We place our “doughnut” on a tray and we cover it with a tea towel for one hour, to allow the dough to rise. In the meanwhile, pre heat the oven to 200°.

6. We paint the roscon (our “doughnut”) with a beaten egg and we decorate it on the top with candied fruit, sliced almonds and sugar.

7. We can now bake it at 200° for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top becomes golden. Leave to cool down a little bit before eating.

8. There are lots of version of Roscon, some of them, like you can see in the picture, are filled up with whipped cream, custard, chocolate… With practice and many Roscons later, you’ll find your favourite!

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CAVA AND CIDERS

For the end of a fantastic night, nothing is better than a toast to another wonderful year (or to a better one).

Spain is divided between cava lovers (cava is Spain’s sparkling white wine) and cider lovers.

We love to toast, so we choose 3 cavas and 3 siders that we love. Chin-Chin!

CAVA

  • Gramona Celler Batlle 2005 – Origin: D.O.C. Cava. Varieties: 75% Xarel·lo, 25% Macabeu Winery: Gramona (Alt Penedés). www.gramona.com/
  • Agustí Torelló Kripta Gran Reserva – Origin: D.O.C. Cava Varieties: 45% de Macabeo, 30% Xarel-lo y 25% de Parellada. Winery: Agusti Torello Mata (Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Penedes). www. agustitorellomata.com
  • Freixenet Reserva Real – Origin: D.O.C Cava Varieties: Macabeo, parellada y xarel·lo (80% en partes iguales); 20% vinos de reserva. Winery: Freixenet (Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Penedes). www.freixenet.es

SIDRA

  • BereziartuaOrigin: Guipúzcoa. Winery: Sidería Bereziartua Sagardoak (Guipúzcoa). www.bereziartuasagardoa.com 6º mejor sidra europea by Falstaff www.falstaff.at
  • Poma Aurea.Origin: D.O.P Sidra de Asturias Winery: Llagar Sidra Trabanco (Asturias) www.pomaaurea.com
  • Novalin. –Origin: D.O.P Sidra de Asturias Winery: Llagar Sidra Orizón (Asturias) www.sidraorizon.com

COMPLIMENTS, YOU ARE NOW AN EXPERT ON SPANISH CHRISTMAS FOOD!

And that’s how you could create an amazing Christmas dinner Spanish style, using Spanish Christmas ingredients that are easy to find in the UK.

Unlike a common menu, you’ll be able your impress your guests with a menu and flavours that are not easy to replicate, if you don’t know the right recipe ?

If you enjoyed our Spanish Christmas recipes, we’d appreciate a share on your favourite social network and, if you love Spanish food like us, why don’t you subscribe to our newsletter? You’ll find great recipes and a few special offers on our products exclusively for email subscribers!

 

Virginia




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