How To Make A Nut Roast

This delicious Christmas nut roast makes a perfect main dish for any vegetarian, or even as a side dish to accompany your festive feast. It goes well with cranberry sauce.

Prep:  15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• Olive oil, for cooking
• 4 leeks, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
• 250g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
• 5 sage leaves, roughly chopped
• 600g mixed nuts of choice (not peanuts)
• 60g breadcrumbs
• 100g gruyere cheese, grated
• 3 eggs
• 150g dried cranberries
• Salt & pepper
• Grated nutmeg (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and line a small loaf tin with parchment paper.
2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat then cook the leeks with thyme till soft. Add the mushrooms and sage, cook 2-3 minutes then leave to cool.
3. Toast the nuts for 5-8 minutes in a dry frying pan over medium heat, then remove from heat and leave to cool. After cooling, process nuts in a blender or food processor to a course powder.
4. Add ground nuts to the cooked leek mixture and stir to combine. Season with salt & pepper. Mix in the cheese, breadcrumbs & cranberries, then mix in the beaten eggs.
5. Press mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until browned on top.
6. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack before turning out. Serve warm or cold.
7. Mixture can be made a day ahead and chilled in the fridge until ready to bake, add on an extra 10 minutes baking time if cooking straight from the fridge.