Post by Paulinemom on Nov 19, 2006 7:57:50 GMT
This is absolutely delicious and rather grand, as it should be for the Christmas feast. It's a completely meat free vegetable mixture wrapped in pastry, and looks as spectacular as it tastes.
Serves 4-6.
INGREDIENTS
350 g/12 oz vegetarian puff pastry
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp sunflower oil
100 g/4 oz walnuts
100 g/4 oz cashew nuts, salted or unsalted
150 g/6 oz chestnut puree (you can buy it in tins)
1 heaped tsp paprika
1 heaped tsp oregano
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
50 g/2 oz button mushrooms
Beaten egg, to glaze
Pre-heat the oven to 425°F/210°C/190°C Fan/Gas Mark 7.
Roll out the pastry and line a 1 kg/2 Ib greased or non-stick loaf tin with it, leaving enough pastry hanging over the edge to fold over and seal in the nut mixture. Fry the chopped onion, celery and garlic in the oil until the onion is just translucent, then put it into a large bowl. Add the cashew nuts, walnuts, chestnut puree, paprika, oregano, lemon juice and the seasonings, mix it all together and bind it together with the eggs.
Wash the mushrooms by pouring a kettle of boiling water over them in a colander - don't peel them - and put them in a neat pattern in the bottom of the pastry-lined loaf tin (which of course will be the top when you turn it out) and spoon the nut mixture into the tin, patting it down firmly so it fills the spaces between the mushrooms. Brush the pastry you've left hanging over the edge of the tin with the beaten egg, and carefully fold the ends together over the mixture so it is quite covered. Trim the edges and brush the joins with a little more of the beaten egg. Put a baking sheet over the tin and turn it over. Now carefully remove the tin. You now have a perfect loaf-shape without the tin in the way. Cut a little slot in the top and decorate with a few pastry leaves. Brush the top with a little more beaten egg.
Bake for about one hour. Halfway through the cooking time, reduce the temperature to 350°F/180°C/160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4. When it is cooked, the top will be golden and the inside a delight!
Serves 4-6.
INGREDIENTS
350 g/12 oz vegetarian puff pastry
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp sunflower oil
100 g/4 oz walnuts
100 g/4 oz cashew nuts, salted or unsalted
150 g/6 oz chestnut puree (you can buy it in tins)
1 heaped tsp paprika
1 heaped tsp oregano
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
50 g/2 oz button mushrooms
Beaten egg, to glaze
Pre-heat the oven to 425°F/210°C/190°C Fan/Gas Mark 7.
Roll out the pastry and line a 1 kg/2 Ib greased or non-stick loaf tin with it, leaving enough pastry hanging over the edge to fold over and seal in the nut mixture. Fry the chopped onion, celery and garlic in the oil until the onion is just translucent, then put it into a large bowl. Add the cashew nuts, walnuts, chestnut puree, paprika, oregano, lemon juice and the seasonings, mix it all together and bind it together with the eggs.
Wash the mushrooms by pouring a kettle of boiling water over them in a colander - don't peel them - and put them in a neat pattern in the bottom of the pastry-lined loaf tin (which of course will be the top when you turn it out) and spoon the nut mixture into the tin, patting it down firmly so it fills the spaces between the mushrooms. Brush the pastry you've left hanging over the edge of the tin with the beaten egg, and carefully fold the ends together over the mixture so it is quite covered. Trim the edges and brush the joins with a little more of the beaten egg. Put a baking sheet over the tin and turn it over. Now carefully remove the tin. You now have a perfect loaf-shape without the tin in the way. Cut a little slot in the top and decorate with a few pastry leaves. Brush the top with a little more beaten egg.
Bake for about one hour. Halfway through the cooking time, reduce the temperature to 350°F/180°C/160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4. When it is cooked, the top will be golden and the inside a delight!