Gone are the days (thankfully) of nut roast in a packet, mix with boiling water etc. Yuk. And (rant alert) it drives me absolutely potty as a vegetarian to go out to a pub on a Sunday and be offered tagliatelle or risotto as the veggie option when everyone else is tucking into a proper, hearty roast. Not good enough! Don’t be scared of us and absolutely don’t think we’d ever want to give up a crispy roast tattie in preference of a mushroom stroganoff. There’s just no excuse not to offer a vegetarian a nut roast, it’s just so easy peasy lemon squeezy. 

I’ve made a lot of these nut roasts over the years and as long as you follow the basic principals, you can tinker with it depending on what you have fresh and in the cupboards. Use whatever nuts (mixed bags work well) that you have and swap the pepper or carrot again depending what you have in. Sprouts work really well in this!

You absolutely must grease your lined baking tin well with butter because there is very little fat in the nut roast itself and so can be prone to sticking.

Ingredients:

One onion, red or white, shredded 

Two small carrots, shredded 

One green pepper, shredded 

Two cloves or half a large bulb of garlic, crushed 

Fresh sage, parsley, thyme (see below photo for suggested amounts but very much personal taste – these are the ones I have growing in my garden for most of the year)

One egg 

Handful of breadcrumbs (fresh are best)

1/2tsp marmite

1tbsp pine nuts 

2tbsp chopped walnuts 

2tbsp hazelnuts 

1/2 tin chestnut purée 

Salt/pepper

  

Method: 

Combine all of the above, (I shred the veg and blitz in a food processor until the texture is as the photo below) then season with salt & pepper and place into a lined and well greased loaf tin. 

   
 

Bake at the centre of a preheated oven at 190 degrees for 45-50 minutes depending on your oven. Turn out, allow to stand for five minutes and slice. Serve with gravy, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and all the necessary vegetable accoutrements! 

  

Non veggies always appreciate a slice of this as its kind of like a turbo-charged stuffing. It’s amazing cold in a sandwich or wrap too with roasties the next day. That’s SUCH a guilty pleasure. 

Enjoy. X