Day 10 - Nut Roast

I love nut roast!  I started making nut roast years ago as a vegetarian friendly meal and gradually perfected my recipe.  Unfortunately it relied pretty heavily on eggs and cheese.  So I have been working on a new vegan friendly version.   It has taken a few trial runs (which were all great but not perfect) but I can now say I make a pretty mean Vegan Nut Roast!

Nut Roast has a fabulous texture.

Team it with some vegetables that have been roasted to caramelized delightfulness, gravy and a variety of steamed veggies, and your taste buds will be in heaven.

Look at that cheeky pea that has jumped in the corn and spoiled my presentation!

Here is the recipe for my nut roast.  It doesn't take too long to make and you will be well rewarded for your efforts.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 largish onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried thyme or couple sprigs fresh thyme
250gm mushrooms, finely chopped
2½ cups raw nuts.  I use approximately 1 cup Brazil Nuts, 1 cup Cashews, ½ cup Almonds
1 cup bread crumbs
300gm silken tofu (optional)
½ cup veggie stock (increase to ~1 cup if you leave out the tofu)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.  (If you are making roast veggies as well I suggest you get them started straight away so they can get nice and roasty!  Some fresh rosemary won't go astray in your veggie roasting pan.)
2. Grease and/or line your loaf tin.
3. Fry the onions over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and fry for a few more minutes until the onions are starting to brown.
4. Add the mushrooms and thyme and fry for about 5 minutes.
5. Process the nuts in a food processor until they are close to bread crumbs.  A few bigger bits will add a nice texture so don't over process.
6. Empty the nuts into a large bowl.  Then use the food processor to whiz the silken tofu until it is soft and creamy.
7. Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl.
8. Fill the loaf tin with the mixture and press down firmly.   Smooth the top.
9. Bake at 200°C for 50minutes.
10.  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing.  If you try slicing it up to soon it will just crumble.
11.  Delicious served with roast veggies, steamed veggies and gravy.  Also super delicious the next day in a sandwich with tomato sauce, or mustard, avocado and salad.

You can make up a couple of loaves at once.  Freeze the uncooked Nut Roast in a loaf tin.  When it is frozen you can remove it from the loaf tin if you need the tin for something else.  When you are in the mood for Nut Roast just remove it from the freezer, allow to defrost overnight in the fridge or ~ 6 hours on the kitchen bench.  Then bake as per step 9.

The tofu is not essential for flavor but I think it makes the loaf much nicer.  It keeps the loaf moist and helps bind it together so that it doesn't crumble too much. 

Nut Roast is perfect for dinner parties, and most meat eaters will enjoy it too!