Nut Roast
- Yield 8
- Prep 30 minutes
- Total 30 minutes
Nut Roast is a dinner recipe on Avoteb. The yield on the card is 8. Plan on 30 minutes from start to plate. The amounts and the method are both on this page.
Ingredients
Yield: 8 servings
- 1 cup (200 grams) green or brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small white onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1 large carrot, finely diced
- 1 small red bell pepper, cored and finely diced
- 8 ounces (225 grams) baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped*
- 4 large cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 large handfuls baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 10 ounces (300 grams) mixed nuts, finely chopped*
- 5 ounces (140 grams) dried apricots, finely chopped
- zest and juice (about 1/4 cup) of 1 small orange
- 3 eggs, whisked*
Method
Leave the lentils. Mix the lentils with 4 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Warm over medium-a hot burner until the water reaches a vigorous let it bubble gently. Lower heat to medium-low to maintain the let it bubble gently, cover and cook until the lentils are completely tender, about 20-30 minutes. Tip off the lentils completely using a strainer, and keep nearby until later.
Prep oven and bread pan. Warm the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 9 x 5-inch bread pan with parchment paper.
Sauté the veggies and herbs. While that cooks, heat the olive oil over medium-a hot burner in a large sauté pan. Tip in the onion, carrot and bell pepper and sauté for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Tip in the mushrooms and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are softened and most of the liquid in the pan has evaporated. Tip in the spinach, sage, rosemary, smoked paprika, and thyme. Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Lift pan from heat.
Mix all ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the cooked lentils, cooked veggie mixture, nuts, dried apricots, and orange juice and zest. Turn until the mixture is evenly combined.
Taste and season. Before the cook add the eggs, go ahead and give the mixture a taste and season it with salt and pepper as needed. (The level of saltiness will vary considerably based on the type of nuts you used, but you will likely need to add a generous amount of salt and pepper, so don't be shy!)
Purée or mash part of the mixture. If you own a food processor, move about 1/3 of the mixture to a food processor and pulse a few times until the mixture is fairly puréed. (Or alternately, use a potato masher to mash about 1/3 of the mixture on one side of the mixing bowl until it is puréed.) Stir the puréed mixture back into the overall mixture along with the whisked eggs until everything is evenly combined.
Press the mixture into the pan. Move the entire nut loaf mixture into the prepared bread pan, packing it down fairly firmly (which will help the loaf to slice more easily later).
Roast Roast uncovered for about 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the loaf is cooked through. (the cook also like to remove the roast about 5 minutes before it has finished baking to brush the top of the roast with a bit of melted butter or oil to help it crisp up on top during those final few minutes in the oven, but this step is totally skippable. Alternately, if the top of the roast starts to get too browned during cooking, just gently lay a sheet of aluminum foil on top of the bread
Rest the nut roast. Move the pan to a wire cutting rack and let the nut roast rest for about 15-20 minutes.
Plate Carefully lift the edges of the parchment paper up to remove the nut roast from the pan and move it to a cutting board. Take a bread knife to slice the roast into your desired size of pieces. Then serve warm with gravy or cranberry sauce and enjoy!
