Top tipples for festive feasts

Bookers Vineyard has helped take the hassle out of your Christmas meal this year, matching a selection of its award winning wines with a menu of seasonal favourites - from starters through to puds.

Enjoy these delicious festive recipes paired with some of the very best English wines and impress the guests around your table.

Bookers' wines are available from Virgin Wines, Waitrose Wine Direct, Waitrose stores across the South East and from Bookersvineyard.co.uk.

Creamy Red Pepper Soup
A warming start to your Christmas meal. Serve with Bookers' Autumn Spice white wine, a fresh lively white medium dry wine with a balanced pineapple sweetness, crisp acidity, and grapefruit and spice flavours. This wine has a lovely aroma with hints of lychee and floral notes. Delicious!

Serves 4

2 red peppers, quartered and de-seeded
2 large tomatoes, halved
750 ml (1¼ pts) vegetable stock
150g (5oz) Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
Salt and pepper to season

Grill peppers and tomatoes for approx 8 minutes, turning once, until softened. Peel the tomatoes and peppers and discard skins. Roughly chop and put in a saucepan, add the stock and simmer for 20 mins. Blitz in a blender with the Greek yoghurt. Season to taste. Return to the pan and gently re-heat being careful not to boil the soup. Serve garnished with chopped coriander.

Turkey Breasts with Chestnut Stuffing wrapped in Pancetta
This dish is easy to prepare and quick to cook, with the added bonus of not having to carve the turkey on Christmas day! Serve with Bookers' Dark Harvest red wine, a medium bodied dry red wine, with lots of fruit flavours and hints of tannin in the background. Serve it slightly chilled to bring out the fruit, and it will not overpower the turkey. A match made in heaven!

Serves 4

4 turkey breasts

For the chestnut stuffing:
1 x 450g tin natural chestnuts
550g (1lb 4oz) of pork sausage meat
450g (1lb) cooking apples, finely diced
150g (6oz) white bread crumbs
1 medium onion finely diced
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper to season

Lay the turkey breasts flat on a chopping board and cut a pocket through the breast, almost to the opposite edge, making sure it is still joined. Open up the turkey breast and put a quarter of the stuffing on the bottom half, folding the top half of the breast back over. Smother it with softened butter then wrap pancetta slices over the whole breast ensuring it is completely sealed. Repeat the process for the last three breasts and then place them all into a well buttered oven dish, cover with foil and cook at 190° C for 45 minutes.

Serve with vegetables of your choice and baby rosemary roast potatoes, cooked in olive oil with a sprig of rosemary and a teaspoon of dry mustard powder.

Drain, then mash the chestnuts and added them to all the ingredients mixing thoroughly.

Top tip: Smother your cooked vegetables in homemade tarragon butter for an added twist. Finely chop 1 teaspoons of fresh tarragon, or use ½ teaspoon of dried tarragon. Melt 80g butter in a saucepan, mix in the tarragon, toss in the vegetables and serve.

Pavlova with Mascarpone and Cranberry Compote
A berry good pud! Serve with Bookers Vineyard's Barts Bubbly, a wonderful match with red berry fruit puddings. This vintage traditional method quality sparkling wine is smooth and full bodied with lots of blackberry fruit character and wonderful yeasty undertones. Cheers!

To save time, you can make the cranberry compote in advance and chill. You can also buy a ready-prepared large meringue shell or smaller individual cases so all you have to do on the day is assemble the dessert.

Serves 6 to 8

Filling
75gms (3oz) Mascarpone
50gms (2oz) icing sugar
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
240ml (10floz) double or whipping cream

Cranberry Compote
225gms (8oz) fresh or frozen cranberries
150ml (¼ pt) water
200gm (8oz) caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
½ tsp freshly grated lime peel

Meringue
3 large egg whites
150gms (6oz) caster sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Place the cranberries, water, caster sugar and cornflour into a saucepan. Gently simmer until the cranberries are soft and the sauce has thickened. Stir in the lime peel and chill until ready for use.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together until soft peaks form. Next beat in the sugar 1-2oz at a time until the mixture has stiff, glossy peaks forming. Spread the mixture onto an oiled baking sheet, making a well in the middle and cook at 140°C for approx 50 mins. Turn the heat off and leave in the oven with the door closed to cool.

Gently beat the Mascarpone, icing sugar, cream and vanilla together in a mixing bowl until the mixture is thick and fluffy.

When ready to serve, spread the filling evenly in the meringue shell/s. Spoon over the cranberry compote, drizzling a little sauce over the edge of the meringue shell for decoration.

To learn more about Bookers Vineyard and its products visit Bookersvineyard.co.uk.