This savoury Chestnut Roast is packed full of flavour and is absolutely perfect through the winter months of roast dinners – making it an ideal centrepiece for a very merry vegan Christmas. 

More About Mia and her Soulful Food...

Hi, I'm Mia, veg and fruit lover extraordinaire. My plant-based journey started with a love for this planet and everyone who's living on it. Through travel, experimenting, and a lot of curiosity, I have discovered just how easy, accessible, and simple (yet diverse, tasty and nutritious!) vegan food can be. It is very important to me that my diet supports all my nutritional needs, and so my recipes focus on finding ways to this whilst also tasting scrumptious!

What I love the most about cooking is the community aspect of it. The joy and comfort of gathering and sharing – how it brings everyone together. My regular recipes and posts are to do just this! I will be sharing my favourite tasty and healthy vegan meals and treats with you. And I hope that you will enjoy looking after yourself by eating them, and of course sharing them with your own tribe, large or small. 

Wishing you lots of love, health and happiness, Mia xx 

The base for this nutloaf is cooked red lentils, butter beans, chestnuts, dried apricots, sundried tomatoes, nuts and fresh thyme. Passata adds moisture and hearty flavour, dried fruit and nuts bring a sweet and salty tone to it, nutmeg and chilli help round everything out adding depth of flavour. All that’s left is to stir in some oats for texture and bake in the oven! 

Chestnuts usually don’t make it to the table as often as they might, at least not in my house. It’s a shame they get a bit overlooked! They are not just delicious but also add creaminess to a dish and give everything a slight sweet touch.

With their bitter flavour Sage, Rosemary and Thyme contribute to keeping our inner warmth by reducing signs of coldness. Apricots are both sweet-and-sour in flavour and have a high copper content, essential to maintain healthy bones, nerves and immune function.

All this is so nutritious on paper, but it’s truly delicious in reality, so it’s time to get cooking and get enjoying!

Ingredients

Serves 8 hungry herbivores

• 1 large onion
• 1 large carrot
• ½ cup cooked chestnuts
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ cup red lentils
• 1 tsp. maple syrup
• 1 cup passata
• 1 cup veg. broth
• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 can butter beans
• 6 dried tomatoes
• 4 dried apricots
• 1 ½ walnuts and cashews
• 1 ½ cups oats (gluten-free) or breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp. ground flax seeds
• 1 tsp tapioca flour
• 5 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• Olive oil
• Spices: Salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, chilli powder
• Herbs: Sage, thyme, rosemary

Preparation 

• Start off by dicing an onion, thinly slicing the carrot, slicing the chestnuts, and chopping or crushing the garlic. Then put all of these into a pan and fry everything in a splash of olive oil on medium heat until tender.
• Once golden add the herbs, red lentils, maple, passata, veg. broth and soy sauce. 
• Let everything simmer and cook down together until the liquid disappears and the lentils are soft (make sure to stir occasionally).
• Then, add nutmeg, chilli powder, salt and pepper. Turn down the heat and let the mixture sit.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• In a food processor mix rinsed butter beans, chopped sundried tomatoes, chopped apricots, nuts and 2 tbsp. olive oil. Process and blend until mostly smooth, but just some tiny chunks are left.
• Add everything to a mixing bowl (add more olive oil if necessary) including oats, ground flax seeds, tapioca flour to bind, and the nutritional yeast. Give everything a good stir. 
• Incorporate the fried vegetables and lentils into the bean-mixture. Stir everything up until really well combined. Have a little taste and add cinnamon, more salt or chilli for heat, to your desired taste. 
• Check if the mixture will hold together ok by scooping out a teaspoon and test forming it with your fingers.
• Use parchment paper to line tray and grease with some olive oil. If you decide to let your loaf ‘free form’, then make sure to put olive oil on your hands (as well as the tray) to ensure it doesn’t stick.  
• If you opt for a bread tin, firmly pack the loaf mixture in there. Otherwise, let the loaf ‘free form’ and lie it on the prepared baking tray. Either way, once done, let it rest for roughly 30minutes to make everything bond better.
• Last step: brush loafs with some olive oil and passata sauce.
• Depending on your oven put it in for 1- 1 ½ h hours (check after one hour). You will know it is ready when it is nice and golden, crispy on top, and when you pop a sharp knife into the centre, it comes out clean. Once it's cooked allow it cool off a little (and solidify) and then you can cut into nice thick slices. 

Note: This Delicious Vegan Nutloaf can be made in advance and frozen – either cooked or uncooked. I prefer to freeze it uncooked.

If you love this, then you will love my other Soulful Vegan Recipes from around the world… Just click for my Beautiful Buddha Bowl, Perfect Vegan Cacao Pancakes, Delicious Vegan Dahl, Vegan Carrot Cake, Beetroot with Lentils & Polenta, Tropical Thunder Green Smoothie, Fabulous Fried Rice Recipe, Fennel And Chickpea Salad With Zesty Dressing, Warming Winter Ginger Granola (Vegan, of course!) & Sassy Veg and Coconut Super Stew.

Until next time, sending lots of love, health and wellness to you. Mia xx