We offer a Christmas menu that goes from appetizer to dessert. These are all healthy Christmas recipes, inspired by the typical dishes and ingredients of the Mediterranean diet.
The quantities indicated are all for 4 people .
The Christmas appetizer
The Christmas appetizer should be light, given the lunch that will follow. We thought of it as a whim, a moment to wish each other well and perhaps toast with a good glass of wine.
Scallops with salad
Ingredients
> 4 scallops
> 1 carrot
> White celery
> 1 courgette
> Extra virgin olive oil
> Half a glass of dry white wine
> Pepper
> A pinch of salt
Preparation : open the scallops with the special knife; remove the membranes and sharply wash the walnut and coral. Brush and wash the shells and set them aside. Put a little oil in a small pan, half a glass of white wine, walnut and scallop coral cut into a few pieces. Cook for a minute.
Separately, cut the vegetables into julienne strips and season them with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Transfer to the shells, previously washed, first the shellfish and then the salad and serve.
The first
Risotto with sea asparagus and clams
Ingredients
> 300 grams of rice
> 1 liter of fish broth
> 250 grams of sea asparagus or salicornia ; those who do not find salicornia can replace it with the same amount of new herbs, tender chicory or beets.
> 1 kg of clams
> 2 cloves of garlic
> A glass of dry white wine
> Extra virgin olive oil
> Salt and pepper
Preparation : scrape the clams under running water and then hold them for about an hour in a bowl with cold water and coarse salt. Wash the salicornia (or other herbs) and sauté in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and a clove of garlic; let it flavor for a couple of minutes, remove the garlic, add a pinch of salt and then the fish stock.
Add the rice, sprinkle with half of the wine and let it evaporate, then continue cooking adding the hot fish stock a little at a time. Meanwhile, rinse the clams and put them in a large pan with a clove of garlic and the rest of the wine and open them over high heat.
Set aside one third of the clams with the shells, choosing the largest and most beautiful ones, shell the others and add them to the risotto being cooked. When the risotto is cooked al dente, season with salt and pepper, remove from the heat, serve and garnish the dishes with the shelled clams.
Discover also how to make a zero impact (or almost) Christmas menu
Second and side dish on the Christmas menu
As a second course and side dish we propose two healthy recipes for Christmas : roast sea bream and orange salad .
Roasted sea bream
Ingredients :
> 2 bream from about 600/700 grams each
> Garlic
> Extra virgin olive oil
> Juice and peel of a lemon
> Parsley
> Salt and pepper
Preparation : after having carefully cleaned and washed the two bream, prepare a chopped parsley and grate the peel of a lemon. Season the inside of the fish with a part of the mince, the lemon peel, salt and pepper and then place them in a pan; season with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of a lemon, a pinch of salt and the rest of the mixture. On the two bream, make two parallel cuts in the pulp of the upper side, so that they can cook well even inside. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 ° for about 20 minutes.
Orange salad
This recipe is really very simple and appetizing. Just peel 4 oranges, cut them into discs, lay them on a plate and season with extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt . It is a light and fresh side dish which leads towards the end of the meal.
The dessert: the macaroons
The dessert is by definition very caloric, but at the end of a Christmas lunch it is a must, it cannot be missing.
Among all the typical Italian recipes, we chose macaroons, calories, yes, but the recipe is simple and, given the nutritional characteristics of the ingredients used, fits well in a healthy menu like the one proposed.
Ingredients
> 500 grams of unpeeled finely chopped almonds
> Whole almonds shelled but not peeled
> 300 grams of sugar for the dough + sugar for garnish
> The juice of a lemon
> Cinnamon
> An egg
Preparation : after finely chopping the almonds, place them on a pastry board and add the sugar and cinnamon first, then the lemon juice and the egg. Knead until you get a ball of dough. Make like small meatballs, pass in sugar, make a small hole in the center of each ball in which a whole almond will be inserted. Bake at 160 degrees for 5/7 minutes.
