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wc-Nut-Roast

Did you make some New Year’s resolution that is proving hard to fulfill? Less meat in your life?

From Do-Ahead Christmas by James Ramsden here is a nut roast. Yes, you read that correctly and it may quite satisfy your need for “substance.” Here loads of nuts are combined with parsnips, mushroom and cabbage to produce a dense and surely dramatic dish.

Suzi and I will be trying this dish with our “no red meat” daughter. That’s what family is all about: compromise.


Nut Roast

Yield: serves 6-8

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
  • 5-6 outer leaves of a savoy cabbage
  • 1 pound 2 ounces parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 4 Portobello or field mushrooms, sliced
  • ¾ cups hazelnuts, chopped
  • ¾ cup almonds, chopped
  • Generous handful of chopped herbs, such as parsley, thyme, tarragon, chives
  • 2 slices of brown bread, toasted and chopped or torn
  • 2 eggs
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Preparation:

UP TO 3 DAYS AHEAD (MIN. 3 HOURS):

Melt the butter in a large pan and gently sweat the onion, garlic and celery until soft. Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to a boil. Add the cabbage leaves and cook for 30 seconds, then remove with tongs and plunge into a bowl of cold water. Leave until cool, then drain and dry. Boil the parsnips in the same water until tender, then drain.

Add the mushrooms to the onion mixture and gently cook until softened, then add the parsnips, nuts and herbs. Transfer all this to a food processor along with the toast and eggs, and pulse until combined but not too smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Leave to cool completely.

Lightly grease a 6 cup loaf tin with oil or butter. Cut out the tougher ribs from the center of the cabbage leaves, then line the tin with the leaves. Fill with the nut filling, and top with last of the cabbage leaves. Wrap tightly in cling film and chill.

1 HOUR AHEAD:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the top cabbage leaves with olive oil and season with salt. Bake for 45 minutes. The cabbage may start to catch -1 like this, but if you don’t, cover loosely with foil. Keep warm until ready to serve.

TO SERVE:

Tip onto a board, slice, and serve.

FREEZABLE


Source: Do-Ahead Christmas by James Ramsden [Pavilion, 2014]