November 7, 2021
Vegan nut roast
Ingredients
- 50 g pine nuts , plus extra for decorating
- 50 g linseed
- 50 g sunflower seeds
- 100 g unsweetened chestnut purée
- 50 g gluten-free vegetarian suet
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- gluten-free flour , for dusting
- SPINACH TOPPING:
- 300 g chestnut mushrooms
- rapeseed oil
- 260 g baby leaf spinach , or frozen chopped spinach
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 ripe avocado
- 100 g silken tofu
- 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
- 1 squeeze of lemon juice
- ¼ of a sweet potato
- olive oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
- Spread out the nuts and seeds on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, along with the chestnut purée, suet and maple syrup, and blitz until it comes together into a ball. It will be sticky to begin with, so stop and scrape the sides as you go.
- Place a large sheet of greaseproof paper on a work surface and sit the dough on it. Then, with lots of gluten-free flour on your hands and rolling pin, roll out the dough as thinly as possible (less than 5mm).
- If you’re making individual tartlets, oil and flour four 10cm loose-bottomed tart tins, then cut the pastry to size. For 1 large tart, roll out the dough and cut to the size of a large, shallow baking tin, and transfer to the tin using a fish slice.
- Prick the pastry all over with a fork, cover with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans or rice and bake blind for 12 to 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the tray, and keep the oven on.
- Meanwhile, slice the mushrooms. Heat 1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil in a pan over a medium heat, then sauté the mushrooms for 6 to 8 minutes, until golden. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pan, heat 1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil and wilt the spinach (or heat through if frozen) along with the pepper. Blitz the spinach, avocado flesh, tofu, nutmeg and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth.
- Thinly slice the sweet potato using a vegetable peeler or mandolin, creating a pile of peelings. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a small pan, then fry the peelings over a high heat, turning occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes, until just turning crisp.
- Assemble the tart by spreading the spinach mixture over the baked and cooled tart base. Lay the mushrooms on top, and decorate with the sweet potato slivers and a scattering of toasted pine nuts. Eat at room temperature, or heat it up, if you like.