No-cook Christmas recipes

Running late for a holiday party?

Try out these no-cook recipes when you need a last-minute dish!

Buy the ingredients and assemble them at the party.

Rare roast beef with pistachio & cranberry salsa recipe

Tip: Pre-sliced rare roast beef is available from delis and supermarket. You can also buy fillets of cooked rare roast beef and thinly slice it yourself.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup hulled tahini

• ¼ cup lemon juice

• 2 tbsp maple syrup

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve

• 2-3 tbsp water

• 50g mixed salad leaves

• 750g thinly sliced rare roast beef (see Tip)

• baguette, to serve

Pistachio & cranberry salsa:

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar

• 3 tsp Dijon mustard

• 2 tsp brown sugar

• ½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

• 1 tbsp thyme leaves

• 12 pitted Sicilian olives, coarsely chopped

• 1 tbsp drained capers

• 1/3 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

• ¼ cup pistachio kernels, coarsely chopped

To make:

1. Combine tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup and oil in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Add enough water to thin the consistency (should be like dollop cream). Season. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

2. For the Pistachio & cranberry salsa: Whisk oil, vinegar, mustard and sugar together until well combined. Stir in parsley, thyme, olives, capers and cranberries. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. Spoon tahini sauce over the base of a serving platter. Top with salad leaves and roast beef. Stir pistachios into salsa, then spoon half over the beef. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Serve with sliced baguette.

Christmas seafood sliders

Tip: Make your rolls even more festive by cutting small stars from leftover bread, drizzling with oil and baking until golden. Arrange on top of rolls before serving.

Ingredients:

Smoked salmon sliders:

• 3 tsp caster sugar

• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar

• ½ tsp chilli flakes

• 1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced

• 1/3 cup creme fraiche

• 1 tbsp horseradish cream

• 5 slider rolls, halved

• 20g baby spinach leaves

• 150g smoked salmon

• 1 small Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds

Prawn cocktail sliders:

• 1/3 cup whole egg mayonnaise

• 1 tbsp chipotle sauce

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tbsp chopped chives

• 1 avocado, mashed

• 5 slider rolls, halved

• 1 small cos lettuce, leaves separated, wash, dried, torn

• 10 cooked medium king prawns, peeled, deveined, halved lengthways

To make:

1. For the smoked salmon filling: Combine sugar, vinegar and chilli in a bowl. Stir to dissolve sugar. Season. Stir in red onion. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

2. Combine creme fraiche and horseradish cream in a bowl. Season.

3. Drain pickled onion. Spoon a little horseradish cream onto slider roll bases, then top with spinach, smoked salmon and cucumber. Drizzle with more horseradish cream and reposition lids.

4. For the prawn cocktail sliders: Combine mayonnaise, chipotle and Worcestershire sauce. Season. Stir chives into mashed avocado. Top roll bases with chipotle mayo, lettuce, avocado and prawns. Drizzle with more chipotle mayo. Top with lids.

No-cook trifle tart

Ingredients:

• 250g granita biscuits

• ½ cup honey roasted macadamia nuts

• 125g butter, melted

• 2 tbsp cold water

• 2½ tsp powdered gelatine

• 1 cup double-thick vanilla custard

• 300ml double-thick cream

• 3 mini jam sponge rolls

• 85g pkt raspberry jelly crystals

• fresh raspberries, strawberries, edible gold stars, small mint leaves, to decorate

To make:

1. Process biscuits and macadamia nuts until finely chopped. Add butter. Process until combined. Press mixture over the base and sides of 22.5cm (base), 24cm (top), 4cm deep, loose base flan tin. Place on a tray. Refrigerate 30 mins to set.

2. Pour water into a small microwave-safe bowl. Sprinkle over gelatine. Stir with a fork to distribute. Microwave, uncovered, on High 20 secs. Use a fork to stir until gelatine dissolves. Set aside to cool 5 mins.

3. Pour custard into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, 30 secs – it should feel lukewarm. Whisk in gelatine. Refrigerate 10 mins until it feels cool (no longer or it will start to set) Add 
cream. Whisk until combined.

4. Cut each jam roll into 7 rounds. Spread 1 cup custard cream over biscuit base. Press jam roll rounds into custard cream. Spoon remaining custard cream over jam rolls. Smooth surface. Refrigerate 3 hours until chilled.

5. Meanwhile, combine 200ml boiling water and jelly crystals in a jug. Stir until crystals dissolve. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Pour jelly over custard top. Allow to stand 10 mins. Transfer to fridge to set 4 hours or overnight.

6. Remove tart from tin. Place on a serving platter. Decorate with berries, stars and small mint leaves to serve.