I’ve made this nut roast for a number of years and it has become a standard at our family Christmas table along with the lavishly rich and always popular Party Potatoes. A few years ago, instead of making party potatoes for Christmas lunch I reverted to my former Christmas standard – Russian salad. The sad and disappointed complaints from my family went on for months (Really, and the Russian salad was quite delicious!). The moral to this story is never mess with family favorites for Christmas.

This year as I was slicing a nut loaf one of nieces said, ‘I look forward to this nut loaf every year’. This is the main reason I’m finally posting this recipe – in case of catastrophe my family will be able to make this Christmas nut roast and they will not have to frantically search the internet for it, like I have done several times over the years. The original recipe calls for canned chestnuts which I find difficult/ impossible to get hold of so I use the equivalent weight in button mushrooms and saute them in the butter with the onion. I also often use verjuice instead of lemon juice and splash a bit of vegetarian Worcestershire sauce over the mushrooms as a final seasoning. Good quality dried herbs can work well but I always add extra fresh parley because I really like parsley. I’ve used various cheeses, including some left over brie one year which was very good. This year I used a good quality smoked cheddar though and I think it was my best nut roast ever! I always make two loaves because I have a large family Christmas but these loaves freeze excellently so its worthwhile making two.

Apologies for the fairly poor photographs of my Christmas nut roast but it is a tricky one to photograph well and Christmas is not the best time for food photography.

White Nut Roast

Adapted from The Guardian (Serves 8)

• 40g butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 225g of mixed white nuts ground (almonds, Brazil nuts, pine nuts, macadamia, cashews all work well)
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon ( I use verjuice)
• 75g of sage derby cheese, smoked cheddar or parmesan (grated)
• 125 grams of canned peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped or button mushrooms finely sliced
• 1/2 can of artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons each of parsley, sage and thyme finely chopped

1. Melt butter in large saute pan and saute onion, garlic and mushrooms for about 5- 10 minutes until nicely softened Add verjuice towards the end and cook off. I add a good splash or two of Worcestershire sauce and if I am using dried herbs I add them now too . Place in a large bowl.
2. Add the ground nuts, zest and juice of lemon, canned peeled chestnuts (if using), chopped artichoke hearts, cheese. Season well with salt and pepper and add egg and herbs.
3. Preheat oven to 200C
4. Shape mixture into a fat sausage on a sheet of lightly buttered foil. Packing it tightly. Wrap in foil and allow to cool before cooking. The nut loaf can be frozen at this point
5. Bake on a tray in oven for 25 minutes or 45 minutes if baking from frozen. Unwrap the nutloaf and bake for a further 15 minutes until loaf is nice and golden.