Pete Evans' paleo Christmas
I love Christmas — it’s a time to show gratitude, to give thanks for the goodness of life and to connect with friends and family.
No matter which culture you live in or how you celebrate, there is one common denominator that brings people together — a great feast of food.
Nic and I make sure our Christmas treats are wheat, gluten, refined sugar, dairy and grain free.
The thing I love most about enjoying a paleo Christmas is that you are no longer sacrificing your energy, alertness and mental focus.
By living true to hunter-gatherer values and creating a paleo- inspired feast, you’ll find yourself fighting fit after Christmas lunch or dinner.
Be it free-range, pasture- raised Christmas ham, an organic hormone and antibiotic-free turkey or even a tasty piece of game meat, such as duck or venison, a slab of good-quality protein usually anchors any Christmas feast and is also one of the dietary mainstays of paleo.
I love Christmas ham because it stays succulent and you can eat it for breakfast with green eggs (a recipe courtesy of Dr Seuss), enjoy it as part of a crispy, crunchy summer salad or even eat it plain with a little Christmas kraut on the side.
Prawns and other seafood are also a great option and my favourite for Christmas. Full of beneficial, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA — which help create optimal heart and brain health — prawns are also full of vitamin B12, B6 and niacin.
What about other Christmas- like treats that fit the paleo bill?
I usually create a big batch of Christmas kraut to serve alongside my ham. This dish of fermented veg is a natural source of probiotics and full of healthy lactic acid to promote good digestion. Created using a mix of cabbage and apple mixed with a zing of allspice, cinnamon and cloves, it packs a real punch and needs to ferment for 10-14 days before it’s ready to serve.
Another stand-out is raw Christmas pudding that can be made in 30 minutes and drizzled with cacao butter, coconut milk and maple syrup. The girls and I also create bliss balls by rolling this mixture in nuts, chia seeds or coconut.
My first paleo Christmas was a challenge to rework these time-honoured Christmas dishes into something that fit my lifestyle but now I relish the beginning of the season.
Pete's mince pies
You will need ten 7.5 cm flan tins and a star-shaped cookie cutter for this recipe.
Makes 10
Sweet pastry
1 cup almond meal
1 cup coconut flour
60g arrowroot
210ml coconut oil or 210g ghee, chilled
6 tablespoons honey or coconut sugar
2 eggs
Mince filling
1 cup raisins
1 cup sultanas
50g dried cranberries
50g currants
50g golden sultanas
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
100g pineapple, chopped
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
zest and juice of 2 oranges
To make the sweet pastry:
Mix the almond meal, coconut flour and arrowroot in a bowl. Cut the coconut oil or ghee into small pieces and use your fingertips to work it into the almond meal mixture to form fine crumbs.
Add the honey and mix until to form a dough. Transfer to a surface dusted with arrowroot and knead until smooth (the dough will be slightly sticky). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until it is firm enough to roll out. (The dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 3 months.)
To make the mince filling:
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat and stir to combine. Gently simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. (Do not boil or the mixture will burn and taste bitter).
Turn off the heat, transfer the mixture to a food processor and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease ten 7.5 cm flan tins.
Place the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll out until 5 mm thick. Transfer the pastry and baking paper to a large tray and chill for 5 minutes to slightly firm. Remove the top layer of baking paper and, using a 9cm round cutter, cut out 10 rounds. Reroll the offcuts and cut out ten 7 cm star shapes.
Line the prepared flan tins with the pastry rounds and trim to ensure you have smooth clean edges. Because this dough does not contain gluten it will feel quite different to regular dough and may crack a little more easily. If cracks do form, gently bind the dough together with your fingers to seal.
Add 2 tablespoons of mince to each pastry case and level with the back of a spoon. Place a pastry star on top of each pie and transfer the pies to a baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool before removing from the tins and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
