Quinoa & red pepper nut roast

ingredients

Serves 8-10

• 150g mixed nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, toasted

• 150g quinoa

• 1 red onion, chopped finely

• 1 red pepper, small dice

• 1 clove garlic, chopped finely or grated with a Microplane

• 150g mushrooms, chopped roughly, but fairly small

• 180g cooked chestnuts, chopped finely or blitzed in a food processor

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 5 tbsp plain or GF flour

• 2 heaped tbsp tomato purée

• 2 heaped tsp Dijon mustard

• 150g cheddar cheese, grated

• 2 tsp sea salt

• 3 large eggs, beaten

• Black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment, or I like to use a liner as they just slot in.

2. Put the nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds on a tray and roast for 7-8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the onions, pepper and garlic, frying gently for 10-12 minutes until soft.

4. Next add the mushrooms and cook for a further 8-10 minutes, letting any excess liquid evaporate.

5. While the veg is cooking, blitz the chestnuts in a food processor to a bread crumb texture and then put in a bowl. If you don’t have a processor, just chop finely.

6. Add the chestnuts, oregano and flour, mixing well and then the tomato purée, mustard, cheddar, nuts, seeds, salt and finally the beaten eggs. Combine well.

7. Spoon the mix into the tin, press it down lightly, so it sticks together and cover with a piece of tin foil. Place in the oven for 30 minutes then remove the tin foil and put back in for another 15 minutes.

8. Serve with my red onion gravy roasties and lots of greens.

tip

• If you have any left overs, once cooled, slice the roast and freeze with baking parchment separating each piece, so they don’t stick together. As my daughter is veggie, I like to have a few slices in the freezer ready for when we have a chicken roast.

• I also do the same with my red onion gravy - freeze a few portions so I always have a nice homemade sauce for her.

Roasted red onion gravy

I wanted to make a quick veggie gravy that the meat-eaters and the non meat-eaters in our family would like. It’s a pain to prep two gravies when you’re cooking chicken AND a nut roast! So here’s my solution; there’s very little prep time and you get max flavour!

*I added the juices (not fat) from the meat roasting tin in a separate jug for the carnivores.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 4 med/large red onions, chopped in thick half moons

• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

• 2 (flat) tbsp plain flour

• 1 ½ tbsp tomato purée

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 500 ml vegetable stock (I used ½ @kallo low-salt veg cube in 500ml boiling water)

• 1 tsp red wine vinegar

• ½ - ¾ tsp sea salt

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

2. Put the onion and garlic on a large baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Mix to coat evenly and place in the oven for 20 mins, turn and put back in for 10 mins until soft and brown at the edges.

3. Put the stock cube in a large jug and pour over the boiling water.

4. Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins into a large saucepan, mash with a wooden spoon and scrape in the onions.

5. Pour 100ml of hot stock onto the roasting tray, deglaze using a silicone spatula (basically scrape off all the tasty bits that are stuck on the bottom of the pan).

6. Next add the flour and tomato purée to the onions, mix well.

7. Turn on the hob to a medium heat and slowly pour in the deglazed stock stirring well as you go.

8. Then add the rest of the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

9. Blitz with a hand blender.

Curiously the kids said the gravy tasted like the Subway Meatballs Marinara sandwich filling. Compliment or no?!

Yorkshire puddings

The is the ONLY Yorkshire pudding recipe that has ever worked for me! I found it on BBC Good Food a while ago to my great relief as not being able to make a decent Yorkshire is somewhat of an embarrassment for a ‘proper’ Yorkshire lass.

Ingredients

Makes 12 muffin cases or 8 pudding sized

• 140g plain flour

• 4 eggs

• 200ml milk

• sunflower oil, for cooking

Method

• Set the oven to 230°c fan.

• Drizzle the oil into the tins, making sure there is enough to just cover the bottom of each mould. Place in the oven for 5-10 minutes to get very hot.

• Make the batter by measuring the flour into a large bowl, add the eggs and whisk to a thick paste. I use a mixer to save my arm going dead.

• Add the milk gradually and mix until smooth.

• Pour into the tins and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

  Tip

• Once they’re cooked, you can freeze them for a month