Hot chocolate: TikTok user details 'best' Christmas recipe
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Times have changed and vegans and vegetarians don’t have to stick to piles of plain vegetables on the most exciting day of the year for food. You can make your favourite Christmas staples vegan-friendly with a few tweaks. Here are five meat and dairy-free recipes to make on Christmas for your vegetarian and vegan loved ones.
Nut roast and cranberry gravy recipe
A nut roast is probably the most popular meat alternative for a roast dinner, especially on Christmas.
This one is vegan and only takes 40 minutes to make, but obviously, it’s not suitable for anyone with a nut allergy (or a celery or sulphite allergy).
This recipe from Mindful Chef also includes instructions on how to make a delicious cranberry gravy to compliment the nut roast.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ground almonds (Nuts)
- 20g whole almonds (Nuts)
- 4 dried apricots (Sulphites)
- 240g black beans (drained)
- 2 x carrot
- 2 garlic clove
- 20g hazelnuts (Nuts)
- 1 parsnip
- 20g pistachios (Nuts)
- 1 handful of fresh rosemary
- 2 x shallot
- 1 vegetable stock cube (Celery)
- 180g tenderstem broccoli
- 3 tbsp cranberry sauce
Method
Step one
Preheat the oven to 240C / fan 220C / gas mark 7. Boil a kettle. Peel the parsnip and carrot, then cut lengthways into quarters. Place on a lined baking tray with the broccoli. Drizzle with 1/2 tbsp oil; season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast for 20-25 mins, until golden brown.
Step two
Roughly chop the whole almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios. Save half a tablespoon of pistachios for later and add the remaining pistachios to a small frying pan with three-quarters of the ground almonds. Place the pan on medium heat and toast for two to three minutes, turning regularly. Remove from the heat.
Step three
Finely dice the shallots. Finely dice or crush the garlic. Finely chop the rosemary leaves (remove the stalks). Heat a medium pan with half a tablespoon of oil on medium heat, then cook all for four to five mins, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add half the shallot mix to the toasted nuts.
Step four
Roughly chop the apricots. Drain the beans and rinse. Add both to the pan with the toasted nuts, then add half a tablespoon of cranberry sauce. Season with sea salt, then use your hands or a fork to roughly mash the beans, incorporating the other ingredients to make a mix that holds together.
Step five
Form the bean mix into two equal balls, then shape into neat domes (try using lightly greased mugs to get an even shape). Place the domes onto a tray lined with baking paper. Use 1/2 tbsp cranberry sauce to brush the tops, then roast for 10 to 15 mins, until piping hot and slightly browned.
Step six
Meanwhile, dissolve the stock cube in a jug with 300ml of boiling water. Put the pan with the remaining shallots over high heat, then add the remaining ground almonds and cranberry sauce. Stir, then pour in the stock. Boil for eight to 10 mins, until thickened slightly. Serve the nut roast with the roasted veg and the sauce. Garnish with the reserved chopped pistachios.
Braised Chestnut and Grain Wellington with Charred Red Pepper Dressing and Caramelised Red Onion
Make six dreamy festive wellingtons in 90 minutes with Gaz Oakley’s recipe, courtesy of Merchant Gourmet.
Ingredients
For the wellingtons
- 1 Leek, chopped roughly
- 4 Cloves Garlic, peeled
- 1 Red Pepper, deseeded
- 10 Shiitake Mushrooms
- 2 Carrots, peeled & chopped roughly
- 1 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 3 tbsp Tomato Puree
- 1 tbs Dried Sage
- 1 tbs Dried Rosemary
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 2tbs Plain Flour or GF Flour
- 1/2 cup/125ml Vegan-Friendly Red Wine
- 3/4 cup/195ml Vegetable Stock
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Miso Paste
- 2 250g Pouches of Merchant Gourmet Spiced Grains & Chestnut
- 1 tbs Cranberry sauce
- 1 Roll Ready Rolled Puff Pastry
- 1/4 cup/30g Plain Flour
For the glaze
- 1/4 cup/60ml Milk
- 4 tbs Maple
- 4 tbs Oil
- Pinch Sea Salt
For the red pepper dressing
- 2 cups/350g Roasted Red Peppers, from a jar, drained
- 2 tbs Olive Oil
- 1 tbs Tahini
- 1 tsp Dried Sage
- 1 tsp Dried Rosemary
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Sweet Paprika
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
For the red onion
- 2 tbs Rapeseed oil or water
- 3 Red Onions, peeled, halved & sliced fine
- 4 tbs Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar
- 3 tbs Balsamic Vinegar
- Pinch Sea Salt & Pepper
- 2 Sprigs Fresh Thyme, chopped, plus extra for garnish
For the garnish
- Crispy Sage Leaves
- Vegan Feta (optional)
- Pistachio Nuts
- Pomegranate Seeds
Method
Step one
First up, make the filling (usually make the day before serving). Add the leek, garlic, red pepper, carrots & mushrooms to a food processor and blitz until they’re chopped small. Preheat a large saucepan over medium heat and add the oil. When it’s hot add the leek mix to the pan and sauté for three minutes or until golden.
