If you have little time to prepare your Christmas lunch, I recommend these three easy recipes: an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert that will surely satisfy your guests and your desire not to spend too much time in the kitchen. Thus was born the Mini Christmas Menu: cheese and ham balls, beet and goat cheese risotto, mascarpone and Digestive cups will ensure taste and practicality. Take a look at the recipes!

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Cheap
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 4 people
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

1 ¾ oz gorgonzola (and mascarpone)
1 ¾ oz fresh goat cheese
1 ¾ oz cooked ham (diced for the filling)
2 ½ oz cooked ham (diced for the coating)
9 pretzel sticks
1 pinch chives (dried)
12 ¾ oz Roma rice
3 ½ oz beetroot, cooked, boiled
1 bouillon cube (vegetable)
1 qt water
1 oz butter
2 tbsps Parmigiano Reggiano DOP (grated)
7 oz goat cheese
to taste olive oil
8 ¾ oz mascarpone
2 egg yolks (medium-sized eggs)
2 ¾ oz sugar
oz water
8 Digestive biscuits
oz chocolate (milk or dark)
oz hazelnuts
2 oz milk
2 kiwis
4 meringues
to taste colored sprinkles
to taste sugar hearts (white)

Preparation

Place the cheeses in a bowl and work them with a fork until softened and combined.
Cut the ham into very small cubes and place 1 ¾ oz in the cheese mixture, leaving the remaining ham in a bowl. Add the chives and mix well.
Form balls weighing about ½ oz each (you will get about 9), place one at a time in the bowl with the diced ham and roll them around so that the ham covers the entire surface.
Finish with a pretzel stick on top of each ball.
In a pot, add some olive oil and brown the rice. Once it becomes translucent, add the vegetable broth (I prepared it with a bouillon cube and a quart of water), stirring occasionally as it dries.
In a blender, place the beetroot cut into not-too-small cubes, blend until it becomes a cream, and add it to the rice (if you want a brighter color, add it halfway through cooking).
At the end of cooking, stir in the butter and add the Parmigiano. Once the cooking is complete, plate the rice and finish the dish with pieces of goat cheese.
For this mascarpone cream, I pasteurized the eggs according to the procedure you’ll find below.
In a small pot, place the water and sugar. Heat it, stirring occasionally with a spoon. The mixture should reach a temperature of 250°F (I recommend using a kitchen thermometer, otherwise consider it ready as soon as you see the mixture boiling vigorously). Meanwhile, place the yolks in a mixer with the mounted beaters and beat them until they become paler. Once the sugar and water mixture has reached 250°F, pour it into the yolks in a thin stream and continue mixing until it becomes lukewarm. Add the mascarpone and beat with a whisk until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
Sprinkle the bottom of a cup with a diameter of about 3 inches and a height of 1 ⅜ inches with a bit of crushed chocolate and hazelnuts (I put them in a freezer bag and crushed them with a meat mallet). Place the milk on a flat plate, lightly dip a Digestive biscuit on both sides, and position it in the cup. Cover with a tablespoon of mascarpone cream, make a layer of crushed chocolate and hazelnuts, then another Digestive biscuit soaked in milk, and another layer of mascarpone cream. Peel the kiwis, cut them into slices about ¼ inch thick, using the central part, which is the largest. Cut out Christmas trees with a cutter and place them on top of the cups. Finish by sprinkling the cream with crushed hazelnuts and chocolate and decorating the kiwi tree with sugar hearts, colored sprinkles, and a meringue star.

Tips/Suggestions

If you liked the Mini Christmas Menu: cheese and ham balls, beet and goat cheese risotto, mascarpone and Digestive cups, try the other Christmas dessert recipes:

Christmas Cookie Forest

Christmas Tree Cookies

Aunt Lucia’s Struffoli

Grandma Ottavia’s Taralluzzi (Sugared Taralli)

Two-tone Coconut Shortcrust Pastry Wreaths

Almond and Egg White Cookies (Lucanian Recipe)

Coconut and Mascarpone Balls