4 Stress-free Christmas lunch recipes

The festive season is upon us, and what better way to embrace the holiday spirit than by hosting the perfect Christmas lunch that will leave your guests filled with joy and warm memories?

It’s that time of the year when family and friends come together to celebrate, indulge in delectable food and create lasting traditions. In this guide, we’ll walk you through stress-free Christmas lunch ideas with delightful recipes crafted by Natasha Maseko, Nozi Manaka, and..

Chermoula Lollipop Lamb Chops

Recipe and photography by: Natasha Maseko

Lollipop lamb chops are marinated in an aromatic Moroccan chermoula sauce. Served with sautéed broccolini and a fresh green salad.

PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 20 minutes
SERVES: 4

Ingredients

For the Chermoula

• A handful of coriander stems removed
• A handful of flat-leaf parsley stems removed
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ cup olive oil
• The juice of half a lemon
• ½ cup water

For the lamb chops

• 8 lamb chops
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the broccolini

• 250 g broccolini
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp garlic and herb seasoning

Method

1. Place all the chermoula ingredients in a blender/food processor and blend until smooth. Season the lamb chops with salt and pepper, then pour over the chermoula marinade (reserve some of the marinade to serve as a dipping sauce along with your meal). Massage the marinade into the chops, then cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.
2. Rinse the broccolini, then drizzle with olive oil and season with garlic and herb seasoning. In a pan over medium-high heat, sauté the broccolini for 4 minutes then remove and set aside.
3. In the same pan, sear the lamb chops for 4 minutes per side for a perfect medium (cook longer if you prefer your meat well done).
4. Serve immediately with the extra chermoula sauce along with a starch or side salad of your choice.

Crispy Roast Pork Belly with Avocado

Recipe and photography by:

 

PREP TIME: 30 minutes + refrigeration
COOK TIME: 2 hours
SERVES: 8

Ingredients for the pork belly 

• 2 kg (3–4 cm thickness) boneless pork belly with the skin on
• 2 heads garlic, broken into cloves and peeled
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) avocado or olive oil
• 60 ml (¼ cup) sea salt flakes
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) cumin seeds
• 2 handfuls sage

Ingredients for the Avo mustard sauce

• ½ 385 g tin condensed milk
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) white wine vinegar
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) whole-grain mustard
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) milk
• ½ avocado, mashed
• Salt and pepper

Ingredients for the spiced Avo slices

• 15 ml (1 tbsp) smoked or plain paprika
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) Cajun spice
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) dried chilli flakes
• 2 avocados, halved, stoned and peeled

Method

1. For the pork belly, score the pork skin 1 cm apart with a sharp knife or blade. Leave the pork uncovered in the fridge for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight to dry out.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Scatter the garlic over the base of a baking dish. Rub the oil all over the pork, followed by half of the sea salt flakes.
3. Place the pork skin-side down on top of the garlic and sprinkle with cumin. Roast the pork for 1 hour.
4. Increase oven to 230°C. Turn the pork over and sprinkle with the remaining salt.
5. Tuck the sage in underneath the pork and roast for about 1 hour or until the skin is golden and crunchy (cover pieces that brown too much with foil).
6. For the sauce, blitz together all the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
7. For the spiced avo slices, combine the paprika, Cajun spice and chilli flakes. Press the avo halves, and cut side down into the spice mix. Thickly slice. Serve with the pork and sauce.

‘Roast until the skin is golden and crunchy’

One-pot shrimp and Rice

Recipe and photography by:

Juicy shrimp and rice in a spicy tomato sauce with bell peppers and peas.

PREP TIME: 10 min
COOK TIME: 20 min
SERVES: 4

Ingredients

• 400 grams large de-shelled shrimp (thaw and pat dry)
• 2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 tbsp vegetable/chicken/seafood seasoning
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup raw basmati rice, rinsed
• 375 ml ready-to-eat tomato pasta sauce
• 2 cups chicken stock, warm
• 1 tsp crushed black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic and herb seasoning
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ½ lemon

Method

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Season the shrimp with Cajun seasoning. Then fry for two minutes on each side, remove and set aside. In the same pan fry onion and garlic until soft. Then add peppers, seasoning, paprika and tomato paste. Cook for 3 minutes while stirring.
2. Mix in the rice, tomato sauce and chicken stock. Season with black pepper, garlic and herb seasoning then cover and cook over low heat for 12–15 minutes, until basmati rice is cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
3. Return the shrimp to the pot, add in the peas and gently combine. Then cover the pot and cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon and finish off with fresh parsley. Serve hot.

Mrs. Balls Chutney Pork Fillet (Bacon-Wrapped)

Recipe and photography by: Nozi Manaka also known as cooking_with_nozi

Ingredients

• 500 g pork fillet
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 200 g streaky bacon Fillet spices
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme minced
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary minced
• ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• ½ teaspoon pepper adjust to taste

Sauce

• Light soy sauce
• Mrs. Balls Chutney (original flavour)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Remove extra fat if any is present on the pork fillet. At several places on the pork, pierce it with a fork.
2. Rub marinade evenly on all sides, all over the pork.
3. Heat oil in the ovenproof pan on high heat. Add the pork and sear till it gets golden brown, turning on all sides after every 2–3 minutes.
4. Place ovenproof pan in the oven and roast for 18–20 minutes.
5. Take a small saucepan add the soy sauce and chutney and whisk them well. Now on low heat, bring to a boil.
6. Remove the pork from the oven, and baste it with the chutney sauce.
7. Keep the oven on broil and put the pork in. Broil the pork for 3 minutes, so that the sauce gets caramelised properly.
8. When the fillet is done, let it rest for 4–5 minutes covered. Then thickly slice and cut the pork and serve with thyme.

Top Tips:

• To keep your bacon on the fillet, create a weave with the bacon streaks instead of rolling them
  on one by one.
• If you don’t have an ovenproof skillet, you can transfer your fillet before roasting to a baking dish in the oven and continue.

 

Originally published for print in BONA Magazine 

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