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Parmesan fritters with roquefort spinach

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Every course is covered here, with more options besides. Serve the parmesan fritters or the salad to start; serve the salad on its own as a light lunch or as part of a buffet on Boxing Day; choose to go light for pudding with a zesty granita or more substantial with a chocolate torte… TV presenter and chef Matt’s wonderful menu ideas will help clear the decks of festive leftovers, too

The starter or lunch to share

American-style cobb salad

Serves 4 Hands-on time 40 min

For the dressing

• 60g roquefort cheese, crumbled

• 3½ tbsp buttermilk, plus extra if needed (use greek yogurt if you can’t get buttermilk)

• 1 tbsp mayonnaise

• Pinch ground cumin

For the salad

• ½ cos or romaine lettuce, chopped

• 1 red chicory (endive), chopped

• 2 hard-boiled free-range eggs, roughly chopped

• 1 cooked free-range chicken breast, thinly sliced (or use leftover turkey, if you like)

• 1 ripe avocado, chopped

• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped

• 4 spring onions, chopped

• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mixed herbs, such as tarragon, chives and parsley

• 4 smoked streaky bacon rashers, cooked until crisp, then roughly chopped

1 To make the dressing, whizz all the ingredients in a processor or blender (if doing by hand, mash the cheese in a bowl, then add the remaining ingredients and whisk to blend). You may need to add extra buttermilk or water if the dressing is too thick – it should have the consistency of pouring cream.

2 Arrange the lettuce and chicory around a large serving dish or platter, then the remaining ingredients in concentric circles, finishing with a sprinkling of herbs and chopped bacon.

3 Drizzle over the dressing to serve. Mix well at the table just before you dive in.

Per serving 357kcals, 25.2g fat (8.1g saturated), 24.4g protein, 6.3g carbs (5.1g sugars), 1.5g salt, 3.7g fibre

“Ever popular, the cobb salad is pretty substantial as salads go. Part of its appeal is in the way it’s displayed in the bowl and mixed together at the table”

American-style cobb salad

Chicken, ham hock and jerusalem artichoke pithivier

Starter or nibble to serve with drinks

Parmesan fritters with roquefort spinach

Serves 4-6 Hands-on time 30 min

MAKE IT VEGGIE

Parmesan and roquefort aren’t usually vegetarian. You can sub in a hard vegetarian grating cheese and stilton if you need the fritters to be vegetarian or use up whatever cheese you have left over.