Nut roast wreath with sage crisps
Make this vegan nut roast in the shape of a wreath and decorate with aromatic sage crisps and orange slices for the perfect festive dish. Recipe and image from A Very Vegan Christmas mini cookbook (£5, Viva!), veganrecipeclub.org.uk. Recipe: Maryanne Hall, photography: Niki Webster.
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 50 mins
Total: 1 hr 10 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Vegan butter
- 1 Red onion (diced)
- ½ Leek (sliced)
- 1 Carrot (finely diced)
- 3 Garlic cloves (crushed)
- 100g Mushrooms (diced)
- 100g Ready-to-use puy lentils
- 150g Vacuum-packed chestnuts (roughly chopped)
- 200g Mixed nuts (roughly chopped)
- 50g Dried cranberries (chopped)
- 8 Sun-dried tomatoes (roughly chopped)
- 150g Breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp Tomato purée
- 2 tsp Yeast extract
- 1 tbsp Maple syrup
- 300ml Vegan stock
- 1 Orange (juice and zest)
- ½ tsp Ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp Allspice
- 2 tsp Rosemary (chopped)
- 1 tbsp Thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp Nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp Ground flax seed mixed with 4 tbsp warm water (this is the flax egg)
- Salt and black pepper
- Vegetable oil
- 20g Fresh sage leaves (stalks removed)
- Dried orange slices, nuts and cranberries (to decorate)
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Using a large frying pan or wok, heat the vegan butter on a medium heat and sweat the onion, leek, carrot and garlic until soft. Stir through the mushrooms and heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Step 2
Add the lentils, chestnuts, mixed nuts, cranberries, sun-dried tomatoes, breadcrumbs, tomato purée, yeast extract, syrup and stock. Continue to heat on medium until the stock has absorbed, stirring occasionally. Then add the orange juice and zest, nutmeg, allspice, rosemary, thyme, nutritional yeast, flax egg, 1-2 tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper and combine well.
Step 3
Thoroughly coat the inside of a 24cm non-stick bundt/ring cake tin with a neutral oil then pour in the nut roast mixture, spreading evenly. Press the mixture down firmly. Place a ring of greaseproof paper or foil over the top to stop it browning too quickly. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until golden and firm. Check after 30 minutes – if it’s not firming up, remove the greaseproof paper ring and bake until golden and firm. After removing from the oven, allow the nut roast to cool slightly before turning it out of the tin.
Step 4
For the sage crisps, heat approximately 1cm depth of oil in a medium sized saucepan on a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the sage leaves in batches for 30 seconds – 1 minute before removing with a slotted spoon. Drain on kitchen roll, then lightly sprinkle with salt.
Step 5
When ready to serve, decorate the wreath with the sage crisps, plus dried orange slices, nuts and dried cranberries, if desired.
