Orthodox Christmas Recipes

In the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith, the 40 days before Christmas are a time of fasting when no meat is eaten. The main meal on Christmas day is a meat fest, often featuring a whole roasted animal, which, depending on local culture could be a pig, lamb, goose, or chicken, along with meat stews, meat pies, and anything else you could think of that includes meat.

Christmas Eve, on the other hand, is both a special, religious moment, often including a church service, and the occasion of the last fasting meal. So Christmas Eve dinners are made up of favorite fasting dishes. In Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe, families share a twelve-dish supper to commemorate the twelve disciples of Jesus. Their version of the fast allows fish, so there will be several fish dishes, along with many vegetarian options, including a porridge called kutya which is made with poppy seeds, honey, raisins, and nuts, along with some sort of pancakes, stuffed cabbage, dumplings (pelmeni, pierogi, etc.), pies, assorted salads, mushroom soup or borscht, and sweets made with nuts and dried fruit. In the countries of the former Ottoman Empire, they don’t allow fish, dairy, or eggs, and they attend church until quite late, so Christmas dinner is an early, lighter meal followed after midnight with a celebratory late supper featuring many kinds of cheese.

• Abby Schweber

Georgian Beet Pkhali

Pkhali is a Georgian spread that is eaten with lavash bread. It can be made with spinach, beetroot, eggplant, kidney beans, cabbage, or even nettles. Beets are one of the most popular choices, particularly in winter when the bright color livens up the Christmas Eve dinner table.

• 1 lb. beets*

• ¼ cup cilantro

• 2 cloves garlic*

• 1 Tbs. olive oil

• ½ cup walnuts

• ½ tsp. ground coriander

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 Tbs. white wine vinegar

• Extra walnut halves or spring onions for garnish

*These ingredients can be found at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market

Method

1. Wash beets, then wrap in foil and bake at 350 degrees until soft, 60-90 minutes. Let cool.

2. Press garlic. Put garlic, oil, cilantro, walnuts, coriander, and salt in your food processor with the chopping blade, and pulse until it makes a coarse paste.

3. Grate or shred the beets. If you are using a hand grater, wear gloves so your hands don’t turn bright red!

4. Combine beets with walnut paste and vinegar. Refrigerate, covered, for at least an hour.

5. To serve, form into balls, place on a plate, and garnish with walnut halves or sliced spring onions. Serve with crackers or small pieces of toasted bread.

Armenian Chard Nevik (or nvig)

This is an Armenian dish that is popular throughout the fasting season, but is a must for Christmas Eve. It’s often made with chard, but spinach has become a standard for Armenians living in other countries where chard is not always available. I’ve substituted Aleppo pepper and sumac, which are not readily available here, with paprika, cayenne, and lemon zest to get a similar balance of sweet and heat and sour flavors.

• ½ lb. fresh spinach or chard leaves (not stems)*

• 1 can chickpeas

• 1 medium onion*

• 2 cloves garlic*

• ¼ cup olive oil

• 2 Tbs. tomato paste

• ½ tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. sweet paprika

• ¼ tsp. cayenne

• 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

*These ingredients can be found at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market

Method

1. Cut onion into ¼” dice. Thinly slice garlic.

2. Sauté onion in olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it starts to turn golden, 10-15 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook and stir 3-4 more minutes, until garlic softens.

3. Coarsely chop spinach. Drain and rinse chickpeas.

4. Add the spinach and cover the pan for a few minutes until spinach is mostly wilted.

5. Stir in chickpeas, tomato paste, salt, paprika, cayenne, and sumac or lemon zest, and half a cup of hot water. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

Bulgarian Roasted Pumpkin with Honey and Walnuts

Bulgaria is one of the largest producers of pumpkins in Europe, and they eat pumpkin in many ways throughout the fall and winter, including roasted, pumpkin soup, pumpkin puree and pumpkin pastries. On Christmas Eve, this sweetened version of roasted pumpkin is very popular.

• 1.5-2 lbs. cleaned pumpkin (or any orange-fleshed winter squash)*

• ½ cup honey*

• ½ cup water

• 1 Tbs. cinnamon

• ½ cup walnuts or almonds

• 1 cup dried apricots or raisins (optional)

*These ingredients can be found at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Peel pumpkin and cut into 2-3” square or rectangular pieces that are no more than 2/3” thick.

3. Combine honey and water.

4. Place pumpkin pieces in a baking dish that just holds all the pieces, without a lot of extra space (otherwise, the honey will burn in the empty spots). You can overlap pieces a bit, but don’t pile them up. Pour the honey water evenly over all the pieces and bake for 35 minutes.

5. Finely chop nuts and apricots (if using). In a bowl, combine nuts, cinnamon, and apricots or raisins (if using). When the pumpkin has baked for 35 minutes, turn the pieces over, then scatter the nut mix evenly over. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until pumpkin is soft all the way through.