Food & recipes

Healthy Eating: Veggie Xmas recipes from top chef Rose Elliot

By Rose Elliot

Queen of meat-free cooking, Rose Elliot,shares her favourite festive dishes

Queen of meat-free cooking, Rose Elliot,shares her favourite festive dishes
Why not mix things up a little this year and ditch the turkey for a delicious nut roast? We’ve managed to get our hands on what top chef, Rose Elliot, will be cooking her clan. “For many vegetarians a nut roast is as traditional as the turkey. In my family, it’s non-negotiable,” she explains.With these mouth-watering dishes you and your guests can still enjoy all the extra trimmings, for the tastiest,healthiest Christmas dinner ever!

NUT ROAST WITH HERB STUFFING

MAKES 12 LARGE SLICES

For the nut layers

25g of butter
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
600g of cashew nuts finely ground– an electric coffee mill is great for this
300g of fresh soft wholemeal breadcrumbs
Juice of 2 lemons
4-12 tbsp of vegetable stock
Grated nutmeg, salt and pepper

For the green stuffing layer in the middle

200g of fresh wholemealbreadcrumbs
Grated rind of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp of dried mixed herbs
8 tbsp of chopped parsley
100g of butter

To make the nut mixture, fry the onions in the butter and olive oil for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Mix the cashew nuts,bread crumbs, lemon juice and enough stock to make a firm but moist mixture. Season with salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg
For the stuffing, put all the ingredients into a food processor and whiz to a green paste.
To assemble the roast, grease a 900g loaf tin with butter or olive oil and line with a strip of non-stick paper to cover the baseand narrow sides. Press half of the nut mixture into the tin. Put the stuffing on top of the white mixture. Top with the rest of the nut mixture and press down
Cover with a piece of non-stick paper and a top covering of foil.Bake at 190ºC for 45 minutes,then take the coverings off and bake for a further 15 minutes, until golden brown.

On the side

PERFECT SPROUTS

SERVES AS MANY AS YOU LIKE!

Sprouts
Water
Knob of butter
Grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Trim off outer leaves as necessary and cut each sprout in half. This makes all the difference as they cook quickly right through, with no soggy centre. Put them into a pan containing 2cm of boiling water. When the water comes back to the boil, put a lid on the pan and set the timer for three minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set on one side. Then drain the sprouts, add a knob of butter and salt, freshly-ground black pepper and grated nutmeg to taste, and serve.

CRUNCHY GOLDEN ROAST POTATOES

SERVES 6

1.2kg of Maris Piper potatoes
Rapeseed oil
3 tbsp of flour

Peel the potatoes and cut into smallish chunks. Boil in water to cover until tender enough to get a knife in easily, but not breaking up –this takes 15-18 minutes.
Drain well but gently, return the potatoes to the pan,scatter the flour and shake the pan, until all of the potatoes are lightly coated.
Pour enough rapeseed oil into a large roasting tin to lightly coat the base. Heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes,or until the oil is smoking hot, then quickly put in the potatoes. Don’t bother to turn them at this stage.Roast for about one hour,turning them over in the oil after 10-15 minutes, and every 15 minutes after.

VEGGIE GRAVY

SERVES 6

½ butternut squash, seeds discarded
Olive oil for brushing
1 medium onion, finely chopped
500-800ml of water
1-2 tsp of bouillon powder
1-2 tbsp of shoyu or dark soy sauce

Rub the butternut squash on both sides with olive oil, place on a baking sheet and roast in a moderate oven until tender.
Meanwhile fry the onion in a tablespoonful of olive oil until lightly browned.
Put the squash, including its skin,into a food processor with the onion and some of the water, and whiz until smooth. Add enough water to make the consistency you like, and add bouillon powder and soy sauce.

CHEF SAYS

“Roast the squash when you have the oven on for something else. Although you only need half, you should roast the whole squash and use the second half to make some soup.”

Article by

Rose Elliot

Chef

The queen of meat free cooking

Article by

Rose Elliot

Chef

The queen of meat free cooking