Hot creams are an excellent choice as a starter for Christmas dinners and meals. We propose you 3 delicious options.
Who does not want a good broth, soup or warm cream during these cold days? They are really appetizing options during the fall and winter, when the heat leaves us after the end of summer, and the days begin to be colder. If we add to this a gray sky, with rain or snow, there is no doubt that these dishes will become our best allies.
Not surprisingly, during Christmas many people prefer to opt for a light dish as a starter, and then offer their guests a much stronger and more extensive second course. Or even those who simply want to enjoy a light option, either because they do not want to eat more, because they follow a weight loss diet We present 3 delicious recipes, simple to prepare and also nutritious, with which we can surprise our guests this Christmas.
They are recipes for warm dishes that will come in handy to warm up on these special days.
3 hot creams for Christmas
Hot chestnut cream
The chestnut cream is very rich, and it is easy to prepare. We can make a variant of this cream giving it a spicy touch, if you like it with that flavor, adding just a piece of fresh red chilli.
To prepare this chestnut cream we can resort to the chestnuts that we can get in the market cooked and vacuum packed, since the fresh chestnuts may no longer be available.
Ingredients:
- Half a kilo of cooked chestnuts.
- A large onion.
- Two chives, (to decorate).
- A branch of celery.
- 3 garlic cloves.
- Half a liter of homemade or industrial vegetable broth.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- A pinch of salt.
- A pinch of ground black pepper.
- Half a glass of white wine.
- 100 ml. of cooking cream.
- Half of a fresh red chilli, (optional).
Elaboration:
We remove the skin from the onion and the garlic cloves and cut everything into small pieces. We wash the celery branch and chop it finely. We put a little oil to heat in a cauldron and sauté the onion, garlic cloves, and celery over low heat and reserve once it is ready.
While with the chopper or grinder, we chop the chestnuts. Add the ground chestnuts together with the ingredients that we have sautéed and put everything together in the cauldron.
Next we add the wine, the broth, the cream, stir and put on the fire to heat with medium heat until it begins to boil.
When it starts to boil, lower the heat, add a pinch of ground black pepper, and taste how it is salt.
If we are using industrial vegetable broth, it usually already has incorporated salt, we will test if it needs a little more salt. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes.
Remove from the heat and beat the chestnut stew with the mixer until a fine cream is made. We wash the spring onion and cut it into rings.
At the time of serving the cream we put a few chive rings on top of each cream arranged in individual plates.
If we have decided to give the chestnut cream a spicy touch, we also add a few pieces of fresh red chilli.
Assorted vegetables hot cream
To make this vegetable cream we have chosen the vegetables that are detailed below, but we can also add or choose others that we like more or that we have available in the fridge.
Ingredients:
- A small cauliflower without the green parts and cut in four.
- 2 leeks without the green parts and chopped.
- 2 sticks of celery, chopped.
- 3 carrots without skin and chopped.
- A chopped onion.
- A ripe tomato, seedless and chopped.
- 2 garlic cloves without skin and
- 2 sprigs of parsley, minced
- 3 potatoes divided into squares.
- One liter of vegetable broth, homemade or industrial.
- A pinch of salt.
- A pinch of ground black pepper.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- Squares of fried bread, croutons or serrano ham shavings, (to decorate).
Elaboration:
We wash the vegetables well and chop them all finely. We remove the skin from the potatoes, wash them and cut them into squares.
We put a cauldron on the fire with a little virgin olive oil to heat to sauté with low heat, the onion, the leeks, the tomato, and the garlic cloves.
Once everything is sautéed, add the rest of the vegetables, the potatoes, the parsley and the vegetable broth. Cook over moderate heat until it starts to boil.
When it starts to boil, lower the heat, add a pinch of ground black pepper, we will test if it needs more salt. We cook until the potatoes are tender.
Then we turn off the heat and beat with the help of the mixer until we obtain a fine cream.
Vegetable cream can be accompanied by a few squares of fried bread, croutons, or shavings of Serrano ham.
Hot lentil cream
The lentils are a very nutritious dish, this lentil cream is very rich, is simple to prepare and is usually successful even among kids in the house.
Ingredients:
- 400 grams of lentils.
- One large onion, chopped.
- A leek without the green parts, chopped.
- 3 garlic cloves, skinless and chopped.
- A ripe tomato without skin, chopped.
- A carrot, cut into pieces.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- 50 ml. of whole milk.
- A liter of vegetable, homemade or industrial broth.
- A pinch of salt.
- A pinch of ground black pepper.
- Squares of fried bread, or croutons, to decorate.
Elaboration:
In a cauldron with water to cover them and a little salt, cook the lentils over moderate heat, until they are tender. If we have a pressure cooker, with 15 minutes on the fire they will already be cooked.
We drain the lentils and reserve a little of the cooking broth in case the cream will be thick or we would like it more liquid. In a cauldron we put a little olive oil to heat to sauté the onion, the leek, the garlic cloves and the tomato.
Once the sauté is at its point, we add the vegetable broth, the carrot, the milk, the ground black pepper and we taste the salt, we add a little salt if necessary.
Cook over moderate heat until it starts to boil and when it starts to boil, lower the heat and cook until the carrots are tender.
We turn off the heat and beat with the mixer until we have a fine cream.
We arrange the cream in bowls or individual plates and we present it with a few cubes of fried bread or croutons and a thread of extra virgin olive oil.
We hope you enjoy these delicious and simple recipes that we can use to prepare the first course at Christmas Dinner.
