ROAST GOOSE WITH PEAR AND CRANBERRY STUFFING

It HAS been 20 years since Nigella Lawson published her bestselling first book, How to eat, and to celebrate, she’s helped us choose the best festive recipes from her two decades as a food writer, kicking off with turkey and all the trimmings in Weekend magazine on Saturday. today, Nigella shares her inspirational ideas for a Christmas dinner with a difference. IT’S true that goose has the older pedigree as the traditional Christmas roast, but if you are assembling in large numbers, it isn’t actually feasible. This bird has such a large carcass, which means that one only just fits in an oven and won’t feed many more than 6, though with all the trimmings, it will probably stretch to 8 or 10. SERVES 6 TO 8

500g dried pears (can be found in larger supermarkets)

175g cranberries, fresh or, if frozen, thawed 100g dried breadcrumbs ½ tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp ground cloves 1 tsp ground ginger Zest and pulpy juice of 1 clementine or satsuma 1 onion, peeled and chopped 2 tbsp maple syrup 125g pecan nuts 1 tbsp Maldon salt or 1½ tsp table salt 4.8kg fresh goose

1 EITHER soak the dried pears overnight in cold water, or pour boiling water over them and leave to cool; this will take 2 to 3 hours. When you have done this, drain the pears and put them into a bowl with the cranberries and breadcrumbs. Add the cinnamon, cloves, ginger and clementine or satsuma zest and pulpy juice. Stir in the chopped onion, maple syrup and pecans, and add the salt. Make sure everything is thoroughly mixed before you stuff the goose.

2 PREHEAT your oven to 220c/gas 7. Remove any excess fat from the goose cavity — this can go towards your roast potatoes (if you’re serving them) — and remove the neck and giblets, reserving them for gravy (if you’re making it).

3 STUFF the cavity of the goose with the pear and cranberry mixture and, once stuffed, wrap the goose skin over, securing with a skewer. Sit the stuffed goose on a wire rack in a fairly deep roasting tin, as the goose will give off a lot of fat as it cooks and you don’t want spillage. Cook the goose for 3 hours. After about an hour, drain off the excess fat in the tin, and again every half-anhour or so. When cooked, remove to a board and carve judiciously.

NIGELLA SAYS: The sharp-sweet mix of grainy fleshed dried pears and astringent cranberries is the perfect partner to the gorgeous richness of the dark meat.