Two Festive Vegan Recipes sure to stir your Christmas Spirit!

Hearty Nut Roast

The wonderful seasoning of this hearty nut roast will delight your stomach. Whether for Christmas or special occasions, this nutty wreath will steal all the other dishes’ thunder. Why not try your hand at making this festive nut roast from the Avant-Garde Vegan, Gaz Oakley?

Ingredients

For the nut roast

3tbsp olive oil

1 red onion finely chopped

1 celery stalk finely chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 leek finely chopped

200g butternut squash peeled and deseeded, cut into small cubes

60g cooked chestnuts or hazelnuts coarsely chopped

½ tsp pimento ground

¼ tsp cinnamon ground

1 sprig rosemary fresh needles, finely chopped

10 leaves sage fresh leaves, finely chopped

1 orange organic quality, zest and juice thereof

140g mixed nuts

165g chickpeas canned

45g breadcrumbs

50g cranberries dried, coarsely chopped

50g apricots dried, coarsely chopped

50g tomatoes sundried, coarsely chopped

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1tbsp white miso paste

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp marmite

Sea salt to taste

Pepper to taste

For the cranberry and orange juice

75g cranberries fresh

¼ tsp ginger freshly grated

¼ small stick cinnamon

¼ apples grated

50g sugar

60ml orange juice freshly squeezed

Instructions

For the nut roast

1. Grease a 25 cm diameter wreath mould. If the mould does not have a non-stick coating, it must be lined with baking paper.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on a medium heat. Add the onions, celery, garlic, leek, pumpkin, aubergine, and chestnuts and sauté for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add the spices, herbs, and a little salt and pepper, along with the orange juice and zest. Reduce the temperature and continue steaming the vegetables for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and the flavours have had time to develop.

3. Meanwhile, use the pulse setting on a blender to finely chop the nuts. Add the chickpeas and roughly mix them into the mixture using a few short pulses, but do not blend them completely. Pour the mixture into the pot, add the breadcrumbs, cranberries, apricots, and tomatoes, then carefully stir them all in.

4. Mix in the vinegar, miso paste, yeast flakes, and Marmite. Sauté for 3–4 minutes, then turn off the heat.

For the cranberry and orange sauce

5. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a heavy-bottomed pot and lightly heat over a low temperature. Cover the pot and let the mixture simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Spread the cranberry and orange sauce on the bottom of the wreath mould.

6. To finish: Pour the nuts-and-vegetable mixture into the mould and spread it evenly. Press it into the mould as firmly as possible. Cover the surface with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 30–35 minutes.

7. Leave the roast to cool slightly in the mould after you take it out of the oven, then turn it over onto a serving platter. Garnish as desired and serve.

Vegan Linzer Cookies

Linzer cookies, also known as Hilda rolls, are true classics of winter season baking treats. But these crumbly biscuits with a jam center taste fantastic all year round. Try this great recipe by Bianca Zapatka!

Ingredients

300g all-purpose flour or light spelt or wheat flour

50g ground almonds blanched

80g sugar

1 pinch bourbon vanilla ground

1 pinch lemon zest

175g margarine or cold, plant-based butter

3 tbsp soy milk cold (alternatively, use another plant-based milk)

100g Jam

Icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, ground almonds, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest.

2. Then mix in margarine or vegan butter and plant milk until a smooth dough forms.

3. Form the dough into a ball shape, wrap in cling film and let set in the fridge for about 1 hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

5. Remove the ball from the fridge and roll it out to be approximately 3 mm thick with a rolling pin on a flour-dusting surface.

6. Cut out or shape cookies as desired. I made round circles.

7. Cut out half of the biscuits with a smaller heart cookie cutter in the middle.

8. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 8-10 minutes. Then allow them to cool.

9. Warm the jam in a saucepan to make it more liquid.

10. Spread a bit of jam on each bottom piece with a pastry brush and place the top piece with a heart on top. Then fill the hearts with jam.

11. Leave to cool until the jam has become firm again. Dust with icing sugar as desired and enjoy!