Two favourite recipes from Rick Stein’s first-ever Christmas cookbook

He’s known for his bestselling cookbooks, TV shows, popular restaurants and extensive travels but there’s one thing Rick Stein hasn’t done – until now.

Rick Stein’s Christmas is the British chef’s first-ever Christmas cookbook, bringing together more than 100 festive recipes, from classics he’s collected over the years to fresh dishes inspired by experiences with family and friends.

Ranging from more traditional dishes such as glazed ham and hazelnut pavlovas to new creations such as leftover turkey tinga tacos, the collection is billed as “everything that says comfort and joy in the kitchen”.

Stein also shares his favourite festive memories and traditions in the book, including childhood memories in the Cotswolds and more recent experiences of jet-lagged Australian Christmases.

Here, Stein shares two festive favourites to make at home this year, including a vibrant pastry for two, and Japanese-inspired canapes.

– Megan Johnston

Camembert and spinach filo pastry slices with a beetroot and pomegranate salpicon

There are a number of dishes in this book where the object, apart from great
taste, is a Christmassy look. So here I have combined spinach and slices of
camembert in a filo pastry parcel with what I would call a salpicon: diced
cooked beetroot and shallots with pomegranate seeds and molasses. So there
we have the greens and shiny reds like little jewels, as David Pritchard,
the television director I worked with for years, would have said. This recipe
is a little treat for times when there’s just a couple of you, but of course you
can double it up if you like.

INGREDIENTS

• 250g spinach, washed and drained
• 3 large sheets of filo pastry (45 x 25cm)
• 25g melted butter
• 2 long slices cut from the middle of a camembert round, each about 75g
• sesame seeds (optional)
• salt and black pepper

Beetroot and pomegranate salpicon

• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 250g cooked beetroot, cut into small dice
• 1½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
• seeds from 1 small pomegranate (about 80g)
• small handful of parsley, roughly chopped

METHOD

1. First wilt the spinach in a pan in just the water that clings to the leaves after washing and draining, then squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Roughly chop, then season well and set aside to cool. To make the salpicon, gently fry the shallot in the olive oil until soft. Add the diced beetroot and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the pomegranate molasses and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature, then stir through the pomegranate seeds and parsley.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C fan-forced (220C conventional). Lay a sheet of filo pastry on a board and brush it with melted butter. Add 2 more sheets on top, brushing each with butter. Cut the rectangle into 2 squares. Place half the spinach on one of the squares, making it about the size of a slice of the cheese. Add a slice of cheese, then wrap to completely encase the cheese in pastry. Make sure there are no holes, or the cheese will leak out. Tuck any ends underneath and brush with butter, then sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Place on a baking tray and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crisp and golden brown and serve with the beetroot and pomegranate salpicon.

Serves 2

Filo tartlets with raw salmon, wasabi cream and capers

I do think that cold canapes need plenty of what I can only describe as
oomph, and the oomph in this case comes from wasabi and white miso.
My son Jack has introduced me to the glory of Japanese fermented soybeans
in all their different guises and white miso is perfect for these tartlets as
it is pale. I recommend looking out for large filo sheets.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large sheets of filo pastry (about 45 x 25cm)
• 30g butter, melted
• 150ml double cream
• 1½ tsp white miso paste
• 1-2 tbsp wasabi
• 80-90g raw salmon fillet, skinned and pin-boned
• 24 capers
• sea salt

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). You’ll need a 24-hole mini muffin tin.
2. Lay a sheet of filo on a board, brush it with butter, then cut the pastry into 5cm squares. Place a square into each of the 24 holes in the tin, pushing it down well. Repeat with the second sheet of filo, this time placing the squares in the tin at right angles to the first squares to create attractive star shapes.
3. Bake for 5-6 minutes until crisp and golden brown, then leave to cool. You can store the baked cases for up to 24 hours in an airtight tin. For the wasabi cream, whip the cream very lightly until it is only just beginning to hold its shape – it will thicken when you stir in the seasoning. Fold in the miso paste, add a tablespoon of wasabi and taste, then add more wasabi according to your heat preference. Set aside.
4. About 30 minutes (or less) before serving, cut the salmon into small pieces. Spoon or pipe a teaspoon of the cream into each filo cup, then top with a piece of salmon, a caper and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Makes 24

This is an edited extract from Rick Stein’s Christmas by Rick Stein, published by Penguin Random House, RRP $60. Photography by James Murphy.