Christmas Dinner Vegetables from Aldi

Anyone that has cooked a Christmas dinner will know how stressful it can be if you have not got everything planned out in advance. But I thought that I would share with you a few ways to make it easier and how you can prepare a lot of the food before the big day. This will not only make it less stressful but it will give you back some valuable time that can be spent with your loved ones instead of slaving over a hot stove!

This week Aldi are certainly making it more affordable this Christmas. Their fantastic 'Super 6' fruit and vegetable offer is for 6 must have vegetables for your Christmas dinner. This week the 'Super 6' are priced at just 19p for the following:

• Broccoli
• Maris Piper Potatoes
• Parsnips
• Brussels Sprouts
• Carrots
• Little Gen Lettuce

So, depending on how many people you will be serving you could potentially buy your Christmas day vegetables for just over £1!

In this post I am going to tell you how to make the perfect roast potatoes in advance, carrots, parsnips and a way to serve up the sprouts that will make you want more!

To save time on Christmas day prepare your vegetables in advance. Root vegetables can be pre prepared and frozen making a lot less work on Christmas day or Christmas eve. Simply parboil the roots for 3 minutes, drain, leave to cool then bag and place in the freezer. What makes this an even easier way to prepare your vegetables is that the roots can be cooked from frozen. But did you know that you can even freeze your roasties too? Let me tell you how I have already got my root vegetables and roasties ready for Christmas dinner!

Perfect Roasties

Ingredients - Serves 8

1.5kg King Edward potatoes

3 - 4 tbsp goose fat

75g plain flour

1 tsp salt

Black pepper

Method

Pre heat the oven to 220C

1 - Peel the potatoes, halve and quarter

2 - Place in a pan of water and bring to the boil

3 - Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes

4 - Drain the potatoes and fluff up slightly with a fork

5 - Place the flour in a mixing bowl and mix in the salt and pepper according to taste

6 - Toss the potatoes in the flour mixture and place on one side

7 - Using a roasting tin heat the goose fat for 5 minutes

8 - Remove the roasting tin from the oven and add the flour coated potatoes and cover with the goose fat

9 - Place the potatoes in the oven and roast for 25 minutes

10 - After 25 minutes remove from the oven, turn the potatoes and return to the oven for a further 25 minutes

11 - Check the potatoes and if you prefer them to be crunchier and are serving them immediately return to the oven for a further 10 minutes. If you are going to freeze the potatoes remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

12 - To freeze place on a baking tray and freeze flat, once thoroughly frozen place in a freezer bag

13 - To cook from frozen simply cook from frozen in a pre heated oven in goose fat for 20 to 30 minutes or until thoroughly cooked

You can just parboil your potatoes and freeze before roasting but the way that I have prepared them leaves them extra crunchy!

But if you want to make it even easier you can buy roast potatoes in goose fat ready to cook thanks to Aldi!

Orange Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

Ingredients

1kg carrots

500g parsnips

2tbsp goose fat

1 orange

Honey

Method

Pre heat the oven to 220C

1 - Peel and cut the carrots and parsnips into batons, place in a pan of water with the orange sliced and bring to the boil

2 - Simmer for 5 minutes

3 - Heat the goose fat in a roasting tray

4 - Drain the carrots, parsnips and orange slices and pat dry

5 - Add the carrots, parsnips and 2 slices of orange to the roasting tray and roast for 15 minutes

6 - After 15 minutes shake the roots to cover further in the fat and drizzle over some honey

7 - Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes

The orange slices add a hint of citrus to the sweet roots while the honey adds a delicious glaze and helps to crisp up the batons.

Porcini and Garlic Stuffing Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

1 pack of Aldi Specially Selected porcini and garlic stuffing

250mls boiling water

250g Brussels sprouts

Spray oil

Method

Pre heat the oven to 220C

1 - Trim the Brussels sprouts and parboil for 5 minutes, remove from the water and leave on one side

2 - Place the stuffing mix into a bowl and pour over the boiling water

3 - Stir thoroughly and leave for 5 minutes to allow the water to soak into the stuffing mixture

4 - Spray an oven proof dish with a little spray oil and create an outer ring of stuffing balls around the edge reserving a little mixture

5 - Place the sprouts in the middle of the ring and sprinkle over the remaining stuffing mixture

6 - Place in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for 30 minutes

I hope that these three recipes have given you some lovely ideas for Christmas day.

I will be back next week with some ideas on how Aldi can help you to host the perfect new years eve party!

I hope you have a delicious Christmas!

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post