Pure Gravy - the best Christmas gravy recipe!
The best, natural gravy to complement your Christmas dinner, using pure stock combined with the juices & flavours from your roasting joint or bird. You can't beat it!
There's nothing quite like proper gravy at Christmas. Not the instant stuff from packets, but the real thing - made from the golden, caramelised juices left behind in your roasting tray, enriched with quality stock and built on the foundation of good ingredients.
This method transforms what's often seen as a last-minute afterthought into the star of your Christmas table. We start with pure stock - whether it's rich beef, delicate chicken, or robust game - then marry it with wine and those precious pan drippings that carry all the concentrated flavour of your roast.
The secret lies in that bed of vegetables beneath your joint. Carrots, onions, garlic, and herbs don't just keep your meat elevated - they become the aromatic foundation of your gravy, slowly caramelising as they absorb the cooking juices. When you deglaze that tray, you're capturing hours of slow-building flavour.
Christmas dinner deserves gravy that's been made with the same care as everything else on your table. This isn't complicated cooking - it's simply making the most of what you already have, turning the by-products of roasting into something that brings the whole meal together.
What You'll Need
Serves 4
How To Make It
Roast your bird or joint on a bed of cut vegetables - carrots sliced lengthways, whole garlic cloves, quartered onions, celery sticks, rosemary and thyme.
Once roasted, remove your meat from the tray and wrap in 3 sheets of foil. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes to relax the meat.
Drain any excess fat from the roasting tray, leaving behind the vegetables and caramelised juices.
Place the tray with the vegetables onto the hob and add the wine. Simmer and reduce by half.
Add the Pure Stock along with 150ml of water to the tray and continue to simmer.
Deglaze the pan by stirring and lifting all the caramelised meat juices from the bottom.
Pass through a sieve into a saucepan, carefully squeezing the vegetables to release maximum flavour.
Add any juices from the rested meat, then thicken to your liking with cornflour mixed with cold water. Season lightly and simmer gently before serving.
Perfect with
Turkey, beef, lamb, game birds, or any Christmas roast. The gravy will complement whatever stock you've chosen to match your meat.
