Recipe: Pineapple-glazed Christmas ham with grilled pineapple

A fruit-forward spin on a festive classic.

Who can imagine Christmas without a stunning glazed ham on the table? It’s a must-have for Christmas dinner and, if you’re lucky, there’ll be some left over for a Boxing Day picnic. Pineapple is a classic accompaniment for ham and we’ve made the most of it with both a tangy glaze and a fruity side dish.

Christmas ham with pineapple glaze and grilled pineapple

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

1 half ham on the bone

½ fresh pineapple, cubed

1 cup water

2cm cube-sized fresh ginger, minced

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 cup ginger beer

½ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

For the grilled pineapple:

½ fresh pineapple, sliced in wedges

2 tbsp white sugar

¼ tsp ginger powder

1 sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. To make the glaze, place the pineapple cubes, water, fresh ginger and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth. In a saucepan, mix the pineapple puree, ginger beer, sugar and mustard. Bring to a boil and simmer until the glaze becomes syrupy – about 20-30 minutes. Leave to cool.
3. Take the ham and use a sharp knife to cut through the rind 10cm from the top of the shank. Then, at the other end, slide the knife between the skin and the fat to loosen it. Run your clean fingers (or a knife) under the skin and gently peel back the rind to leave a layer of fat. Score fat at 1cm intervals. Wrap the shank end with baking paper or foil.
4. Place ham on a lightly greased wire rack in a large roasting pan. Add enough boiling water to the roasting pan until it’s about 2cm deep. Brush the ham with ¼ of the pineapple glaze.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until the ham is golden and caramelised. Baste with remaining pineapple glaze every 20 minutes while it is cooking.
6. To make the grilled pineapple: Combine the sugar and ginger. Coat the pineapple wedges with the mix and grill in a hot griddle pan until slightly charred. Scatter rosemary over to serve.