Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook is intended to be the ultimate Yuletide companion: a mix of classic recipes for the big day and beyond, as well as loads of delicious ideas for edible gifts, party food, a whole chapter dedicated to potatoes and new ways to scoff the leftovers.
In typical Oliver fashion, he says it should evoke minimal stress.
“Even though it’s Christmas, it underpins the challenge of cooking at any time of year.
“Really, if the meat is diligently and brilliantly cooked, if the gravy is bad-ass, and the potatoes are extraordinary, that’s Christmas done,” Jamie assures. “Everything else is just kind of… gravy!”
In the final part of our series, Jamie gives us his recipe for a fabulous Winter Bombe – merry Christmas everyone!
WINTER BOMBE: CHOCOLATE, CHERRIES, VIN SANTO, PANETTONE & PISTACHIOS
SERVES 12
2 x 500g tubs of quality vanilla ice cream
1kg panettone
125ml Vin Santo
3 heaped tablespoons quality raspberry jam
100g tinned cherries, in juice
75g glace clementines (or other glace fruit)
1 clementine
50g shelled pistachios
300g quality dark chocolate (70%)
25g unsalted butter
Get the ice cream out of the freezer so it can soften a little while you get things ready.
Line a 2-litre pudding bowl with three layers of clingfilm. Use a serrated knife to slice four 2cm-thick rounds off your panettone, then cut them in half. You’ll have some panettone left over, so keep this for another day. Arrange six of your panettone slices in a single layer around the inside of the bowl, pushing them down if they overlap. Drizzle some of the Vin Santo on to the panettone so it soaks in, then use the back of a spoon to spread the jam all over it.
Drain the cherries, and thinly slice the glace clementines. Finely grate the fresh clementine zest and put aside, then peel and finely slice the clementine into rounds. Spoon one tub of ice cream into the bowl, spreading it around in a thick layer. Sprinkle in the pistachios, cherries and glace fruit, then layer on the clementine slices.
Add the other tub of ice cream. Spread it out, working quickly so the ice cream doesn’t completely melt. Put the remaining two panettone slices on top of the ice cream, drizzle over the rest of the Vin Santo, then cover the bowl tightly with clingfilm. Press a plate down on top to push and compact everything down, pop a weight on, then freeze overnight, or until needed.
Around 20 minutes before you want to serve it, unwrap your amazing winter bombe, carefully turn it out on to a beautiful serving dish, then leave to thaw slightly (I tend to transfer my bombe from the freezer to the fridge just before serving up the main to give it a head start).
Snap up the chocolate, place in a heatproof bowl with the butter over a pan of gently simmering water on a low heat, and leave to melt. Once nicely melted, stir in the reserved clementine zest, then pour the chocolate over the pudding so it oozes down the sides and looks super-tempting and delicious. Serve up any extra sauce in a little jug.
