Chestnut Roast with porcini & cranberries

This juicy and delicious chestnut roast makes a stunning vegan centrepiece for your Christmas dinner. Moist, juicy and deeply delicious - perfect with gravy and all the trimmings!

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 20

Ingredients

For the mushroom risotto base:

▢ 15 g dried porcini mushrooms
▢ 2 tablespoon olive oil
▢ 1 onion
▢ 1 stick celery
▢ 2 cloves garlic
▢ 75 g risotto rice
▢ 4 tablespoon white wine
▢ 250 ml vegetable stock
▢ 120 g fresh mushrooms chestnut or flat mushrooms or a pack of mixed mushrooms are ideal.

For the chestnut roast:

▢ 180 g ready-cooked chestnuts
▢ 20 g breadcrumbs (that's about half a slice of bread if you're making fresh)
▢ 60 g vegan cheese I used Violife Epic Mature
▢ 1 lemon
▢ fresh rosemary and thyme

For the cranberry topping:

▢ 150 g cranberries either fresh or frozen
▢ 1 tablespoon light brown sugar

Instructions

To make the mushroom risotto base:

Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in a mug of boiling water and set aside to soften.
Peel, trim and finely chop the onion and celery. Peel and crush the garlic. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry gently for 3-4 minutes until soft.
Chop the mixed mushrooms and add to the pan. Cook gently for 3-4 minutes.
Add the risotto rice, then the white wine. Finely chop the porcini mushrooms (they should be soft by now), and strain the soaking juice through a sieve into the pan.
Add the vegetable stock a little at a time, stirring regularly, until the rice is cooked through. This will take 20-25 minutes. If you have used up all the stock before the rice is cooked, keep add boiling water as needed.

To make the chestnut roasts:

Whilst the risotto is cooking, chop the chestnuts. Make the breadcrumbs, finely chop the rosemary and pick the thyme leaves from the stalks. Grate the vegan cheese and the zest from the lemon.
When the risotto is cooked, stir the chestnuts, breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese and lemon zest through the risotto to make your chestnut roast mixture.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan) / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.

To make the cranberry topping:

Put the cranberries into a frying pan with the sugar and cook over a medium heat until they are just turning soft and sticky - this will take 3-4 minutes.
Brush each hole of your muffin tin with a little oil. Divide the cranberries between each of the six muffin tins, spreading them out so they cover the bottom of each hole.

To assemble and pre-cook the roasts:

Spoon the chestnut roast mix over the cranberries and press down firmly, levelling off the top.
Cover the muffin tin with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 20 minutes.
When they are cool enough to handle, turn out of the tins onto a baking tray. You may need to run a knife around the edge of each roast, but they should come out in tact. Chill until needed, (up to 24 hours).

When you want to serve the roasts:

Bake for 10-15 minutes until piping hot throughout and golden brown.

Notes

This recipe is designed to prepare ahead so get cooking the day before you plan to serve these chestnut roasts, then just pop them in the oven to reheat on the day.

You can leave the cooked roasts for up to 24 hours in the fridge, just make sure they are piping hot throughout before serving - a cooking thermometer is handy for this.

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