As we are well into winter and a few weeks away from Christmas, many of us are wondering what to prepare this year for our festive table. Let’s have a look at our recipes.
There is of course the question of stuffing. Shall we go with a vegan one? A less ordinary one made with bulgur wheat, or a colourful one with dried nectarines, cherries and almonds?
What is your favourite Christmas main? Here at Oliveology every year we’ve got different traditions and family recipes that come into the discussion.
But no matter what your main course is, plenty of colourful vegetable-based plates are a must! The last few years, we went for green. We loved our festive Brussels sprouts with walnut oil. Or how about a crunchy fresh green salad with galomyzithra cheese, dried figs and grape molasses?
This year we got our inspiration from one very unique ingredient. Truffle honey. Our truffle honey is made from acacia honey, infused with slivers of real black summer truffle. The intense aroma of this truffle honey pairs particularly well with cheese and charcuterie platters. But it is an excellent ingredient to add a unique flavour and a little luxury to this year’s table.
And as we are going for a colourful table, we have chosen a selection of orange winter vegetables. The inspiration came from a restaurant dish I used to prepare years back, where the chef was using only orange vegetables-what a brilliant idea! The result is a memorable dish that will definitely appeal not only to truffle lovers, but also to those who have never tasted truffle before.
Serves 6
1kg pumpkin
500g carrots
500g sweet potato
½ jar truffle honey
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup of water
Dried thyme
Salt, pepper
50g walnuts (to serve)
Peel the pumpkin, carrots and sweet potatoes. Cut the vegetables in large bite-sized pieces and place in a large roasting tray.
In a bowl, whisk together the truffle honey, olive oil, water, thyme, salt and pepper.
Drizzle on top of your vegetables and toss everything together.
Bake at 180C for about 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are tended inside and slightly crunchy on the outside.
Sprinkle some walnuts and serve warm in a colourful platter.
