Chestnut, mushroom & pecan roast
I know nut roasts are a bit retro, the original vegetarian alternative, but believe it or not they’ve come on a bit since those dense, claggy 80s originals. They’ve become a bit more imaginative since those days with less nuts and more veggies, sourdough crumbs instead of plain and added spices and herbs to make them a bit more interesting. I think the other thing that puts people off is the perception that nuts roasts are quite labour intensive, well, in this recipe I’ve tried to keep the chopping and ingredients to a minimum so it’s not too much work. You can also freeze a few slices so next time all you have to do is defrost!
The fact is this much maligned veggie alternative works really well in place of meat with a roast dinner. After mostly giving up meat last January, I’ve struggled to find a better stand in where roasts are concerned, yes you can buy a Quorn ‘joint’, but it’s never going to be as interesting as a slice full of veggies, spices and nuts; or be as nutritionally diverse.
I’ve tried a few recipes (Felicity Cloake, Jamie Oliver and BBC Good Food) over the last few months and taken inspiration from all of them to create this one. The mushrooms, chestnuts and pecans make a good rich base with a few veggies for freshness crunch and flavour, plus paprika and oregano for depth. I have used plain, rather than smoked paprika (which is used in a lot of nut roast recipes) as I think it works better with traditional British roast flavours.
If you’re making this for Christmas I definitely recommend you make my gravy too as they work perfectly together even if I do say so myself!!). Both can be made ahead and frozen, which is exactly what I’m doing as I’ll be cooking turkey and making a meaty gravy so I don’t want too much work to do on the day!
Ingredients
Serves 8
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300g chestnut mushrooms, blitzed
180g cooked chestnuts, blitzed
1 tsp oregano
1 ½ tsp paprika
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 carrots, grated
100g fresh breadcrumbs
150g pecans, roughly chopped
150g mature cheddar, grated
1 tsp sea salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment, or I like to use a liner as they just slot in.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the onions and celery, frying gently for 20 minutes.
While they’re cooking blitz the chestnuts in a food processor and then put in a bowl, do the same with the mushrooms - both should be a rough bread crumb like texture, so not pulverised! If you don’t have a processor, just chop finely.
Turn up the heat a little and add the mushrooms to the pan for 10 minutes until all their water has evaporated and the mix is fairly dry.
Then put in the garlic and cook for another minute, before adding the chestnuts, oregano and paprika. Allow the paprika to warm for a minute to release it’s flavour, then add the tomato purée mixing well before adding the carrots, breadcrumbs, pecans, cheese, salt and finally the beaten eggs.
Spoon the mix into the tin, press it down reasonably firmly so it sticks together and cover with tin foil. Place in the oven for 30 minutes then remove the tin foil and put back in for another 15 minutes.
Serve with my vegan gravy, roasties and lots of greens.