Lisa Faulkner’s Christmas recipes

Cook and author Lisa Faulkner has brought us a trio of quick and easy meals. Let cooking be your sanctuary from the stresses of Christmas with these wonderfully easy, warming recipes you can enjoy throughout December.

For more festivity, take a glance at our Q&A with Lisa by scrolling to the bottom of this post. Here is where she gives us an insight into what her Christmas will look like this year, her family traditions, and (most importantly) her killer Christmas dish!

Festive Beef Bourguignon ‘Pie’

“My mum used to make this. Cutting the pastry shapes is a lovely way to elevate a humble stew.” – Lisa Faulkner

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Pigs in Blankets Traybake

“Christmas isn’t Christmas without pigs in blankets, we get through so many in our house.” – Lisa Faulkner.

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Flexitarian Baked Orzo

“A dish you start on the stove and then bung in the oven is my favourite sort of cooking.” – Lisa Faulkner

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Christmas Q&A with Lisa Faulkner

So, how are you going to be spending Christmas this year?

I don’t know what we’re going to be doing because of the rules. We have our children every other Christmas in our blended family. We had them last Christmas but we always have our Christmas with our children. We’ll just make it two days later. It’s just John and me on Christmas Day. If we can go to a hotel we might do that – we’ve been home so much like everybody else, it would be lovely to be able to go somewhere different.

What are you most looking forward to?

I just love having our family around us. We love all the rituals of Christmas. And whether it’s small or big, those rituals will be exactly the same. I’ll still make a Christmas cake, I’ll still make the pudding, the mince pies, you know. Santa will still come… we’ll have smoked salmon for breakfast. We’ll have turkey for lunch. It might be on a smaller scale than other years, but I love the cooking and being around the family is perfect.

Do you have any family traditions?

When we make the pudding, you have to mix it with a wooden spoon and everyone makes a wish. This has happened for years, from my grandma, my mum and me now. If the kids, my nieces or dad aren’t around I’ll phone them and say, “right, I’m stirring now” and they have to make a wish over the phone.

Who does the cooking at Christmas?

We both do and we absolutely love it – the planning the cooking, having a little glass of fizz. It’s our joy. It really is.

What’s your killer Christmas dish?

The roast potatoes. Even if John is doing a roast, the kids ask, can Lisa do the roast potatoes. Okay then, can you tell us your secret? I cook them for about 10 minutes, then leave them in the pan to steam a little and then shake them so they are falling apart a bit. And I put a chicken stock cube in with the fat, which just gives them a really nice extra bit of flavour.

So what’s on your foodie wish list for Christmas?

Truffle brie, or truffle camembert.

For more Lisa Faulkner recipes check out her Apple Crumble and Custard Cake