Christmas chestnut roast

The chestnut and cranberry roast was my substitute for the Christmas turkey at my work Christmas party, it was like nut loaf and stuffing balls all wrapped up in one dish!

I baked the roast in a round cake pan and cut wedges, just to visually change things up a bit, but you could bake in a loaf pan or form balls if you preferred. For for extra crispy roasted edges, use the 'double bake' technique detailed here in my regular nut roast.

This is a great seasonal dish and is so simple to throw together... particularly if you cheat a little like I did and buy pre-cooked chestnuts (shhh, I was pushed for time!). I added a few dried cranberries for an extra flavour boost but they are not essential.  I used my regular nut roast as a guide, knowing that the versatile recipe would be likely to lend itself to such variations.

Recipe: Christmas chestnut roast

Ingredients:

1 cup coarsely chopped cooked chestnuts (I briefly pulsed in a food processor)
1/2 cup chopped cashews/pinenuts
approx. 1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)
2 tbs olive oil
1 large onion- diced
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 carrots- grated
1 medium parsnip- grated
1 cup white beans- mashed
1 cup cooked quinoa (or cooked rice or oats*)
2 heaped tbs tapioca flour
1/4 cup fresh herbs (parsley/thyme/rosemary)
1/2 tsp mixed spice/nutmeg
2 tbs soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
water (if needed- I never need it)

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Grind nuts and set aside. Sauté vegetables in olive oil for 5 mins until soft. 

Mix all ingredients in large bowl adding sautéed vegetables to it. Mix and mash together well and add a little water only if needed to achieve a sticky (but not wet) consistency. Add more oats (or another carbohydrate of choice) if mixture is too wet. 

Press mixture firmly into a greased 9" cake pan or equivalent loaf tin. Bake for approx. 45 minutes until golden.

(Apologies these last couple of photos are a bit dark and blue, the light was fading at the time of the shoot and when usually I would have quickly tweaked the colour and brightness in Photoshop I am lacking in my tool set until I get a new laptop....managing as best I can for the time being!)

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

‘Twelve Days’ day 12: sweet chestnut pancakes with cranberry compote

It’s come around at last…day ‘12’ is here!

So that must also mean that Christmas is just around the corner. (*super excited face*)

However, I must make one small apology…. 

When I announced my ‘12 days’ I also mentioned throwing a few savoury recipes in too….hmmm not so much! It wasn’t planned that way, it was simply that cake overwhelmed me and I got a little carried away. Oh well. There are worse things than cake and it is the name of this blog after all!

I will try to make it up to you little in the last few days before Christmas, as I am planning on a savoury round up- a ‘buffet bites’ type post if you like to give a little boost of inspiration to carry you through the Christmas period. I for one need a bit of a savoury kick- the amount of cake, cookie, frosting and pancake testing I’ve had to do in these last few weeks…it’s a hard life!!

So here you have it- the recipe for today. The perfect Christmas pancake brunch, sweet chestnut pancakes with a cranberry compote. Sweetly spiced and fruity, the perfect warming start to Christmas morning.

I bought my chestnut puree in a can in the local supermarket, I would assume this is readily available wherever you are- if not I guess you could blend your own (but that is just a guess!) or you could try an alternative pancake recipe along the lines of this blueberry pancake recipe, I imagine this would work just as well substituting the blueberries for cranberries and adding some Christmassy spices.

Recipe: sweet chestnut pancakes with cranberry compote

Ingredients

Pancakes:

1/3 cup mix of wholemeal spelt flour

1 tbs ground flax plus 2 tbs hot water

1/3 cup chestnut puree

¾ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

½  tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tbs agave (omit if you prefer a more savoury pancake base)

Approx. ½ cup soy milk (or milk of choice) use more or less to achieve a batter that pours thickly.

Topping:

2 large handfuls fresh cranberries

1 tbs rapadura

4 tbs water

Soy yogurt (or others yoghurt/cream)

Maple syrup

Cinnamon

Makes approx. 4 pancakes to feed one or two (feel free to double, quadruple of whatever multiples you need to feed the crowds!)

Method

To make the cranberry compote, add the fresh cranberries to a small sauce pan along with the rapadura and water. Simmer and stir ever minute or so for approx. 10 mins.

Meanwhile to make the pancakes, mix the flax with the hot water an set aside to gel for a couple of minutes. Mix the chestnut puree, soy milk, agave and vanilla in a small bowl then add the flax mix. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add the wet and mix to get a thick but smooth batter. Spoon large dollops on a lightly oiled hot frying pan and fry till golden for a minute or so each side.

Serve topped with soy yoghurt and cranberry compote along with maple syrup and a dusting of cinnamon as desired.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.