Felicity Cloake’s smoked salmon paté (pictured above)
A decadent starter – and a godsend for cooks who like to get ahead.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s snacks and nibbles
A set of festive snacks: caraway, spelt and parmesan grissini with aleppo chilli, to dip in a three-cheese mix with spiced date syrup and pine nuts, and a posh, sake-cured salmon with sesame sprinkles and pickles.
Prawn salad and baked ricotta: Rachel Roddy’s starters
Two light first courses to offset the big feast to come – a bright prawn, fennel and celery salad, and a ricotta and spinach bake that’s somewhere between a soufflé and a frittata.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s Creole roast turkey
With roast cassava, a garlic and coriander salsa, rainbow chard with ham hock, and a cranberry and chard stem pickle.
Thomasina Miers’ festive guajillo and pineapple adobo roast ham
A cheering alternative ham with a spicy, sweet-sour Mexican glaze of pineapple and chilli.
Ravinder Bhogal’s honey and lemon roast chicken with jewelled pilau rice
Dried fruits are a speciality of the Levant, and bring festive luxuriousness to these dishes of fragrant roast chicken and nutty, chewy jewelled pilau rice.
Meera Sodha’s vegan stuffed pumpkin
A bulging, festive squash filled with a savoury stuffing of spicy, herby veg, mushrooms and nuts.
Meera Sodha’s vegan red cabbage, apple and pomegranate salad
A crisp and fresh winter salad of festive red cabbage, crunchy apple and sweet-sour pomegranate that will go nicely with any roast.
Emily Scott’s lemon verbena vodka baked salmon with clementines, fennel, dill and creme fraiche
A whole fillet of salmon baked with fennel in chilli and sea salt, then drizzled with a honey, lemon verbena and clementine vodka glaze, with candied clementines, and a dill creme fraiche.
Ravneet Gill’s sherry apple ‘mince’ pies
Spiced apple pies that will win over people who (say they) don’t like mince pies.
How to turn Christmas Day leftovers into a stunning pie
Turn the remains of the festive table into a barnstorming pie that’s as satisfying to make as it is to eat.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s vegan celebration sticky rice cake
Introducing a Chinese-inspired vegan centrepiece for your Christmas table.
Thomasina Miers’ chicken braised with celeriac, pancetta and sage
Delicious – and easily adapted to feed however many people you have around the table.
Signe Johansen’s Norwegian roast duck and trimmings
A Scandinavian feast of blow-dried roast duck with a boozy cherry sauce, a winter salad with clementines and candied walnuts, and a luxurious, layered potato hotpot.
Signe Johansen’s vegetarian spread
Wild mushroom, chestnut and stilton filo pie, a “sunset roast” of swede, pumpkin and sweet potato with saffron lemon yoghurt, and pickled beetroot with a sprout, dried cherry and dill slaw.
Rick Toogood’s stuffed hake with porcini gravy
A crowd-pleasing seafood alternative to the turkey roast.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s chicken in chilli butter with Gruffalo stuffing cake, sweet potatoes and slaw
Turn heads with a roast spatchco*ck chicken in chilli butter, with a Gruffalo-inspired stuffing cake, sweet potatoes roasted with pecan and lime, and a zingy sprout slaw.
Gill Meller’s roast ham menu
A banquet of gammon cooked with stout, oranges, molasses and spices, with sides of mustard pears, blue cheese gratin, roast parsnip and date salad, herby sprouts with puy lentils, and a caramelised onion mash.
Sabrina Ghayour’s vegetarian puffs
Everyone will tuck into these festive beetroot pastries – plus a recipe for honeyed harissa brussel that may even win over the anti-sprout brigade.
Meera Sodha’s evening snack: a vegan potato burger with coriander and peanut chutney
Known as vada pav, this snack gets on well with a bit of green chutney for the perfect festive evening snack.
Nik Sharma’s chicken pulao, with an orange and piquillo pepper salad
The perfect combination: spicy chicken jewelled with cranberries and cashews, and a sharp fruity side.
Felicity Cloake’s perfect Christmas dinner
A big, bronzed turkey or a sage and stilton nut roast this year? Or both? And not forgetting all the classic festive sides. Our resident perfectionist shows you how.
Rachel Roddy’s roast pumpkin, mushroom and chestnut pie
This adaptable seasonal favourite features a ricotta pastry with just the right amount of flaky crumble and a thick and richly flavoured filling.
Rachel Roddy’s coffee and ricotta cream
A satisfying dessert that’s a cross between mousse, cheesecake filling and blancmange – enjoy with a glass of something strong.
Thomasina Miers’ poached pear panettone trifle
The pinnacle of trifle decadence: mascarpone, panettone, poached pear and chunks of dark chocolate, with a good kick of sherry.
Meera Sodha’s vegan spiced chocolate kheer with almond chikki
A chocolate and cinnamon rice pudding, known as kheer + caramelised almonds = a Christmas dessert with the x-factor.
Rachel Roddy’s cassata Siciliana cake
A tender, outrageously sweet dessert.
Ravneet Gill’s festive baked alaska
Is there any dessert more flamboyant than this retro barnstormer of ice-cream on a sponge base, all smothered in meringue and blowtorched to crackly perfection?
Felicity Cloake’s perfect Basque cheesecake
If you’re still looking for a high-impact sweet centrepiece for the Christmas table, this simple baked dessert is ideal.
Rachel Roddy’s dark chocolate and orange tart
This festive tribute to the Terry’s Chocolate Orange makes for a showstopping dessert.
Benjamina Ebuehi’s mini clementine ginger tarts
The sweetness of clementine curd mellows the hit of fiery ginger in this tasty winter pudding.
Ravneet Gill’s steamed date pudding with toffee sauce
A winning alternative to traditional Christmas pud. Spoons at the ready …
