The Christmas and New Year holidays have been, for years, an opportunity to waste, and have often required an enormous effort from nature, which it can no longer sustain. It shouldn't be this way.
Seasonal products offer the possibility of preparing a complete and original menu, with greater sobriety and respect for nature. Here are some ideas for the Christmas and New Year menu.
Appetizer with seasonal products
Mixed pancakes; fennel or mixed vegetables in pinzimonio; meatballs made with seasonal vegetables, such as cauliflower, broccoli or turnips; beet or spinach flan, these are just a few ideas.
First course with seasonal products
Lasagne with seasonal vegetables; chickpea soup with fried bread croutons; beans and chicory; orecchiette with broccoli; risotto with sparkling wine; risotto with red radicchio; tortelloni stuffed with ricotta and spinach ...
If there seem trivial dishes, that is, usually prepared, an idea to change can be to experiment with a typical recipe of a Region different from yours . If you live in the North, for example, you could try preparing orecchiette with turnip tops; if you are in the South, a nice risotto with radicchio.
Second course with seasonal products
Between Christmas and New Year you leave the meat alone, even if you are not a vegetarian, try to give vent to the imagination to bring to the table a different second course, using the products that nature offers us at this time of the year.
If you can't give up fish, choose the local, seasonal and not over-exploited fish products, the poorest; to find them, contact the local markets.
Alternatively, even with winter vegetables you can prepare tasty main courses: leeks omelette, stuffed onions with seasonal vegetables, savory pies with seasonal vegetables, cauliflower in batter and… do we want to forget the bell-reinforced salad? It can be a side dish, but it is so rich that it can easily become a second course, especially if it follows a very caloric first course.
Side dish with seasonal products
Spinach salad dressed with lemon and extra virgin olive oil; orange salad, seasoned with a pinch of salt and extra virgin olive oil; but also a mixed salad of spinach and oranges; mashed cauliflower, carrot or dried broad beans; fennel and cauliflower au gratin ...
Sweet with seasonal products
Peel of candied oranges, dried figs with almonds, or any of the many desserts that tradition suggests.
4 Christmas sweets for children
Two recipes for the Holidays with seasonal products
- Pizzaiola fritters . Prepare the pizza dough. Once it has risen, add capers, sliced leeks, whole or chopped olives; knead again; make lots of balls or donuts and fry in plenty of olive oil. These pancakes are good as an appetizer, but they can also replace the first course. I'm certainly not light, so don't combine them with other calorie or fried dishes.
- Lasagna with cauliflower . Prepare the béchamel. After washing the cauliflower, boil it in salted water for about 15 minutes. If you use fresh lasagna, it is not necessary to boil it; to cook it well in the oven, just use a béchamel a little more liquid than normal and very hot. Pour a ladle of béchamel on the bottom of the pan, put the first layer of lasagna and proceed by adding cauliflower, Parmesan, béchamel, lasagna, cauliflower, Parmesan, béchamel sauce and so on for all the layers you want, finishing with lasagna, Parmesan and béchamel. Bake for 15/20 minutes at 180 degrees.
