Ideas for an alternative Christmas lunch

[Sidebeforeself]

Just found out we are hosting this Christmas which Im pleased about. But for various reasons I dont want to do a full on roast with all the trimmings BUT I want to make it Christmassey. Has anybody done something like this? There be 7 of us.

I dont want something too different like a curry . Must haves are pigs in blankets, roast potatoes and stuffing but anything else is up for grabs. All ideas welcome - apart from fish!

Two of us are veggie and either have a stuffed pepper or something from M&S or similar. DH doesn't like turkey so he buys a joint of gammon.

We have had beef rib, venison, 5 bird roast (not worth it IMO), slow roast shoulder of pork, gammon, I think it’s the sides that make the meal TBH

Pigs in blankets toad in the hole, with roast veg, stuffing, and all the gravy.

Beef tenderloin roast. It’s quick and easy. You can also do a couple of sauces to really up the wow factor. One of them should be blue cheese.

I got a rolled turkey joint with bacon wrapped round last year...from Sainsbury's. Took an hour and a half to cook and tasted delicious and very moist. I had pigs in blankets and broccoli and sprouts and cranberry sauce and frozen potatoes and parsnips. Delicious. Took the turkey roll from Edinburgh to Newcastle to cook and had the rest delivered in an online shop to my dad's. Arrived at 10.30 shoved it all in the oven at 11. Ate at 1. Guys did washup left after kings speech home by 5.30pm in time for a g&t!

Swap the sausages in this recipe for pigs in blankets. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sausage-stuffing-toad-hole-onion-gravy I’ve done it and it works fine.

This

Pigs in blankets
roast potatoes (part cook, freeze and cook from frozen)
All purpose crowd pleasing stuffing/veggie nut roast/wellington
cauliflower cheese
fresh cranberry sauce
and a prepared turkey roast from Cook/M&S/Waitrose if necessary
make gravy in advance

Avoid anything that needs last minute faffing. Everything in foil dishes in the oven (I save mine from other dishes through the year then chuck the lot away).

Then cheeseboard and puddings for the rest of the day.

But thats a roast by any other name really