Keep all your guests happy with our nut loaf which doubles up as an impressive vegetarian main-course and meat-free stuffing to tuck into alongside the turkey
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
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Ingredients
3 medium parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
150g cashew nuts, plus extra to garnish
75g pistachios, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish
40g dried cranberries, plus extra to garnish
125g fresh breadcrumbs - use gluten-free if required
125g fresh breadcrumbs
2 tsp chopped rosemary (or ½ tsp dried)
2 tsp chopped thyme or oregano (or ½ tsp dried), plus extra to garnish
zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
1 medium egg, beaten
125ml vegetable stock, made using ½ stock cube - use gluten-free if required
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Step by step
Grease and line a 900g loaf tin (about 10cm x 20cm base). Cook the parsnips in boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and cook the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt for 10-15 minutes until softened but not too browned.
Grind the cashews finely in a food processor then tip into a bowl. Add the mashed parsnips, garlicky onions, and all the remaining ingredients. Mix well, adding some seasoning. Tip into the tin and press down firmly. Cover with greased foil and chill for at least an hour to firm up before cooking.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5 (it can be cooked in the same oven as the turkey if you wish). Cook for 1 hour, then remove the foil and cook for a further 15 minutes to crisp up.
Let it rest for 15-30 minutes, loosely covered with foil. To serve, turn out onto a board or platter and garnish as you wish with extra cashews, pistachios, cranberries and thyme leaves. Don’t forget vegetarian gravy if serving as a veggie main.
To make a vegan nut roast, use an extra tbsp of oil in place of butter, no cheese and 3 tbsp egg replacer. Bake your nut roast for 1 hour. The loaf will still be soft in the middle after cooking. It can be cooked in advance and then chilled, sliced and reheated to make it easier to serve.
A large amount of starches is why raw cashews are so soft and sometimes even a bit chewy, so roasting them will develop a deep rich flavor with a crunchy texture.
If you try to slice it when it is very hot it may crumble. If all else fails, cook the roast before the big day. Chill down overnight, then slice into portions. These slices can be reheated in a warm oven when you're ready.
Nut roasts are a popular vegetarian option. They're high in calories because of the fats in nuts, although these are generally the healthier unsaturated kind. A 120g portion of nut roast contains an extra 10g of fat and 72kcal more than an average portion of roast chicken.
Certainly, to freeze, allow the Nut Roast to cool and cut into slices/portions.Wrap in tin foil and freeze slices individually. The great thing is this Christmas Nut Roast can be cooked from frozen, simply pop a tin foil parcel in the oven and cook for 30 minutes at 200C / 390F.
Storing: This nut roast keeps very well in a covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days and can be served cold or reheated in the microwave. Freezing: It is also freezer friendly if you'd like to freeze it. Let it cool completely before freezing and then thaw in the fridge overnight.
Preheat oven to 350-degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread cashews onto prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between them. Bake for 10-12 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes. Cashews are done when they are lightly browned and smell nutty and fragrant.
Poor quality cashews are often reported as having a “fishy” taste, and poor cooking methods may lead to a burned flavor. The use of old oil can also cause this burnt taste.
Go towards a herby style of wine to match the herby flavours of the nut roast or wellington. A red blend from the Rhône or the Languedoc-Roussillon, such as Les Clos Perdus, Mire La Mer, Corbieres 2013, will work perfectly, as it shows those classic rosemary and thyme notes of the garrigue.
Exploring nut pairings with vegetables offers a delightful fusion of textures and tastes. Envision the creamy smoothness of nut butter juxtaposed with the juiciness of veggies. Drizzle almond spread over crisp, steamed green beans for a dish rich in texture.
The flavor is (not surprisingly) nutty! For those wondering, it does not generally taste like meat. The specific flavors depend on what you put into your roast, but to give you a general idea, it tends to have the kind of mild savory flavor that you might expect from Thanksgiving stuffing.
A nut roast or roasted nut loaf is a vegetarian dish consisting of nuts, grains, vegetable oils, broth or butter, and seasonings formed into a firm loaf shape or long casserole dish before roasting and often eaten as an alternative to a traditional British style roast dinner.
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Prep time: 45 mins
