Roast gammon with sweet potato roasties and bacon sprouts
by Graham Campbell

Try something different for a roast dinner with this Asian-inspired roast gammon from Graham Campbell. The sticky glaze has plenty of flavour from cardamom, five-spice, soy and honey, while the pairing of sweet potatoes and earthy bacon sprouts are the perfect match.

1 Cover the gammon with water and soak overnight in the fridge – this will reduce the saltiness. Drain, place in a pot and leave under cold running water for 5 minutes
1g of unsmoked gammon joint

2 Place 1 carrot, 1 onion, 2 celery sticks and 3 garlic cloves in a large saucepan. Add the gammon, bay leaf and thyme and pour in enough water to cover. Place a lid on the pan and bring to the boil
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme
1 onion, peeled
2 celery sticks
1 carrot, peeled

3 Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer for 3 hours. Then, remove from the heat and allow to cool in the pan

4 Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 4

5 For the spice mix, place the cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar. Grind until broken up and add to a bowl
12 cardamom pods

6 Add the remaining spices, soy, honey and salt to the bowl with the crushed cardamom and stir well to make the glaze
4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/2 tbsp of five-spice powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
150g of honey
100ml of soy sauce
1/4 tbsp of salt
2 tsp mild chilli powder

7 Chop the remaining carrot, onion, celery and garlic and place in a deep roasting dish along with 250ml of water
1 carrot
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
2 celery sticks

8 Score the fat of the gammon in a large criss-cross pattern. Lay on top of the vegetables and brush all over with the glaze – be sure to use all of the mix as this will be your gravy

9 Place in the oven for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, spooning the glaze over the gammon every 15 minutes or so

10 Wash the sweet potatoes, then pat dry with kitchen towel. Leaving the skin on, cut into evenly-sized chunks for roasting
600g of sweet potato

11 Toss the sweet potato chunks in the olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and place into a baking dish lined with parchment paper
1 pinch of pepper
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
50ml of olive oil
1 pinch of salt

12 20 minutes before the gammon is cooked, place the sweet potatoes in the oven

13 Meanwhile, remove the outer leaves from the sprouts and cook in a pot of salted boiling water for 3 minutes, then strain and allow to cool. Cut the sprouts up into quarters and set aside
300g of Brussels sprouts
1 pinch of salt

14 Place a pan over a medium heat and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped bacon and fry for 2-3 minutes until crispy. Add the nutmeg, butter and sprouts and fry until golden
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 dash of olive oil
1 knob of butter
60g of bacon, chopped

15 Remove the gammon from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Continue to cook the roasties for a further 10 minutes until crispy

16 Carve the gammon and serve alongside the sweet potato roasties and sprouts. Retain some of the juices from the gammon tray and use as gravy. Serve immediately

Recipe by Graham Campbell courtesy of Great British Chefs, visit their site for more Christmas Day recipes