Vegetarian Christmas dinner

I hope you are starting to be ready, if you will be celebrating Christmas. Christmas Eve is the main day for us, that's when the eating starts. Here are still some last minute ideas for a vegetarian Christmas meal. I kept it fairly simple this time in this “rehearsal” meal, just a nice nut roast, fondant potatoes, onion gravy, cranberry sauce, roasted parsnips and steamed brussels sprouts. Everything was quite basic, but tasty.

The nut roast and onion gravy recipes below feed a bigger crowd, but all the rest is basically just for two people, as we were only two eaters on this occasion. They can be easily scaled up for more eaters though. I only used butter in the fondant potatoes, otherwise the meal was vegan. The potatoes are easy to veganise as well, if you like.

Nut Roast

Recipe for 12 small nut roasts or one large one

2 parsnips

3 yellow carrots

240 g whole cooked and peeled chestnuts

2 onions

4 garlic cloves

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ cup pearled spelt

50 ml dry white wine

1 tbsp liquid aminos

1 tsp vegetable stock extract

1 tsp birch smoked salt

1 tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

Peel and cut the parsnips and carrots into pieces. Cook them in water until done and mash. Save the cooking water as a vegetable stock base or for the gravy.

Crumble the chestnuts into the parsnip and carrot mash.

Chop the onions and garlic finely and cook them in vegetable oil until soft.

Add the pearled spelt and then the wine. Let it cook down a bit and then add the seasoning and some water to cook the spelt. Water can also always be added later, if needed. After the cooking, let the spelt mixture cool down.

Combine the ingredients into an even paste and put it into a loaf tin or small silicone muffin cases, like I used.

Bake in the oven at 180 C for about one hour.

Fondant potatoes

6 potatoes

250 ml vegetable stock

25 g butter

Fresh thyme sprigs

Peel the potatoes and cut even sized bits from them.

Place them on a frying pan with all the other ingredients and start cooking.

Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked and have a nice golden brown crust. Turn them once in the middle of the cooking.

Onion gravy

4 onions

4 garlic cloves

1 tbsp vegetable oil

100 ml dry white wine

1 tbsp spelt flour

250 ml vegetable stock

2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

I used the parsnip and carrot cooking water from the nut roast recipe as the vegetable stock base for this gravy.

Cut thin slices from the onions and start cooking them in vegetable oil under lid. Cook for quite a long time until they get really soft and browned, almost liquid, and keep stirring throughout.

Add the wine and cook for a while.

Then mix in the spelt flour and vegetable stock and let simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Season with fresh thyme, and the gravy is done.

Cranberry sauce

1 cup fresh cranberries

50 ml water

2 tsp sugar

I only made a fairly small amount of this sauce for two people, as it's quite punchy. Feel free to make more, if you have more eaters.

Cook the ingredients in a sauce pan until a nice sticky sauce has formed.

Sides

Steamed brussels sprouts

Roasted parsnips

Serve all the components together and enjoy!

I would be really curious to hear what sort of veggie Christmas meals you will be having, so please share in the comment box. Mine will be yet slightly different from this one, it remains to be seen what exactly will be included.

Have a very happy Christmas everyone!

Your VegHog