Jamie Oliver's top five Christmas cooking tips

GRAVY

De-glaze your roasting tin with a spoonful of jam before adding flour and meat juices to make your gravy. It’ll give it a beautiful shine and a little extra sweetness.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

Jazz up shop-bought cranberry sauce with apple, cinnamon and a bay leaf. Heat everything together in a pan with a dash of water until the apple is soft. Delicious!

MULLED WINE

Make your own combination of mulling spices, depending on what you love. Cinnamon, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, ginger and peppercorns are a good place to start. Tie up your chosen spices in a little square of muslin and drop into your wine (or cider!) while it’s heating through.

MINCEMEAT

If you do one new thing this year, add roasted butternut squash to your mincemeat. The natural sweetness is lovely, and I find it really lightens the classic mix. Also, the extra texture works really well with filo, puff or shortcrust pastry.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Shredding brussels sprouts is a total game changer. Take it to the next level and fry your shredded sprouts with finely sliced onion, sage leaves and garlic. You’ll never look back!