Yummy vegan nut roast for the holidays

I love veggie loafs and nut roasts but the nutty ones most during the holidays.

This is such a handy holiday recipe to have. It’s a BBC recipe that I have made time and again and everybody loves it.

Make sure none of your revelers are allergic to nuts. It you can’t do something “nutty” because of allergies etc, there’s loads more below. So stay with me.

The only ingredient you may not find in the veggie section at a regular supermarket in the U.S. is a leek. Don’t worry about that. You can substitute chopped onion. And you should be able to find chestnuts this time of year, if not at your local market then via Amazon.

Chestnuts are what give this loaf it’s “meaty” texture. So let’s get our 2 lb loaf pan out of the cupboard, and get busy.

BBC Vegan Nut Roast.

Ingredients

300g/10½oz mixed nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans or Brazil nuts
1 vegan-friendly vegetable stock cube
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 100g/3½oz prepared weight) *
2 carrots, coarsely grated (around 150g/5½oz prepared weight)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp cashew butter
180g/6oz cooked chestnuts, broken into small pieces
75g/2½oz dried cranberries
20g/¾oz bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 lemon, finely grated zest only
4 tbsp soya milk or nut milk
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Put the nuts and stock cube into a food processor and blitz on the pulse setting until chopped into small pieces, but not fully ground. If you don’t have a food processor, chop all the nuts as finely as you can.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6/400F. Lightly oil then line the base of a 900g/2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the onion, celery, leek and carrots for 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds more.
4. Tip into a mixing bowl and stir in the cashew nut butter. Add the chopped nuts, chestnuts, cranberries, parsley, lemon zest, almond milk and salt. Season with lots of ground black pepper and stir until thoroughly mixed.
5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Press down with a spoon firmly to compact the mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until the loaf is hot throughout and lightly browned.
6. Remove the tin carefully from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before loosening the edges of the loaf with a table knife and turning out onto a board or platter. Cut into thick slices and serve hot with vegan gravy.

* If you don’t have leeks or just wish to find a substitute there are several good alternatives. For 1 cup of leeks substitute:

1 cup chopped green onions (scallions)
OR – 1 cup dry yellow or white onion, chopped
OR – 1 cup chopped shallots -which are also mild and have a slightly different flavor.

*  *  *  *

I love you so much I made a pdf of the recipe so you can print it out. Shopping list is on page 1; how to prepare it on page 2.

•  RECIPE_Nut_Loaf_Vegan (pdf, 2 pp)

My dear little young’un likes to make a “sandwich” with mashed potatoes in between two slices of nut loaf, pours loads of gravy on it, and tops it all off with brussel sprouts.

More

Not feeling the chestnut thing? Okay. Here’s another recipe but l leave the ketchup off. It’s a Meatless Loaf with Mushrooms from veganhuggs.com. Boy oh boy is this good. Love it. Click image to see the recipe.

Vegan Huggs’ Mushroom-walnut meatless loaf w/ ketchup glaze. Click image to visit recipe.

Can’t leave out vegan superstar chef Vegan Richa, right? This one is made with chickpeas. You know chickpeas . . . what hummus is made of. Sigh! This is melt in your mouth good. The texture and the flavors. Mega.

Vegan Chickpea Veggie Loaf by Vegan Richa. Click image to visit recipe.

Even More

We’re back on the chestnut thing because I had to share this. The chestnut is for the garnish so could do something else there. You can’t miss this this soup . . . heaven! Click image to visit recipe.

Pea and Spinach Soup from Merchant Gourmet.

Another Roast

For Christmas see this recipe for a Chestnut, Mushroom & Sage roast also from Merchant Gourmet. I love them. Delicious! You can buy your chestnuts at Merchant Gourmet too.

Alrighty then. I have given you plenty of inspiration. So . . . . . what are you going to cook?

Hugs, P♥tsy.