Welcome to Blogmas Day 5! Noche Buena literally means "good night" in Spanish but it also refers to the Christmas Eve dinner. Countries that are heavily influenced and colonized by the Spaniards like Peru, Mexico and of course, the Philippines have been doing this tradition for hundreds of years. The way you celebrate Christmas is heavily influenced with your religion and your country's traditions. Personally, as a Filipino, I find that Christmas Eve will never be complete without Hamon de Bola. 

Today, I'll be showing you two food ideas that you can make for your Noche Buena happening on the 24th! 

The first food idea is Lasagna, and I made the pasta from scratch! I actually made this last January 1, 2021 so apologies I wasn't able to document properly but I still want to share it to you guys!

You can pretty much scout the internet with some Lasagna and pasta recipe but I did mine on a whim. Not really bad for a first timer! 

Lasagna Recipe

For the Fresh Pasta

- All Purpose Flour

- Eggs

- Salt

- Oil

- Water

For the Red Sauce

- Italian Style Spaghetti Sauce

- Ground Pork

- Salt & Pepper

- Soy sauce

For the White Sauce

- Butter

- All Purpose Cream

- Evaporated Milk

- Salt and Pepper

- Cheese

For the pasta, just keep adding what is needed. If the dough is too sticky to knead, add flour, if its too dry, add water or oil. This recipe really depends on you, so I cannot really give you exact procedures LOL. Although I highly suggest to look for Lasagna recipes online for guidance! 

The second dish is called Lumpia or Spring roll! but with a twist! I add cheese to my lumpia for added flavor! Personally, I like to put lots of stuff whenever I am making lumpia like vegetables such as carrots or potatoes because you won't see it eating it. Perfect for kids who are quite picky with what they eat. When I was making lumpia, it happened that we don't have carrots and potatoes available so I only had Red bell pepper, and spring onions as my add-ons aside from the garlic and onion staple. 

Also, I highly recommend this lumpia wrapper, its from the brand Bambi, and no, this isn't sponsored or anything, I really love this lumpia wrapper! It doesn't tear easily and it has a uniform square shape! 

Lumpia Recipe

- Ground Pork

- Lumpia Wrapper

-Egg

- Oyster Sauce

- Liquid Seasoning

- Garlic Salt & Pepper

- Onion

- Garlic

Optional:

- Spring Onions

- Red Bell peppers

- Carrots

- Potatoes

- Beans

Do you also celebrate Noche Buena?