Christmas hacks by Robert

Served up: Champagne risotto with butterfly prawns

Easy to prepare, yet a very exclusive dish for Advent guests. Robert's recipe is enhanced with a delicate prawn in a beautiful butterfly cut on top.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 onion (medium)
1 tbsp butter
200 g risotto rice
200 ml champagne
500 ml vegetable stock
50 g butter or olive oil
¼ lemon (zest)
50 g Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
½ bottle champagne
Bay leaf
A few juniper berries
Prawns (Robert's recommendation: Gambero Rosso di Mazara prawns)

Preparation:
Step 1
Peel and finely chop the onion. Melt the butter (1) in a pan and sauté the onions. Add the rice, bay leaf and juniper berries and sauté, stirring, until the rice grains begin to crackle. Deglaze with the champagne (1). Allow to reduce completely while stirring.

Step 2
Now gradually add the stock to the rice. Allow the rice to absorb the stock, stirring frequently, before adding the next portion. When finished, the rice should be soft but still al dente, and the consistency of the risotto should be rather ‘soupy’. If necessary, add a little more liquid.

Step 3
Add the butter (2), lemon zest and Parmesan to the finished risotto. Season with salt and pepper and add the champagne (2) to taste just before serving.

Step 4
The seafood can now be prepared at the same time as step 2. You can find out how to butterfly the prawns in this video. Then fry them in a pan with a little butter and arrange them on top of the risotto.

Hosting tips for a sparkling celebration

Table decorations: Natural materials such as fir and holly branches, as well as kitchen items such as cookie cutters, cinnamon sticks and nuts, are simple but effective decorative highlights. Candles and small fairy lights winding their way across the table create additional warmth and show everything in the best light.

Insider tip: Use other kitchen utensils for decoration – such as a muffin tin – and pimp them with tea lights, twigs, dried orange slices and walnuts.

Music: A festive playlist brings the right beat to the table. You can find Robert's favourite coffeehouse-style playlist on Spotify.

Drinks: In addition to mulled wine and classic favourite drinks, homemade drinks add that special something. One of our latest discoveries is the Snowglobe Cocktail with cranberries, rosemary and champagne (or an alcohol-free version). Alternatively, or in addition, edible gold flakes add an even more festive touch to the glass, for example as an addition to the champagne served with it. These are available in specialist confectionery shops or online, among other places.

Homemade gifts for guests

Small gifts from your own kitchen delight recipients and provide lasting memories of time spent together – or make wonderful gifts when you are invited to someone else's home. We have compiled two of Robert's favourite recipes below:

Baked apple liqueur

Ingredients:
1 litre apple juice
200 g cane sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
1 vanilla pod
1 star anise
500 ml vodka

Preparation: Simmer the apple juice with the spices for 15 minutes, stir in the sugar, add the vodka, pour through a sieve and leave to infuse for 2 days. Then pour into a swing-top bottle.

Speculoos spread

Ingredients:
200 g speculoos
100 g butter
400 g sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preparation:
Grind the speculoos biscuits, melt the butter, mix with the condensed milk and cinnamon, stir in the speculoos biscuits, pour into jars (e.g. old jam or preserving jars) and chill.

Host tip: Wrap the gifts nicely – with bows, labels, small sprigs of fir, mistletoe or rosemary – because, as we all know, we eat with our eyes first.

HOHOHO – we wish you a delightful and perfectly happy Advent season with Robert's tips & hacks.