10 traditional Christmas recipes step by step

Red cabbage with apple, raisins and pine nuts

One of the super typical Christmas recipes for these dates in many houses is red cabbage with apple, raisins and pine nuts. It serves both as a starter and as a companion to meat and fish, and besides being a delicious dish, it is super easy to make and very economical.

Ingredients for 4 people

1 red cabbage - 3 apples - 2 onions - 1 lemon - 1 glass of muscat - 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar - 50 g of pine nuts - 50 g of raisins - balsamic vinegar reduction - 1 cinnamon stick - oil - salt.

Step by Step

Wash, core and cut the apples into half moons; sprinkle with lemon.
Soak the raisins in the muscat for 20 min.
Wash and julienne the red cabbage; Cook for 15 min in salted water and vinegar.
Peel and julienne the onions; fry them with the cinnamon.
Drain the raisins, pour half the muscat into the pan and cook 2 min.
Add the drained red cabbage, sauté for 10 min and add the reduction.
Brown the pine nuts in another pan with oil, add the apple and sauté.
Add the raisins and the remaining wine and cook 4 min.
Serve the apple and red cabbage in layers and drizzle with the balsamic reduction.

Meat cannelloni

Cannelloni with three meat filling is another of the most typical Christmas recipes of our geography. It is a laborious dish, but nothing difficult if you follow this step by step. In an hour you can have them ready. And since they can be stored and frozen, they allow you to cook in advance and on the day of the celebration, just heat them.

Ingredients for 4 people

For the cannelloni: 12 pasta plates for cannelloni - 200 g of minced pork - 200 g of minced beef - 200 g of minced chicken breast - 2 chicken livers - 1 large onion - 50 ml of stale wine or white - 2 tomatoes - 4 tablespoons of grated cheese, 1 sprig of parsley - 1 tablespoon of butter - 2 tablespoons of olive oil - salt.
For the bechamel: Salt - 3 tablespoons of butter - nutmeg - 3 tablespoons of flour - 750 ml of milk - pepper

Step by Step

Prepare the bechamel. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and toast it for a few moments. Pour the boiling milk and cook 5 or 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, flavor with a pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper.
Wash the tomatoes, dry them and grate them. Peel the onion, chop it and fry it in a saucepan with the oil until golden brown. Add the three types of meat and the livers, washed and minced, and sauté for 4 minutes. Add the tomato and cook 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and let it evaporate. Add 200 ml of water and continue cooking for 45 minutes, over a low heat. Add a third of the bechamel to the preparation and mix.
Cook the pasta plates in plenty of salty water until al dente. Drain and spread out on a kitchen towel. Fill them with the previous preparation and roll them up.
Arrange a layer of béchamel sauce in four casseroles and spread the cannelloni in them. Cover them with the rest of the béchamel sauce, and spread the cheese and chopped butter on top. Gratin for 5 minutes in the oven, sprinkle with the washed and chopped parsley, and serve.

Lighter. If you want a version suitable for weight loss or vegetarian, don't miss our light mushroom cannelloni.

Seafood cream

For lovers of spoon dishes for these dates, seafood cream is an excellent option. This is made with prawns, prawns, fish broth and a sauce and it is delicious.

Ingredients for 4 people

1 l of fish smoke - 250 g of red rice prawns - 250 g of prawns - 1 onion - 2 garlic - 1 leek - 2 carrots - 200 ml of tomato sauce - 100 ml of cream - 50 ml of brandy - chives - 4 strands of saffron - oil - salt.

Step by Step

Peel the prawns and remove the head and intestine. Reserve the heads and cook the tails in salted water for 2 minutes.
Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Clean the leek and scrape the carrots; wash both and cut them into slices.
Sauté the vegetables in oil. Add the cleaned and washed prawns and the prawn heads and brown.
Add the saffron and sauté 1 min. Sprinkle with brandy and flame. Add the tomato and sauté 3 minutes, mixing.
Pour in the smoke and bring to a boil. Lather, season and simmer for 30 minutes.
Crush, go through the Chinese, add the cream and heat until it boils.
Serve the hot cream with the shrimp tails and chopped washed chives.

Another option. You can also make it with clams and whiting, an ultra-light and 100% guilt-free fish soup, which also fits in with Christmas recipes.

Christmas thistles

Another dish that is never lacking in lifelong Christmas recipes are Christmas thistles, a very typical starter in some areas that is easily made, is super cheap and is delicious.

Ingredients for 4 people

800 g of thistles - ½ lemon - 4 garlic - flour - ½ l of milk - 12 almonds - flaked almonds - parsley - oil - salt.

