If your kitchen is starting to smell faintly of Christmas – nutmeg drifting from somewhere, a stray clementine peel on the counter – but the idea of a full-blown turkey dinner still feels a week (or three) too soon, this is for you. Consider this a festive warm-up lap: all the cosy, wintry flavours you’re craving right now, without the stress, the spreadsheets or the mountain of washing up that comes with the main event.
In this latest instalment of Budget Bites, Christmas takes a detour via Italy. Think turkey meatballs simmered in tomato sauce, golden chicken cacciatore paired with a nostalgic hit of bread sauce, and a rich, glossy orzotto that delivers proper comfort without requiring a carving knife. It’s festive food for December evenings when you want something reassuring and seasonal, but not yet ready to commit to sprouts, pigs in blankets and gravy by the pint.
Budget Bites is the monthly column we launched in collaboration with Sorted Food in response to the cost-of-living crisis – a reminder that cooking well doesn’t have to cost the earth. Every month, we bring you three recipes designed to share ingredients, keeping costs down and making your life easier. Fewer ingredients means less to buy, less to prep and, crucially, less washing up at the end.
To make things even simpler, we‘ve also pulled together one shopping list covering all three dishes, so you can shop once and cook your way through the week. Festive-adjacent, Italian-leaning and firmly budget-conscious, this is December cooking at its most realistic – comforting, flexible and quietly joyful.
Shopping list
- 1 brown onion
- 1 bulb garlic
- 200g wild mushrooms
- 2 red bell peppers
- 30g fresh parsley
- 500g turkey thigh mince
- 4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 80g hard Italian cheese
- 1L milk
- Olive oil
- Cider vinegar
- 2 beef stock cubes
- Ground allspice
- 100g dried panko breadcrumbs
- Caster sugar
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 200g orzo
- 75g coarse dried polenta/coarse cornmeal
- 187ml red wine
Turkey meatballs with polenta and tomato sauce
If you can't find polenta, swap it out for cheesy mashed potato.
Ingredients:
50g dried panko breadcrumbs
450ml milk
250g turkey thigh mince
½ tsp ground allspice
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tsp cider vinegar
½ tsp caster sugar
75g coarse dried polenta/coarse cornmeal
15g fresh parsley
30g hard Italian cheese
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C and line a medium tray with baking paper. This will be for the meatballs later.
2. Tip 50g of breadcrumbs and 75ml of the milk into a large mixing bowl, mix to combine. We will use the rest of the milk later on.
3. Tip 250g of turkey mince into the bowl with the milk and breadcrumbs. Season with ½ tsp of allspice and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
4. Shape the mix into 6 even-sized balls with moistened hands and plonk them onto the lined tray. Remember to wash your hands after handling raw meat!
5. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden in places and cooked throughout. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
6. Tip the remaining 375ml of milk and a generous pinch of salt into a medium saucepan and place it over a medium-high heat. While the milk comes up to a simmer, get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps.
7. Peel and thinly slice 4 cloves of garlic.
8. Fry the garlic in a medium frying pan over a medium heat in 2 tbsp of olive oil for 2-3 minutes, until golden in places. Crack on with a bit of washing up while you wait.
9. Tip in 1 400g tin of tomatoes. Add 1 tsp of vinegar, 0.5 tsp of sugar and a generous pinch of salt.
10. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until reduced by half. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
11. Once the milk on the stove has come to a simmer, slowly stream in 75g of polenta, beating all the while with a whisk.
12. Turn the heat down to very low and continue to cook the grains for 5-8 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the mix slightly dries and has the consistency of loose mashed potato. Add a splash of milk if it starts to get too thick. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
13. Finely chop 15g of parsley. While you wait for the rest of the dish to cook, crack on with a bit of washing up!
14. Once the polenta is ready, take the pan off the heat and finely grate over 30g of cheese. Add ¾ of the parsley and fold everything together we will use the rest of the parsley for garnish.
15. Divide the polenta between plates and add the meatballs. Spoon over the tomato sauce, scatter over the parsley and serve.
Cacciatore-style chicken thighs with bread sauce
Sauce chicken cacciatore is a classic Italian dish that usually takes AGES to cook. Whip up this cheat’s version in no time!
Ingredients:
5 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
1 brown onion
4 cloves garlic
2 red bell peppers
2 tbsp tomato purée
187ml red wine
1 beef stock cube
50g dried panko breadcrumbs
400ml milk
½ tsp ground allspice
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Add 2 tbsp of the olive oil to a large, oven-proof frying pan and add 4 chicken thighs, skin-side down. Lightly season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place the pan over a medium heat, allow the fat to render from the skin and fry for 8-10 minutes, until golden. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
3. Prep the onion, garlic and peppers Halve, peel and thinly slice 1 onion and 4 cloves of garlic. Deseed and thinly slice 2 red peppers.
4. Once the chicken thighs are golden, transfer them to a plate. Fry the veg in the residual fat for 6-8 minutes, tossing occasionally, until soft. Crack on with a bit of washing up while you wait.
5. Once the veg is soft, add 2 tbsp of tomato paste. Fry everything for a further 2-3 minutes, until dark and sticky.
6. Whack the heat up to high and tip 187ml of wine into the pan. Reduce by half, stirring all the while.
7. Crumble in a beef stock cube and lay on the thighs, skin side up.
8. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced by half. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait.
9. Tip 50g of breadcrumbs into a medium saucepan. Add 400ml of milk, ½ tsp of allspice, a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper.
10. Place the pan over a high heat and bring everything to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until thickened we are looking for a loose mashed potato-like consistency. Crack on with a bit of washing up while you are waiting for the rest of the dish to cook.
11. Divide the bread sauce between plates and spoon on the chicken cacciatore, making sure to serve 2 thighs on each plate. Tuck in!
Turkey and mushroom orzotto
If you aren't feeling turkey, why not swap it out for sausage meat?
Ingredients:
200g wild mushrooms
3 tbsp olive oil
250g turkey thigh mince
200g orzo
1 beef stock cube
15g fresh parsley
50g hard Italian cheese
Method:
1. Rip 200g of wild mushrooms into bite-sized chunks.
2. Tip 2 tbsp of olive oil into a large frying pan and place it over a high heat.
3. Once the oil starts to shimmer and loosen, add the mushrooms and 250g of turkey mince. Fry for 6-8 minutes, until golden in places.
4. Add 200g of orzo to the pan and toss to coat it in the oil.
5. Crumble over 1 beef stock cube and add 700ml of water. Bring everything up to a boil.
6. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the orzo is soft but still has a slight bite. The liquid should ve reduced to a loose glaze that coats the grains add a splash of water if it gets a little thick. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait!
7. Finely chop 15g of parsley while you wait for the orzo to cook.
8. Once the orzo is ready, take the pan off the heat and finely grate over 40g of cheese we will use the rest later. Chuck in the parsley and fold everything together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Divide the orzotto between plates and finely grate over the remaining 10g of cheese. Tuck in!
In response to the rising cost of living, we have teamed up with Sorted Food to bring you easy, affordable, quick and (most importantly) tasty recipes once a month. Find out more about Sorted and their nifty meal-planning app Sidekick, designed to help cancel boring dinners, at sortedfood.com/sidekick.
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