Christmas Nut Roast

The finished product!

One of the most common questions I get asked when people find out I'm a vegetarian, especially at this time of year, is 'but what do you eat for Christmas dinner?'. People seem genuinely interested in hearing about this, and lots of people tell me that they could imagine giving up meat to a certain extent, but could never give up their Christmas turkey. All year round I can meet people who say they can't imagine giving up meat, but I think that these feelings are magnified at Christmas time, when the contemplation of a meat-free Christmas dinner is just too much for some!

So I am really excited to tell you all about my stilton and nut roast, that I made this year and last year, and thoroughly enjoyed both times. The best thing is that as I'm the only one eating it, there are always plenty of leftovers, which is good, as it's really delicious! The recipe comes from a book called The Vegetarian Cookbook: From Earth to Table by Nicola Graimes and Fiona Biggs. I love this book, and have tried a few of the recipes so far, but after years of searching for the perfect Christmas dinner recipe, it is their nut roast recipe that I love the most. I have made some minor changes, so the recipe below is not the original, but the slightly tweaked version. 

A few things I love about this recipe:

It calls for roasted chestnuts. So now I have an excuse to roast chestnuts on Christmas Eve and eat the leftovers....yum! This really gets me in the Christmas spirit - such a simple, old-fashioned tradition - and so tasty. Sadly I do not have an open fire on which to toast them, but even in the oven, they're still good.

I prepare this nut roast the day before, getting everything chopped, mixed, and layered into the tin and covered with foil, but I don't cook it until the next day (Christmas Day!) - so all the more time to chill out and enjoy a bit more time with the family on the day. No matter how much I or anyone else loves to cook, who wants to spend Christmas Day slaving away in the kitchen?

Making my own nut roast may take a little time, but I feel that makes it all the more special to eat on Christmas Day. As soon as I have got the raw ingredients in the tin on Christmas Eve, I can't wait to get my Christmas dinner the next day!

It is very forgiving - as I already mentioned, I have changed some ingredients and quantities from the original recipe. But I even adjust the oven times and temperatures to suit the turkey that my mum is cooking in the oven at the same time. And the nut roast still turns out great*. 

I should also admit something that may shock cheese lovers here, but will appeal to anyone who is a savvy shopper watching their pennies: I used Morrisons Savers blue cheese rather than actual Stilton....and it tasted great! So even with more budget-friendly ingredients, this roast is still a yuletide winner, and it won't break the bank.

* It's best if you can adhere to the times and temperatures in the recipe as this makes the roast hold together better, but if you can't, due to conflicting temperatures of other food in the oven, it is still possible to cook the roast nicely and it will still taste lovely.

I hope that you all had a very merry Christmas, and that Santa was good to you. I'd love to hear what all the other veggies out there eat for their Christmas dinner - please leave a comment below and let me know! And if you are looking for new inspiration for next year's Christmas dinner, or simply a nice vegetarian roast to serve up at another time of the year, then look no further than the following recipe.

I made the mistake of not lining the tin...

Christmas Nut Roast

Ingredients:

2 tbsps oil, plus extra for greasing tin

2 onions

5 garlic cloves, crushed

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

150g roasted and peeled chestnuts (about 250g unpeeled, uncooked chestnuts)

200g mixed chopped nuts

55g ground almonds

55g fresh breadcrumbs

215g Stilton (or another blue cheese), crumbled

30g Cheddar cheese, grated

a handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 egg, beaten

salt and pepper

1 red pepper, finely sliced

115g courgette (for me this was about half a fat courgette), cut into rough chunks

Method:

If you are cooking the roast on the same day as preparing it, start by preheating your oven to 180ºC. If you are cooking it the next day, leave the oven off just now; you're not going to need it. Lightly grease and line a 900g loaf tin.

Finely chop one onion and fry in a little oil with the celery and three of the crushed garlic cloves over a medium heat. Fry for about 5 minutes. If you are making your breadcrumbs from a slice of bread, this is  a good time to make them in the food processor, while you wait for the onion, celery and garlic to cook. 

Put the onion, celery and garlic into a food processor and add the breadcrumbs, all the nuts, half the Stilton, the Cheddar and the basil. Pulse until combined, then add the egg and gradually blend to create a stiff mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Finely slice the remaining onion and fry over a medium heat in a little oil with the courgette, red pepper and remaining garlic. Fry for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally. Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper.

In the tin, ready to be cooked!

Place half of the nut mixture into the loaf tin and smooth down. Next, add the courgette and pepper mixture as the middle layer, crumbling the remaining Stilton over the top. Finally, top with the remaining nut mixture and smooth down. Cover with foil. If you are cooking the roast the next day, pop the tin in the fridge at this point, until you are ready to cook it.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 25 - 35 minutes, or until cooked and firm to the touch.

Slice and serve with roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, veggie gravy, veggie stuffing.....and anything else that is part of your favourite Christmas dinner!

Cheese and Tomato Rice

I have the day off work today, which is nice - a whole day to myself with no plans. Except waiting in all day for a parcel to be delivered, so I am house-bound. Still, the weather is pretty horrible just now, so I am not too upset that I can't go out. Instead, I am taking advantage of all of this free time, and as well as catching up on the book I'm reading, I decided this morning to give my blog a little spring (or autumn) clean: I have added a new page, basically a contents page, listing all of the recipes I have blogged about, categorised by meal/type. This should make it easier for you, my readers, to find the recipe you're looking for, and also easier for me to keep track of what I have and haven't blogged about, and what might be missing. Hopefully you will find this page helpful - it can be found here.

I also thought today would be a good day to tell you all about one of my favourite autumn/winter dishes - it's filling, it's tasty, and it can easily be adapted to suit the vegetables you have to hand that day. The recipe is Cheese and Tomato Rice, and is based on the Cheddar and Tomato Rice recipe I found in the BBC Good Food 101 Veggie Dishes cookbook. It is not one of my quickest recipes, as it has to go in the oven for half an hour after you have cooked it on the hob - but during that half hour, I like (ok, maybe 'like' is taking it a bit too far) to wash the dishes, so that after dinner there's not too much to clean up. It's also good reheated - I usually just keep it in the oven dish that I bake it in, and then pop the whole thing back in the oven for half an hour (including the time it takes the oven to pre-heat) - this seems to heat it through nicely.

Cheese and Tomato Rice (serves 4)

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced

250g mushrooms

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 litre vegetable stock

300g long-grain rice

salt and pepper, to taste

150g frozen peas

100g cheddar, grated

Method:

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large pan. Add the onions, red pepper and mushrooms, and fry until completely softened. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. At this point, turn on your oven to pre-heat it to 180ºC (160ºC fan-assisted). Add the tomatoes, stock and rice, and season. Bring to the boil, stirring gently, then reduce to a simmer, still stirring. Add the frozen peas. Continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until almost all the liquid has been absorbed. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and scatter over the grated cheese. Put in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes. This is delicious served with a side salad, but I find it filling enough on its own too.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can easily add any vegetable you prefer - asparagus, sweetcorn or broad beans would all be nice, I think. Let me know if you customise this recipe to your own needs/tastes, I'd love to know how it turns out!