Step two
Stir in the tomato puree, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper then add the flour. Cook the flour out by stirring constantly for about a minute.
Step three
Then deglaze the pan with the red wine and vegetable stock. When the liquid comes to a simmer add the merchant gourmet chestnuts and grains, soy sauce, miso paste and cranberry. Let the mixture bubble away for 10 to 15 minutes or until the liquid has really thickened up, then transfer the mixture to a container to cool completely.
Step four
On the day of serving, add all the glaze ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together. Dust your surface with flour and roll out your pastry approximately 30cm and 30cm then cut it in half.
Step five
Make sure your filling is completely cool (ideally fridge cold) spoon the filling into the centre of one of the pastry rectangles, leaving a 3cm border around the filling. Brush the border with a little of the glaze then place the other pastry rectangle neatly on top. Seal the border together with your finger, then trim the edges to keep it neat. You can crimp the edges with a fork and use Christmas themed cutters with any off-cuts of pastry to top the wellington. Brush over a little glaze. Then set the wellington aside until you’re ready to cook it.
Step six
Meanwhile, add the red pepper dressing ingredients to a food processor and blitz until it forms a chunky paste. Set the dressing aside until serving.
Step seven
To make the caramelised onions, in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium add a touch of oil followed by the onions. Cook for three to four minutes stirring often until they start to soften and colour. Add the sugar, vinegar, seasoning and thyme. Stir well and turn the heat down very low. Cover the saucepan and allow the onions to caramelise for 15 minutes, stir/shake the pan every now & then.
Step eight
To cook the wellington, place it onto the middle shelf in a preheated oven set at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes. Apply extra glaze 25 minutes through cooking.
Step nine
Serve your wellington with lots of dressing, caramelised onions, crispy sage, pomegranate seeds, pistachio nuts, vegan feta and all your Christmas garnishes.
Yorkshire puddings
You can whip up a stunning set of 12 Vegan Yorkshire puddings in around 40 minutes (the preparation only takes 10 minutes) with this recipe from Flora.
Ingredients
- 75g plain flour
- 75g chickpea flour
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- pinch turmeric
- ½ tsp dry English mustard
- ¾ tsp apple cider vinegar
- 100ml aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas)
- 350ml cold water
- 12 tsp Flora 100 percent Natural Ingredients
Method
Step one
Mix together the dry ingredients, whisk in the liquid and leave to rest.
Step two
Heat oven to 230C/210C fan.
Step three
Put one teaspoon of Flora 100% Natural Ingredients into 12 individual muffin tins and heat in the oven until Flora is smoking hot.
Quickly pour pudding mix into each tin until almost full.
Step four
Cook for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 220C/200C fan and continue to cook for about 20 minutes until golden. Do not open the oven during cooking.
Roast potatoes
You don’t need goose fat or dairy butter to make crispy, perfect potatoes, this recipe from Flora will do the trick.
Following these instructions, you’ll have four servings of vegan roast potatoes in about an hour.
Ingredients
- 1 kg bag of white potatoes (we recommend Maris Piper)
- 4 tbsp of Flora 100% Natural Ingredients
- A selection of herbs (e.g. rosemary, garlic cloves, thyme, bay…)
- Salt and Pepper
Method
Step one
Preheat the oven to 200°C, 190°C fan, gas mark 6.
Step two
Peel and cut the Maris Piper potatoes in half, then place in cold slightly salted water and bring to the boil.
Step three
Cook for 10 minutes and drain. Shake the potatoes in the pan to roughen the edges.
Step four
Add the Flora 100% Natural Ingredients to a hot roasting tin until it turns into liquid. Then simply add the potatoes to the tin and toss in the Flora. Season with salt and pepper.
Step five
Put into the oven for about 30 minutes until lightly golden. Take out of the oven and add some herbs – this is your personal touch! Put back into the oven for about 20 minutes or until perfect to your eye.
Brussels sprouts
Brussels sprouts aren’t boring without loads of bacon, you can make brussels delicious with some vegan butter.
Ingredients
- 850 g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
- 2 tbsp Flora 100% Natural Ingredients
- 1 large shallot or small onion, finely chopped
Method
Cook Brussels sprouts in boiling, lightly salted water until tender, about seven minutes.
Melt Flora 100% Natural Ingredients in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook the shallots for six minutes, stirring frequently, until golden and very soft.
Add drained Brussels sprouts and stir to combine. Sauté lightly until golden brown, about five minutes.
Source: Read Full Article