Step by Step

Clean the thistles, removing the fibers with a vegetable peeler. Cut them into medium pieces and soak them in cold water with the lemon juice so they don't blacken. Drain and cook for 40 minutes in salted water. Then drain them well.
Peel the garlic, cut into thin slices and brown in a deep frying pan with 4 tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flour and toast, stirring. Add the milk, season and cook, stirring, until obtaining a light béchamel without lumps.
Lightly crush the whole almonds, add them to the béchamel sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Brown the almond slices in a frying pan without oil. Spread the thistle on the plates, pour over the sauce and garnish with the sliced almonds and washed parsley.

Soup of 'galets' with 'pilota'

The star of Christmas recipes in Catalonia is the 'galets' soup with 'pilota', a soup based on meat broth with shells and slices of a minced meat ball that is cooked with the broth. Here we have made a little version of it by making mini balls and with a surprise: a cooked quail egg inside.

Ingredients for 4-6 people

For the broth: ½ hen - 200 g of veal bones - 1 ham bone - 1 chicken carcass - 1 leek - 1 carrot - 100 g of cabbage - 1 parsnip - 1 chives - 1 turnip - salt.
For the garnish: 100 g of 'galets' or shells - 12 quail eggs - 300 g of minced meat (half pork, half beef) - breadcrumbs - 1 egg - salt - a few parsley leaves - the zest of ½ lemon - ½ onion

Step by Step

Arrange the bones, the carcass, the chicken and the vegetables, washed, peeled and chopped, in a large pot. Cover everything with 4 liters of water and season. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 3 hours; defoam when necessary. Strain it and adjust the salt.
Cook the eggs in plenty of water for 3 minutes. Drain them, let them cool and peel them. Place the minced meat, 2 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs, the lemon zest, the peeled and grated onion, the washed parsley and the beaten egg in a bowl. Season and mix.
Take portions of the dough and shape them into a rounded shape with moistened hands. Then, mash them and put the boiled egg in the center. Close them and shape them round again, being careful not to break the egg.
Pour the broth into a large pot, bring to a boil and add the balls. Leave to cook for 10 minutes, then add the shells and continue cooking for the time indicated by the manufacturer so that they remain al dente. Remove, distribute into deep plates and serve immediately, very hot, decorated with a sprig of washed and dried parsley.

Serve one of the open meatballs on each plate, cut in half, so that the egg filling can be seen.

Stuffed turkey

Although it is a recipe that requires time (a little more than three hours counting the baking), the stuffed turkey is synonymous with Christmas and has infinite advantages: it allows you to make food for many people at once, what is left over can be used perfectly (to make cannelloni, croquettes, salads …) and, as most of the time is spent in baking, it is a dish that actually makes itself. The only precaution you should have is to set alarms or timers so that you do not get burned in an oversight.

Ingredients for 10-12 people

1 turkey of 6 kg - 400 g of shredded sausage - 2 oranges - 2 pomegranates - 400 g of shallots - 500 g of assorted dried fruits: dried apricots, raisins, plums … - 500 ml of sweet wine - 2 sticks of cinnamon - a few branches of rosemary - oil - salt - pepper.

Step by Step

Preheat the oven to 220 °. Let the dried fruit soak in warm water for 5 minutes and drain. Peel and chop the oranges. Clean and season the turkey, inside and out. Fill it with the sausage, 1 cinnamon stick, the oranges and half of the dried fruits.
Put it on the plate with the washed rosemary, spread it with oil and tie it with kitchen string. Water it with 1 glass of wine, cover it with greaseproof paper and bake it for 30 minutes. Lower the temperature to 175 ° and roast for 1 more hour. Uncover, water it with your juices and another glass of wine and roast it for another hour. Water it again with its juices and the rest of the wine.
Add the peeled shallots and the rest of the dried fruit and cinnamon and roast for 1 more hour. Water it again with its juices, add the grains of the pomegranates, raise the oven to 200º and brown it for 30 min. Remove it, let it rest for another 30 minutes and serve it with the juices from the roast and the fruit garnish.

Here are more ideas for making stuffed turkey for Christmas or Thanksgiving, the party that in some places they celebrate the fourth Thursday of November and in which this dish is the undisputed star.

Baked bream

Baked sea bream is a classic of the Christmas recipe book (and also not heavy), but the truth is that its price goes through the roof during these dates. To avoid this, you can do it in advance and freeze it. Or opt for similar but much cheaper fish, such as white sea bream or hake.

Ingredients for 4 people

1 sea bream of 1 kg - 3 onions - 2 lemons - 2 cloves of garlic - 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs - 1 glass of white wine - 2 tablespoons of olive oil - salt - pepper - parsley.

Step by Step

Clean the sea bream by removing the viscera and scraping the outside to remove the scales. Wash the lemons, cut them in half and each half into thin slices. Peel the onions and cut them into slices. Peel the garlic cloves and chop them very finely. Wash the parsley, pat dry and chop it.
Make three cuts until you reach the central spine on each side of the bream. Brush the fish with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, minced garlic, parsley, and breadcrumbs. Put a few lemon slices in the cuts.
Arrange the onion slices at the bottom of a baking tray, place the sea bream on top and bake it for 20 minutes at 180º, sprinkling with the white wine halfway through cooking. Serve hot.

