I've yet to meet anyone who actually wants to spend their whole Christmas morning faffing about in the kitchen, so to take the stress out of festive cooking, I've put together an easy, prep-ahead Christmas Dinner menu which is both vegetarian and vegan, and will be posting it over the course of this week.
To kick things off, these pretty Porcini & Chestnut Mini Wreath Roasts make a lovely centrepiece for the Christmas table, served with Creamy Porcini & Parsley Gravy (for which the recipe is also below - make sure you scroll right down to the bottom of the post for both recipes!).
Coming later in the week will be recipes for Garlic & Rosemary Roast Potatoes, Orange & Maple Carrots, and Ginger & Sesame Brussels Sprouts, plus a few more festive recipes the following week to round off the meal.
To keep up to date with all these recipes as they are published, make sure you are following The Veg Space on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or click on Veggie & Vegan Christmas Dinner to see all posts as they are published.
Back to the roasts - I used this Silicon Mini Bundt Mould 
from Amazon (£7.90), but any similar tin or mould would do, a muffin tin would work fine, (though may need a little extra cooking time to firm up), or get creative with any novelty Christmas shaped tins or moulds you have around the house!
Being greedy, (and because its Christmas), I would allow two mini wreaths per person, which still gives room on your plate for plenty of veg and trimmings. This recipe makes enough filling for 10 mini wreaths, but the un-cooked mixture freezes well, (or will make lovely veggie burgers!), if you don't want to make that many all in one go.
Porcini & Chestnut Wreath Roasts
BookmarkIngredients
- 20 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 slice bread (or 6 tbsp breadcrumbs)
- 4 fresh mushrooms (white or chestnut)
- 5 stalks thyme
- 400 g tin cannellini beans
- 80 g nuts (I used a mixture of walnuts and cashews)
- 200 g pouch chestnut purée
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp cranberry sauce
Instructions
- Place the porcini mushrooms in a mug or small bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 5-10 minute until softened.
- Meanwhille, toast the bread and tear it into large chunks and place in a food processor or mini chopper along with the fresh mushrooms and thyme. Blitz to fine breadcrumbs, then add the porcini (squeezing to remove as much liquid as possible, but reserving the soaking liquid to use in gravy later on) and blitz again until finely chopped. Tip into a large bowl.
- Drain and rinse the cannellini beans then tip them into the food processor/mini chopper (no need to clean it beforehand!), and pulse until the beans are chopped but still have some texture - not a purée. Tip into the bowl with the mushrooms and breadcrumbs.
- Blitz the nuts in the food processor/mini chopper again until they are chopped but not too finely. Add to the bowl.
- Squeeze the chestnut purée into the bowl, and add the soy sauce and a seasoning of black pepper, followed by the cranberry sauce. Mix all the ingredients together until fully combined.
- Use oil or dairy-free margarine to generously grease your mini bundt moulds or tins, then spoon in the mixture a little at a time, pressing down well so that it gets into all the nooks and crannies.
- Chill in the fridge until needed, (this can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance), then preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Place the bundt moulds onto a baking tray, and bake for 25 minutes.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Creamy Porcini & Parsley Gravy
BookmarkIngredients
- 20 g dairy-free margarine
- half a red onion
- 1 tsp garlic purée / ready-chopped garlic
- 1 heaped tbsp plain flour
- 100 ml porcini soaking liquid (reserved from recipe above)
- 400 ml vegetable stock (boiling water made up with 1 tbsp vegetable stock powder)
- 1 tbsp cranberry sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- handful fresh parsley
Instructions
- Heat the margarine in a small saucepan over a medium heat, then peel and finely chop the onion and add to the pan, along with the garlic. Cook gently for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften.
- Stir through the flour until no lumps remain, then add the porcini soaking liquid and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly.
- Add the vegetable stock, cranberry and soy sauces, then continue to simmer for 10 minutes until the gravy has thickened slightly.
- Use a hand blender to blitz the gravy until completely smooth, (or pour into a blender or food processor), then add the parsley (leaves only, discard the stalks) and blitz one or twice more until the parsley is finely chopped through the gravy. The gravy can be made in advance and reheated just before serving.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
For more vegetarian & vegan Christmas Dinner Centrepiece ideas, take a look at my:
Festive Butternut Roast (vegan)
Mushroom & Merlot Posh Pasties (vegan)
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I'm linking this post with blogging challenge Meat Free Mondays at Tinned Tomatoes - hop over for your weekly meal inspiration!
And don’t forget that my new book Vegan in 15 is out now, and available to order on Amazon, (whoop!). Many thanks for your support!
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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links - if you order a mini bundt mould via this link I will receive a small commission. Thanks for supporting The Veg Space!
your roasts look so pretty - they would make a great addition to the Christmas table - are they quite soft - when I have used chestnut puree in nut roasts they have been quite soft though perhaps they firm up as they are quite small
Hi Johanna, yes as they are small and have a big surface area due to the whole in the middle I found they had quite a good texture. But if you made this into one big roast it would definitely be quite a soft one!
Wow this looks delicious, perfect for Christmas dinner! Popping over from #meatfreemonday
This looks absolutely delicious! I am looking forward to trying this Gravy, it is always a challenge trying to find a really good vegan gravy!
Ok this might be the cutest, most festive recipe EVER! What a clever idea!
Wow, Kate, you've excelled yourself this week! What a superb post - I can't wait to make these. The gravy looks smashing too.
Really looking forward to the rest of this series. 🙂
Thanks Nico! X
These look amazing Kate! Such a fun idea to use a mini bundt mould! Stunning photos too ❤️
Thanks Sharon - yes anything is better in a bundt tin!!