Main Dishes
Christmas dinner traybake
Love Christmas dinner, but only have a basic kitchen set-up? This Christmas dinner traybake is the recipe for you. Perfect for Friendmas and easy on the washing up, too!
Ingredients
For the turkey marinade
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp finely chopped thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 orange, zest and 1 tbsp juice only
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the meat
- 8 x turkey breast fillet pieces, each weighing about 100g/3½oz
- 8 chipolata sausages
- 16 rashers smoked streaky bacon
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the roast vegetables and stuffing
- 500g/1lb 2oz roasting potatoes, peeled, cut into evenly sized chunks (about 5cm/1¾in across) and rinsed
- 300g/10½oz carrots, peeled and cut into batons
- 300g/10½oz parsnips, peeled and cut into batons
- 1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
- 6 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
- 12 ready-made stuffing balls
For the sprouts
- 200g/7oz small Brussels sprouts, halved
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a little salt
- 180g/6oz vacuum-packed chestnuts, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
To serve
- cranberry sauce
- turkey gravy
Method
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Preheat the oven to 200C/190C Fan/Gas 6.
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In a bowl, stir all the turkey marinade ingredients together with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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For the meat, add the turkey pieces to the marinade and combine. Cover and leave for 20 minutes in the fridge to marinate.
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To assemble, put a piece of turkey and a chipolata together, wrapping two rashers of bacon around them to hold. Repeat with the remaining turkey pieces. They will look like large pigs-in-blankets.
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For the roast vegetables, place the potatoes, carrots and parsnips in a large pan of cold water with a little salt. Bring to a simmer and then cook for 8–10 minutes – or until the edges of the potatoes are a little soft. Drain well in a colander, shake and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
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Tip the vegetables into a large mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper, add the rosemary and 4 tablespoons of the olive oil (or goose or duck fat). Mix well.
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Spread the vegetables over the roasting tray and roast for 30 minutes. Keep the mixing bowl for the next stage.
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For the sprouts, using the same mixing bowl, season the Brussels sprouts and toss with the garlic, chestnuts, and olive oil.
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When the root vegetables have been roasting for 30 minutes, scatter over the Brussels sprouts and chestnuts. Gently move all the vegetables around then cook for a further 10 minutes.
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Place the wrapped turkey and stuffing balls on top of the vegetables. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over everything and return to the oven for 25 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through. Leave to rest for a few minutes before serving with a jug of hot gravy and a bowl of cranberry sauce.
Christmas dinner traybake