More nuances. Use different types of onion, such as purple, white or Figueres, to form the bed of the bream.

Baked leg of lamb

Like roasted turkey or chicken, baked meat pieces are very useful and, although they require a lot of cooking time (about 50 minutes), the truth is that they cook almost by themselves and, when you have guests, they allow you to be at the table and not always looking at the stove as in other apparently easier recipes. As it can go up in price at this time, the trick is to freeze it in advance, or replace it with cheaper pieces, a ham or pork loins, for example.

Ingredients for 4 people

1 medium leg of lamb - 12 scallions or French onions - 2 strings of cherry tomatoes - 3 sprigs of thyme - 1 glass of white wine - 5 tablespoons of olive oil - salt - pepper.

Step by Step

Preheat the oven to 210 °. Make three or four parallel cuts in the top of the leg of lamb and insert a sprig of thyme into each one. Salt and pepper it and place it on the baking sheet.
Wash the tomatoes and remove the stem; peel the shallots. Distribute the two ingredients in the dish, around the leg, and pour it all with olive oil. Put the dish in the oven and roast the meat for 15 minutes.
Pour the white wine and a little water into the dish, lower the oven temperature to 180 ° and continue cooking for 30 minutes, turning the meat a couple of times and sprinkling it from time to time with the juices from the source.
After cooking, place the roast leg in a serving dish, distribute the tomatoes and shallots around it, and water it all with a few tablespoons of the cooking juice. Serve piping hot.

Another garnish. You can also prepare some delicious sauteed potato balls: peel four potatoes, make balls with an emptying spoon and cook them for 5 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain and sauté in a skillet with a knob of butter.

Cod gratin

For fish lovers, one of the most revered Christmas recipes is cod au gratin. If you don't want it to be very expensive, you can do it with fresh cod instead of desalted, or with other similar fish, such as hake. There are infinite versions of the recipe, but at CLARA we love this one.

Ingredients for 4 people

4 pieces of cod loin of about 160 g each - 1 leek - 500 ml of milk - 40 g of butter - 40 g of flour - 25 g of pine nuts - 1 egg yolk - 100 g of bread - parsley - oil olive - salt - black pepper.

Step by Step

Clean the leek, without removing the green part, wash it and cut it in half lengthwise. Then cut it into slices. Sauté it in a frying pan with the butter until it is soft, add the flour at once and mix for a few moments, with a wooden spoon. Pour in the hot milk and, while stirring, let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper, mix and pass through the mixer until you get a cream.
Cut the bread into small cubes and fry them in oil until they are crisp. Peel the pine nuts and fry them also in a thread of oil until golden brown. Place about 100 ml of the prepared leek béchamel in a bowl and mix it with the bread cubes, the pine nuts and the yolk. Stir with a few rods until they are integrated.
Clean the cod fillets, removing the bones and the skin if they have it. Wash and dry them. Season, put them on a baking tray and spread the béchamel mixture, bread and pine nuts over them. Put in the oven preheated to 200º and cook for about 8 minutes until golden brown.
Arrange the remaining hot leek béchamel on flat plates and top with a cod fillet. Serve right away, sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Alternatives. You can sprinkle grated cheese over the leek béchamel before you gratin it. Or prepare the sauce with other vegetables. It looks great with zucchini, carrots, beets, or mushrooms.

If you like fish for Christmas, don't miss these Christmas recipes to make in less than 30 minutes. You will find some quick and easy options!

Pickled quail

Another typical autumn dish that is not missing on many tables at Christmas is pickled quail, since game meat is in its best season and is very tasty if it is cooked well. In addition, due to their low fat content along with a high protein content, they are on the list of fall foods that help you lose weight.

Ingredients for 6 people

8 quails - 150 ml of olive oil - 100 ml of vinegar - 50 ml of white wine - 2 bay leaves - 2 cloves of garlic - a few grains of pepper - salt - pepper.
To accompany: 3 medium potatoes - 4 carrots - 4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Step by Step

Prepare the marinade. Salt the quails well cleaned and arrange them in a pan without piling them up, one next to the other. Mix the oil with the vinegar and wine in a jug, and pour it over the quail.
Add the peppercorns (a tablespoon is enough), the bay leaves and the garlic cloves, unpeeled and with a cut. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
After the resting time has elapsed, uncover the casserole and place it over the fire. Heat over medium heat for 30 minutes so that the liquid reduces. Next, cover the casserole and cook for 20 minutes over low heat. Turn off the heat and let the quails cool completely in the marinade.
To accompany, peel the potatoes and carrots, and cut the first into cubes and the carrots into slices. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan, add the prepared vegetables, salt and pepper and sauté for about 25 minutes, until tender, stirring from time to time.
When serving, add the potato and carrot garnish to the casserole with the quail and heat everything together for a few minutes.