Vegan Nut Roast

Vegan Nut Roast

Christmas Dinner Idea!



When I was a teenager, years and years (and years) ago, a vegan friend taught me how to make nut roast for Christmas. For years afterwards, this is what I had for Christmas dinner, and making it became a part of my Christmas Eve ritual. You can absolutely make the roast the day before, and simply reheat on the Big Day – thus eliminating any more turkey based stress!

To make this vegan nut roast, you will need –




Two or three different kinds of nuts, about a cupful each. I used to go for peanuts and cashews (primarily because I lived in North Wales, and the selection of nuts wasn't great in that part of the world). If you're feeling adventurous, you could always have two different kinds of nuts and add some pumpkins seeds to the mix. I love pumpkins...

One finely diced onion.

Chopped mushrooms (a bowlful).

Breadcrumbs (this is what will bind the mixture together, so keep adding breadcrumbs until the mixture is loaf-like, but not too runny).

Marmite (yes, yes, I know. There are those of you who hate Marmite. But in this recipe the Marmite is more of a seasoning, like anchovies in any number of Italian recipes. Give Marmite a go!)

Water or vegan vegetable stock.

Black Pepper. (You could also add some ground coriander if you wanted, or even some ground nutmeg, seeing as it's Christmas. This is only a basic recipe, don't be afraid to make it your own!)



Method –



Firstly, put a small amount of vegetable oil or rapeseed oil in a frying pan, and fry off the onions and mushrooms.

Whilst the onions and mushrooms are frying away, take your nuts, place them in a freezer bag, and whack the living daylights out of them! Once they're halfway between a powder and a rubble, set aside.

Allow your onions and mushroom to cool.

Whilst the onions and mushrooms are cooling, you could always make your breadcrumbs. (Unless you've bought breadcrumbs from the shop, in which case, take this time to have a drink!)

Once the onions and mushrooms have cooled, combine with the nuts (and pumpkin seeds if you like – but don't pulverise these!), add a big old tablespoon of Marmite, and mush together with your hands. Mush it up good!

Once this is done, add the breadcrumbs and mush that in too. At this point, the mixture will be a little dry. So, add water to the mix until it creates a slightly moist stuffing-like consistency. I always used to add plain old water, but if you can find a good vegan vegetable stock, then add some of that if you like! Season with the black pepper and any other seasoning you might fancy (the Marmite is salty though, so don't bother adding any more salt).

Put the nut roast mix into a greased loaf tin (use some more of the oil if you have no vegan margarine – Vitalite is vegan if you need a head's up!).

Then, place into an oven at 200ºC for around 20 minutes depending on your oven. You use your oven more often than I do, so trust your judgement!

Serve and dig in!