Vegan nut roast recipe
A nut roast is a fantastic alternative to a meat main course or traditional Christmas dinner. This delicious vegan nut roast recipe is full of hearty veg – butternut squash, aubergine, red pepper – as well as nuts, herbs and green olives for flavour and texture. Cooked in a round tin, it makes a showstopper main with its bright pomegranate garnish. What’s more, it’s vegan-friendly too.
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced
- 1 head garlic, cloves peeled
- 4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
- 1 aubergine, diced into 1cm/0.5inch cubes
- 8 small shallots, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced into 1cm/0.5inch pieces
- 1 x 400g/14oz tin chickpeas, drained
- 125 g blanched almonds, toasted
- 125 g shelled pistachios
- 15 g rosemary, leaves picked
- 15 g thyme, leaves picked, reserving a few sprigs to garnish
- 15 g parsley, leaves picked
- 100 g pitted green olives, roughly chopped
- 60 g fresh breadcrumbs
- 0.5 lemon, juice only
- 40 g pomegranate seeds, to serve
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Butternut squash
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 40 mins
- Cooking Time: 70 mins
- Serves: 8
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Grease a 23cm/9inch, round deep tin with a little oil and line the base with baking paper.
- Toss the diced butternut squash with the garlic cloves and 2 tbsp of the oil in a large bowl. Spread out over a large roasting tin and cook for 15-20 mins, or until soft, turning once halfway through cooking.
- While the squash is cooking, heat a large, heavy frying pan over a medium heat with 1 tbsp oil. Add the aubergine and cook for 10-15 mins until softened and well browned, then transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the remaining oil to the frying pan along with the shallots. Cook for 5-10 mins until softened, then add the pepper and cook for further 5 mins. Add to the bowl with the aubergine and set aside.
- Once cooked, add the squash and roasted garlic cloves to a food processor and pulse until you have a chunky purée, then transfer to the bowl with the aubergine mixture.
- Add the drained chickpeas, almonds, pistachios (reserving a few to garnish) and herbs to the food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Add to the bowl along with the chopped olives, breadcrumbs and lemon juice. Season well and mix everything together until thoroughly combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over the top. Bake for 50-55 mins, or until the top is golden. Allow to rest for 5 mins in the tin, then loosen the edges with a knife and carefully turn out onto a serving plate.
- Garnish with the pomegranate seeds, reserved pistachios and thyme sprigs before slicing into wedges to serve.
This recipe is courtesy Tesco Real Food.
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