What is Nut Roast?

If you’re unaware, a nut roast is a hearty loaf made from nuts, vegetables, and whatever other tasty ingredients you like, mixed together and baked to golden perfection. It’s a British recipe, and here in the UK, it’s been a vegetarian favourite for decades, and sometimes it’s probably unfairly considered to be a bit old-fashioned. But I say it’s time to bring back this old favourite!

It’s really hard to beat a nut roast that contains so many wonderful textures and flavours – a soft crunch from the nuts, aromatic herbs, plenty of vegetables, and little pops of festive sweetness from the dried cranberries. It’s wonderful.

What Makes this Nut Roast so Easy to Make?

Many nut roast recipes call for a long list of (in my opinion) unnecessary steps: pre-cooking vegetables, boiling lentils, blitzing up breadcrumbs…

My version, on the other hand, is all about simplicity. There’s absolutely no pre-cooking required, so no hassle… just deliciousness. It’s such an easy recipe – if you can mix ingredients, you can make this easy nut roast.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• nuts – I used cashew nuts and peanuts (which happened to be red peanuts, but any type will do!). Nuts can be quite expensive, so honestly, I would just choose whatever nuts make sense to you. If you can find another kind of nut more cheaply, that’s totally fine.
• vegetables – I used carrot, mushrooms, and red onion. Make sure you chop your veggies nice and finely (or grate them, if appropriate), so that the nut roast holds together nicely.
• tinned lentils – using a can is so much easier than boiling dried lentils (but you can do that instead, if you prefer).
• rolled oats – a quicker, and more nutritious, alternative to breadcrumbs.
• grated cheddar – use a nice mature cheese for extra flavour.
• eggs – to help hold everything together.
• fresh sage – brings a Christmassy flavour. Use dried sage if you prefer, though I do like having the whole leaves to garnish the nut roast.
• dried oregano (or any other dried herb you like)
• garlic – I used minced garlic from a jar because it’s quick and easy, and I hate chopping fresh garlic.
• dried cranberries – you can skip these if you’re not a fan, but they really do bring a nice touch of sweetness to the nut roast.

This recipe is quite versatile, so you could swap out some of the ingredients, if you’d like to. For example:

• Most other kinds of nuts will also work just fine – use whatever you like. Walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc. will all be great. You don’t have to only choose two. I used plain, unroasted and unsalted nuts, but roasted nuts will also work. If yours are pre-salted, don’t add any additional salt to the nut roast.
• You can swap out the vegetables I chose (mushrooms, carrots and red onion) if you like – just make sure you chop everything quite finely, as big chunks of vegetable may stop the loaf from holding together strongly. Grated parsnip, chopped bell peppers, or finely chopped broccoli should all work okay. I’d avoid anything too wet, like tomatoes or zucchini (courgette), or you might end up with a soggy loaf.
• The herbs can be swapped for any other herbs (fresh or dried) you have on hand. Nut roast is a great opportunity to use woody herbs, like thyme or rosemary, but fresher herbs like parsley will also work well.

What’s in Homity Pie?

There are three parts to this recipe:

• garlicky sautéed leeks and onion
• buttery crushed potatoes (with a cheesy topping)
• a crispy pastry case

These 3 elements can all be prepared simultaneously, or one at a time, depending on how good you are at multitasking. I’ve written the recipe in 3 separate parts, but if the timings work out (or if you have someone else helping you in the kitchen), you can prepare them all at the same time.

Once all three parts of the recipe are ready, they can be assembled, and baked one last time to complete your cheesy homity pie.

And by the way, I am 100% not a pastry expert. You may think my homity pie looks decidedly… rustic. But I like it that way If I wanted it to look perfect, I’d have saved myself a couple of hours, and bought one in a shop.

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• leek – It’s hard to get the scale from the picture, but the leek I used was absolutely enormous – a proper monster (probably as big as my forearm!). If your leeks are a more normal size, you’ll probably need at least two.
• potatoes
• shortcrust pastry – I used a ready-rolled sheet of shop-bought pastry, as making pastry is not my forte. Feel free to use homemade pastry if you prefer!
• cheddar cheese – If possible, use freshly grated mature cheddar cheese rather than the pre-grated stuff, as it melts more nicely.
• onion – I used red onion, but regular onions would also be good.
• fresh parsley
• egg
• garlic – I used pre-minced garlic from a jar because I hate chopping large amounts of fresh garlic.
• curry powder (optional, but it does add a lovely hint of warmth)

How to Serve this Butternut Squash Salad

This salad could function as either a side dish, or as a meal in its own right.

