Vegan Nut Loaf
Recipe by : Opies Foods www . opiesfoods . com
This is absolutely perfect as a Christmas Day main course dish for vegan guests .
Ingredients :
• 300g mixed nuts ( such as almonds , hazelnuts , walnuts , pecans or brazil nuts )
• 1 vegan vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil , plus extra for greasing
• 1 onion , finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks , finely chopped
• 1 leek , trimmed and thinly sliced
• 100g chestnut mushrooms , finely chopped
• 1 carrot , peeled and grated
• 1 red pepper , halved , deseeded , and finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• 4 tbsp cashew nut butter
• 170g Opies Pickled Walnuts ( one drained jar ), sliced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried sage
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp soya or almond milk
• 100g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
Method :
1 . Put the nuts and stock cube into a food processor and pulse until chopped into small pieces , but not fully ground . If you don ’ t have a food processor , chop all the nuts as finely as you can .
2 . Preheat the oven to 200 º C / Gas Mark 6 . Lightly oil then line the base of a 900g loaf tin with baking paper .
3 . Heat the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion , leek , celery , mushroom , carrot and pepper for 5 minutes , or until softened , stirring regularly . Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds more .
4 . Tip into a mixing bowl and stir in the cashew nut butter . Add the chopped nuts , pickled walnuts , herbs , lemon zest , milk , breadcrumbs and salt . Season with lots of ground black pepper and stir until thoroughly mixed .
5 . Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin . Press down with a spoon to firmly compact the mixture . Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes . Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes , or until the loaf is hot throughout and lightly browned .
6 . Remove the tin carefully from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before loosening the edges of the loaf with a knife and turn out onto a board or platter . Cut into thick slices and serve with vegan gravy .
Top Tip : Top with some fresh cranberries and serve with cranberry sauce
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