Lentil nut roast (vegetarian nut roast)

Lentil nut roast is a vegetarian nut roast made using nuts, lentils and quinoa and makes a tasty plant based alternative for a roast dinner.

It is a perfect for a Sunday roast, special occasions such as Christmas dinner and is great for weekday meals too. It pairs well with roast potatoes, potato wedges, hasselback carrots and roast sprouts or salads.

It can be prepared ahead of time for convenience and served either hot or cold. It also freezes well.

The ingredients in this lentil nut roast recipe are sufficient for a 25 cm long by 11 cm wide and 8cm deep loaf tin (or equivalent size).

Ingredients for nut roast

• 1 large onion - use any type of onion of your choice.

• 3 cloves garlic - finely chopped.

• 1 teaspoon chopped chilli - use either a fresh of dried chilli, finely chopped.

• 1 medium sweet potato - select a sweet potato approximately 400g in weight, or part of a larger sweet potato.

• 400g tin chopped tomatoes - if you have a tin of whole plum tomatoes, chop before using using a knife rather than a food processor.

• 130g dried red lentils - dried red lentils are ideal for this recipe as they thicken the lentil and vegetable mixture.

• 3 teaspoons paprika - use either smoked or unsmoked paprika depending on your preference.

• 3 teaspoons oregano - this will add to the roundness of flavour. You could substitute other dried herbs such as mixed herbs or herbes de Provenance.

• Vegetable stock - use sufficient stock to cook the lentil and vegetable mixture. Add a little at a time and add extra stock or water if needed.

• 100g cooked quinoa - you can use wither red or white quinoa or a mixture of the two.

• 100g chopped nuts - a variety of nuts could be used such as almonds, hazelnuts, mixed nuts, Brazil nuts, etc.

• 2 tablespoons flax seeds - these will help to bind the other ingredients. You could substitute 2 eggs for the flax seeds but this would make a vegetarian nut roast rather than a vegan nut roast. If you use eggs you may need slightly less liquid to cook the lentils.

• Dash of olive oil - this is used to cook the onion, garlic, sweet potato and chilli before adding the other nut roast ingredients.

How to make nut roast

Chop the onion and chilli, finely chop the garlic and peel and dice the sweet potato.

Lightly roast the onion, sweet potato, garlic and chilli in the olive oil. Add the lentils, chopped tomatoes, paprika, oregano, sufficient vegetable stock to cover, season and stir. Cook in a medium oven for around 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked. Check during the cooking time and add extra vegetable stock or water, a little at a time, as necessary.

Place the cooked quinoa, chopped nuts and flax seeds in a large bowl.

Add the cooked vegetable and lentil mixture to the bowl of quinoa, nuts and flax seeds and mix well. The flax seeds will combine with the liquid in the mixture to act as flax egg to bind the ingredients together so it is important to make sure they are evenly mixed.

Line a 25 cm long by 11 cm wide and 8cm deep (or equivalent size) loaf tin with non-stick paper or baking parchment. Pack the mixture into the loaf tin and level the top with the back of a spoon. Loosely cover with foil.

How to bake

Bake in the centre of the oven at 180^oC, 350^oF, gas mark 4 for around 30 minutes. Remove the foil and return to the oven until cooked. The loaf will be cooked when it is firm to the touch over the whole surface. If you have an Aga cook the nut roast as above on the the grid shelf on the floor of the roasting oven.

Leave to cool in the loaf tin for at least 30 minutes and then turn out onto a serving plate or board. The loaf will be easier to slice the longer it is left.

To serve

• Lentil nut roast can be served either hot or cold.
• Serve as part of a roast dinner or family meal alongside roast veggies and topped with tomato chutney or red onion chutney.
• Serve cold with salad and spicy potato wedges.

To store

1. The cooked nut roast can be sliced, covered and stored in the fridge for a couple of days.
2. Individual slices of nut roast can be frozen. The easiest way to do this is to place the slices on a plastic sheet in the freezer and then transfer to an airtight container. This will enable you to defrost and cook whatever quantity you wish.

Tips

1. Leave the cooked nut roast to cool for at least half an hour before attempting to slice.
2. Don't freeze slices of nut roast together in a block as they will be difficult to separate when frozen.
3. When cooking the quinoa it is useful to cook extra to store in the fridge or freezer ready to use in another recipe such as roast vegetable salad with quinoa, sweet peppers with Stilton and quinoa or mushrooms with blue cheese and quinoa.

Other vegetarian meal ideas

Take a look at some other easy vegetarian recipes.