The Hairy Bikers Home for Christmas episode 7: The Hairy Bikers create mouthwatering festive dishes and get into the spirit of the season with special guest Sally Lindsay.
Christmas is a wonderful time to celebrate with food and the Bikers have the perfect solution for those couch potato days after Christmas when you don’t leave the house. They create a pici verde with Christmas meatballs, beetroot and goat’s cheese risotto and a turkey tortilla soup, as they find out how Sally spends her Christmas. Alongside the recipes and fun, there are also fantastic ideas for homemade edible Christmas presents.
The Hairy Bikers Home for Christmas episode 7 recipes:
Beetroot and goats’ cheese risotto
Dazzlingly pink, rich and creamy, this easy beetroot risotto is made with ready-cooked beetroot. If you roast it yourself, save the beetroot leaves, wilt them down and stir through the risotto.
Method:
- Place half the beetroot with the stock in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Finely chop the remaining beetroot and leave to drain in a colander.
- Heat the oil and half the butter in a large casserole dish or saucepan. Add the onion and fry gently until very soft. Add the garlic and cook for 2–3 minutes. Stir in the risotto rice and thyme until coated in the oil and butter.
- Turn the heat to high and pour in the wine. Cook for 1–2 minutes, or until reduced. Turn the heat down to medium and add a ladleful of the beetroot stock. Season with salt and pepper. Stir continuously until the liquid has been absorbed. Repeat until all the stock has been added. At this point the rice will have a creamy texture but still be al dente.
- Beat in the remaining butter and the chopped beetroot. Stir through the herbs, if using, and check the seasoning, you might want to add a squeeze of lemon juice. Remove the thyme sprig.
- For the garnish, half-fill a heavy-based saucepan or deep-fat fryer with vegetable oil (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended). When it has reached 170C, add the kale leaves a few at a time. Cook for 1 minute, or until crisp and glossy. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt.
- Divide the risotto between four warmed plates and crumble over the goats’ cheese and a sprinkle of Parmesan at the table. Garnish with the kale.
Turkey tortilla soup
Here’s an unusual way to use up leftover Christmas turkey – a Mexican-influenced soup garnished with baked tortillas and other tasty bits and bobs.
Method:
- First prepare the tomatoes. Heat a heavy-based frying pan until hot, then add the tomatoes, garlic and dried chillies. Dry fry, shaking the pan regularly until the tomatoes are starting to blacken.
- Remove the chilli when it starts to smell aromatic and put it in a bowl. Pour over some freshly boiled water and leave to soften.
- Tip the tomatoes into a food processor or blender. Peel the garlic cloves and add these too, then drain the chilli from its soaking water and add this. Blend until smooth.
- While you are dry roasting the tomatoes, heat the olive oil in a large casserole or saucepan. Add the onions, pepper and celery. Fry on a medium heat until starting to caramelise around the edges – this should take between 10-15 minutes.
- Add the cumin, thyme, bay leaves and oregano. Finely chop the coriander stems and add these too.
- Add the stock and reserved tomato mixture to the saucepan, along with the black beans and sweetcorn. Season well with salt and pepper, then bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Add the cooked turkey to the soup and leave to simmer while you prepare the garnishes.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Toss the tortilla pieces in the oil and arrange over a couple of baking trays. Leave in the oven until crisp.
- Toss the avocado in the lime juice and season well with salt.
- Taste the soup and add a little lime juice if you think it needs it. Serve the soup garnished with the avocado, coriander leaves, spring onions, cheese and tortilla pieces.
Pici verde with roast tomatoes and paprika meatballs
Two ingredients – strong Italian ’00’ flour and spinach – go into this homemade pasta. You can cook it from fresh or leave to dry out. Delicious with these paprika beef and pork meatballs, topped with plenty of fresh basil.
Method:
- To make the pasta, shake off any excess water from the spinach and put into a food processor with 300g/10½oz of the flour. Blend together until the spinach has completely broken down and formed a dough. You may need to push everything down the sides once or twice. Check the dough – if it is very sticky (this will depend on how wet your spinach is), add more flour. The best texture is soft and very slightly tacky.
- Roll out the pasta. Do this by pulling off small balls (around the size of a large marble). Start off by rolling between your hands then laying out on a work surface and rolling lightly with both hands, moving from the centre outwards. If it is very sticky, dust your hands with a little flour, but try not to use too much as it makes the pasta much harder to roll – it will slide away from you.
- The pasta can be cooked right away, in a large pan of boiling, salted water, or it can be dried out. If you are cooking from fresh, it will take five minutes; if it is dry, it will take 8-10 minutes.
- For the meatballs, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the onion. Cook on a medium to low heat until very soft and translucent, then add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute or two. Remove from the heat and cool.
Method part 2:
- Put the beef and pork in a large bowl with the breadcrumbs, soured cream (or crème fraîche), two types of paprika, herbs and egg. Add the onion and garlic and season very generously. Mix thoroughly.
- Take a small amount of the mixture and fry it. When it is cooked, taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly – meatball mixture often needs more salt than you think. Form the mixture into 20 balls.
- To cook, either preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and bake for 18-20 minutes, turning them over halfway through, until well browned and piping hot in the centre. Or heat some oil in a large frying pan and cook them in two batches, turning regularly.
- For the roast tomatoes, lay the tomatoes in a roasting tin or ceramic ovenproof dish, cut-side up. Sprinkle with salt, thyme leaves, garlic and the olive oil, then roast for around 10 minutes, or until well softened and very slightly browned round the edges.
- Serve the meatballs and tomatoes with all the pan juices over the pasta, garnished with plenty of basil and grated parmesan.