My Dad was the one who made the cranberry sauce in our house and he took this job very seriously – as a result he made a seriously delicious sauce! Maybe it was meant for the turkey but that did not stop me from lavishing it on my nut roast or eating the leftovers with breakfast! I love the tartness so my version is only lightly sweetened – maybe too tart for some so adjust to your tastes once slightly cool.
| 320g fresh cranberries, washed
Zest from 1 large Seville orange 100ml, freshly squeezed orange juice |
60ml beetroot juice
1 tsp. ground star anise 1 tbsp. coconut sugar |
Zest the orange and then juice it – you should get around 100mls of juice but, if not, use more beetroot juice instead so you get a total of 160mls of cooking liquid.
Add the orange juice, cranberries and beetroot juice to a medium pan and bring to simmer point over a medium heat. Add the sugar and star anise and then place a well-fitting lid on the pan; leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Next remove the lid and simmer for a further 5-7 minutes – by this point the majority of the berries should have burst open. Don’t worry if there is still a lot of liquid in the pan because you’ll find that the mix thickens considerably as it cools. Whilst still warm, stir in the honey. I find some cranberry sauces are so sweet they are like jam but do simply adjust the sweetness to suit your own taste.
I love this served warm but leftovers are so good with Manchego and tempeh toast too!
