This delicious roast comes from Rose Eliot’s Vegetarian Cookbook and it serves 8 people. Accompany it with vegetarian gravy (recipe to follow) sprouts, cauliflower, roasted root vegetables, shallots and peppers, and in fact if you want you can use non-vegetarian accompaniements for other guests – stuffed bacon curls, chipolattas etc. Cranberry or redcurrnat sauce also go well.

Brazil Nut Roast en Croûte

Buy 1lb puff pastry
Beaten egg to glaze – optional
Preheat oven to 200c

For the Nut Roast
2 lge onions (I add 2 cloves garlic as well )
2 oz butter
1lb brazil nuts ground or finely chopped (I like them with a bit of bite left)
8oz fresh breadcrumbs (can be wholemeal)
½ tsp thyme
3tbs lemon juice
2 eggs (optional) (but it does help bind!)
A good pinch each grated nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon (½ tsp of each) )
Salt and ground black pepper to taste (it needs a fair bit)
For the Stuffing
8oz white bread crumbs
1 oz chopped parsley
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp each thyme and marjoram (I prefer thyme and sage)
1 tbsp grated onion (I use half a chopped onion)
3 oz butter
Season to taste

To Make Nut Roast
Fry onion in the butter for 10 mins ‘til soft not brown
Remove from heat and Add the rest of the nut roast ingredients
Season and taste.
To Make stuffing
Mix everything together and season to taste. (It has to hold together so I mash it with my hands.)
To Assemble
Roll out the pastry to about 12 x 15 inch rectangle. Advice – roll it on a piece of parchment paper otherwise when you start putting the fillings in and you have to move the thing… you know like trying to move a pizza after putting the topping on??? Heehee!
1. Form the stuffing into a sausage shape 10 inches long and place down the centre.
2. Pile the nut roast over the top of the stuffing covering it.
3. Wet the edge of the pastry. Fold the pastry up sides and ends to enclose the ingredients completely and seal using water or beaten egg. Lift your pastry parcel onto a baking sheet (I use a roasting tin) folds underneath.
4. Mark a lattice on the top.
5. Make two steam holes.
6. Brush with beaten egg.
7. Bake 30 – 40 minutes until crisp and golden.

Gravy

Saute an onion, a piece of celery stalk finely chopped and a garlic clove in butter or olive oil ’til really tender. Add a dessert spoonful of flour and stir. Gradually pour in 400/500 mls of liquid (depends how thick you like your gravy) made up with a vegetable stock cube and two tsp dark soy and a tsp tomato puree. Place back on the heat and stir until thickens and browns.