TRAY BAKE CHRISTMAS DINNER

All your Christmas dinner in a couple of roasting tins. You can add sprouts to the veg – just halve them, toss in oil and add halfway through the cooking time.

Serves 4

● 4 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on

● Sea salt and black pepper

● Olive oil

● 1 large onion, sliced into wedges

For the stuffing balls

● 15g (½oz) butter

● 1 onion, finely chopped

● 35g (1¼oz) dried cranberries

● 50ml (2fl oz) just-boiled water

● 50g (1¾oz) chestnuts, crumbled

● 75g (2¾oz) breadcrumbs

● 1tsp dried thyme

● 1 egg

For the pigs in blankets

● 4 slices of streaky bacon

● 8 chipolatas

For the vegetables

● 3 floury potatoes, cut into chunks

● 2 parsnips, cut into chunks

● 3 carrots, cut into batons

● 25g (1oz) lard, dripping or duck fat

● Gravy and cranberry relish (see tip across the bottom of the page), to serve

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. First, make the stuffing balls. Melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the onion until soft and translucent, then remove it from the heat. Put the cranberries in a bowl, cover with the just-boiled water and leave to soften. They should absorb all the water but if not, drain them, then place in a bowl with the onions and the remaining ingredients, season and mix. Shape the mixture into 8 balls.

Next make the pigs in blankets. Cut each piece of bacon in half and stretch each half out with the flat side of a knife. Wrap around a chipolata.

Season the chicken thighs and rub the skins with olive oil. Place the onion wedges in the base of a roasting tin and drizzle with oil. Arrange the chicken thighs, pigs in blankets and stuffing balls on top.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes, parsnips and carrots. Simmer for 5 minutes. Drain. Shake the pan a bit to fluff up the edges of the potatoes and parsnips. Put the lard, dripping or duck fat in another roasting tin and place it in the oven. When the fat is smoking hot, remove the tin from the oven and add all the veg. Shake the tin to distribute the veg evenly and season.

Put both tins in the oven, with the chicken on top and the veg below. Roast for 40-45 minutes, turning the tins round to make sure they cook evenly. Serve with plenty of gravy and some cranberry relish.