Have you started thinking about Christmas menus yet?
Let me make it easy for you.
Few do family gatherings as well as the Italians, and no-one loves it more than my friend, retired chef and restaurateur Armando Percuoco.
So I asked him to inspire a Southern Italian Christmas menu to make festive entertaining super simple and wonderfully delicious whether it’s for two or 20. We came up with a gorgeous, mostly do-ahead, menu of antipasto, grilled quail with pear and walnut salad, and this impressive but very easy dessert (I’ll share the antipasto recipes with you next week).
If you’re in Sydney, Southern Highlands or ACT make your Christmas even easier with a Southern Italian Christmas Recipe Kit with all the ingredients delivered to your door.
Serves: 8
175g blueberries
250g strawberries, topped, halved or quartered
1/4 cup liqueur or brandy
1/2 cup single cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar
2 slices panettone
mint leaves, for garnish
Raspberry coulis
125g raspberries
1 tablespoon icing sugar
Method
Combine blueberries, strawberries and one tablespoon of the liqueur and set aside for 15 minutes or so.
Make raspberry coulis: blitz raspberries and sugar in a small food processor to form a purée. Taste and add more sugar if needed.
Whip cream and sugar lightly together to form soft peaks.
Cut each panettone slice into quarters and reassemble on serving platters.
Drizzle remaining liqueur over them.
Pile berries on top (adding any juices in the bowl), dot with some of the cream (“like snow,” Armando says), drizzle with a little raspberry coulis and garnish with mint leaves.
Serve immediately with remaining cream and coulis on the side.
You’ll find a print-friendly version of this recipe and a video of me and Armando making it here. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter to discover more simple delicious recipes and receive a free Italian online cooking class (RRP $39). Find more cooking inspiration on my website BeInspired.au
What’s your favourite Christmas recipe? Why not share it in the comments section below?
Also read: The rudest things you can do at Christmas dinner
