Nut Roast

Few words when paired together drain the soul of joy quite as much as the foreboding coupling of nut + roast. Obviously there’s the odious David + Cameron or the thoroughly depressing Cold + Play, but these are both far too loathsome to be mentioned in this little corner of the blogosphere. Nut Roast conjures up the image of a pale and sanctimonious vegan listlessly picking at a pile of brown grit as all around fellow diners gleefully tuck into plates of succulent and bloody meats. Of course this is unfair as a good nut roast can be a thing of tasty indulgence especially when accompanied by roasties, Yorkshire pudding and all the usual trimmings.

Although delicious, this was never going to be a very photogenic dish, so instead here is a picture of Chad the dog in full stride. Yumblog sponsors Chad through the Dogs Trust – he is renowned for his teddy bear looks and joie de vivre and even finds the time to send us a handwritten letter every now and then.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Skill level: easy
Serves: 4 – 6
Recipe: Veg Box Recipes

Ingredients

For the roast:

• 1 large onion – finely chopped
• mixed nuts and seeds – such as almonds, cashews, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, etc – 200g
• milk – 150ml
• cornflower – 1 dessertspoon
• vegetable oil – 30ml
• grated nutmeg – 1/2 tsp
• s & p

For the filling:

• 1 medium onion
• stale bread – 150g
• fresh flat leaved parsley (or FLP as we call it in the trade) – 4tbsp when chopped
• olive oil – 6tbsp
• juice and rind of a lemon

Pre-heat the oven to 190C.

Prepare a 1 lb loaf tin by lining it with greaseproof paper and oiling well.

To make the nut roast, put the finely chopped onion in a saucepan with the oil and gently sauté for 10 minutes without browning.

Add the cornflower, stir thoroughly and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the milk, mix together and stir over a gentle heat until the sauce thickens.

Stir in the nuts and nutmeg and season to taste. Set aside.

For the filling, put the bread in a food processor and blitz into breadcrumbs. Set aside in a bowl.

Put the onion and parsley in the food processor and chop finely. Add the breadcrumbs, lemon juice and oil and blend until you have a smooth paste.

Our new MasterChef apron

Put half the nut roast mixture in the bottom of the loaf tin and press down. Add the filling and press down. Top off with the rest of the nut mixture.

Place in the oven and cook for 40 minutes until brown with a firm crust on top.

Turn out onto a plate – at this point it may fall apart, but don’t worry it’s just as tasty.

Verdict: I had reservations about making this as the photograph that went with the recipe made it look so unappetising. However, we were pleasantly surprised as this turned out to be very good indeed, managing to be light, nutty and zesty. I’ve made a few nut roasts in my time and this one is definitely up there with the best. It’s also useful as it can be made at the last moment with ‘store cupboard essentials’ – assuming of course that your store cupboard is full of nuts.

Drink: A few pre-dinner pints down the local and a bottle of red to accompany.

Entertainment: 2 episodes of ‘The Wire’, season 5. That Marlo is a wrongun.