Nut Roast

Nuts & Bolts of Vegetarian Cuisine…

Sharing a house with a vegetarian shortly after leaving college gave me plenty of opportunity to experiment with vegetarian cuisine. A general misconception at the time was that vegetarians only ate salad or steamed vegetables, it did not take me long to discover that using the right ingredients & a little imagination you can recreate the essence of almost any meat or fish dish. For a number of years a variation of this nut roast complete with a layer of fresh herb stuffing served with homemade cranberry sauce took pride of place on our Christmas table….  JJ

Ingredients & Costing…
Spanish Onion x 1 finely diced	0.33
Fat Clove of Garlic x 2 crushed	0.10
Butter x 25gm	0.12
Pine Kernels x 50gm toasted	0.88
Hazelnuts x 75gm toasted	0.67
Walnuts x 50gm ground	0.44
Cashew Nuts x 50gm ground	0.88
Wholemeal Breadcrumbs x 100gm	0.20
Mixed Herbs x 2 tblsp	0.10
Nutmeg x pinch	0.05
Egg x 1 (free range) beaten	0.24
Vegetable Stock x 250ml	0.18
Freshly Ground Black Pepper	0.05
Maldon Sea Salt	0.05
4 Hearty Portions	€4.29

It Couldn’t be easier…

æ      Melt the butter in a medium heavy based saucepan, sauté the onion & garlic for 5 minutes, remove pan from the heat & allow to cool

æ      Toast the pine kernels & hazelnuts (this enhances their flavour), allow to cool & grind the toasted nuts in a blender

æ      In a mixing bowl combine the pine kernels, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashew nuts, breadcrumbs, dried herbs & nutmeg, stir well to ensure ingredients are thoroughly mixed

æ      Add the onion & garlic, stock, beaten egg & season generously with freshly ground black pepper & sea salt

æ      Pile the mixture into a greased, lined loaf tin & press down well. Place on the centre shelf of a preheated oven (gas mark 4) & cook for 30 minutes – a knife inserted in the centre of the loaf should come out clean

æ      Serve with  steamed vegetables, roast potatoes & red wine jus

Seed of Doubt…

Although it is generally agreed that eating nuts is healthy for you there appears to be a lot of conflicting information regarding exactly “how” healthy. Also, surprisingly most “nuts” are actually seeds surrounded by a very hard stony or woody wall… JJ