If you’re using it as a side, this recipe would easily serve two people, alongside a tasty vegetarian protein option, or some pasta, or any other meal that needs a little something extra.

Alternatively, it makes a great light lunch – it makes a generous plateful for one person. It’s probably not filling enough to be your main meal of the day, but it was a lovely lunch to munch on while I was working.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• butternut squash – I chopped up about half of a medium-sized fresh squash. You can buy it pre-chopped if you’re short on time.
• red onion
• arugula (rocket)
• pine nuts
• hard cheese – I used a hard goat’s cheese, but any similar cheese would be great, e.g. a vegetarian parmesan-style cheese.
• dried oregano (or similar dried herbs – whatever you like best)
• garlic
• lemon (I used fresh lemon, but a bottle of lemon juice will also work)

You could easily add extra ingredients to this butternut squash salad, or swap out any of the ingredients you’re less keen on. Since the butternut squash and red onion are roasted together for this salad, any other vegetables that can roast up at the same time would be an easy addition. For example:

• mushrooms
• eggplant (aubergine)
• bell peppers
• canned chickpeas

You could also add any other raw ingredients that sound good – this really is an adaptable recipe! Some pecans, diced apples, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, or any other fun mix-ins would all work well here.

How to Serve Corn Casserole

This sweetcorn casserole is intended to be a side dish – perhaps as part of a Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. A scoop of this would be amazing on a plate with a vegetarian main course, some roast potatoes, and a couple of other vegetable dishes (roasted green beans are a good option!).

Since this corn casserole is quite a rich dish, with plenty of flavour, it’s a good idea to serve it alongside some more simple dishes (like simply boiled or roasted veggies), so they’re not competing for attention on the plate!

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• canned sweetcorn
• eggs
• plain flour
• milk
• butter
• cheddar cheese
• sugar (optional, but it gives a lovely hint of sweetness)
• pickled red jalapeños (again, optional, but they bring so much flavour)

Don’t I Need an Ice Cream Machine?

Ice cream machines make beautiful ice cream because they keep the mixture moving as it freezes, causing it to become light and creamy, rather than just a solid block of ice.

However, as long as you whip plenty of air into the mixture before popping it in the freezer, you don’t need an ice cream maker to make this pumpkin pie ice cream – or any of my other homemade ice cream recipes! The fluffy whipped cream mixture has enough air in it that it doesn’t just become a solid lump.

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

A couple of the ingredients in this recipe will differ slightly depending on whether you’re in the UK (like me!), in the US, or elsewhere. Hopefully this will help:

• condensed milk – the stuff that comes in a can. This is not the same as evaporated milk!
• double cream – if you’re in the US, use heavy (whipping) cream. Our double cream in the UK has a fat content of around 48%, which I believe is actually a little higher than the fat content in heavy cream (which is more like 36%), but it should still work well.
• canned pumpkin – if you’re in the UK like me, it’s not always easy to find in the shops, but you can buy pumpkin on Amazon for a pretty reasonable price.
• pumpkin pie spice – very similar to our ‘mixed spice’ in the UK! It generally contains cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.

Why Roast Gnocchi on a Sheet Pan?

If you’ve been reading Easy Cheesy Vegetarian for a while, you might know that I usually encourage people to pan fry gnocchi, in order to crisp it up and make it extra light and fluffy (it’s so much better than boiling!).

However, I really wanted to keep this sheet pan gnocchi to just one tray – I generally don’t like recipes that give me extra chores to do. Roasting the gnocchi in the oven gives it a similar crispy exterior, while also keeping the recipe super straightforward.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• gnocchi – any type is fine, either fresh ones or the vacuum-packed kind
• pumpkin
• tomatoes – use nice quality ones, if you can (it makes a difference!). I used medium sized tomatoes, but cherry tomatoes would be fine too.
• arugula / rocket (whatever you like to call it)
• rosemary
• red onion
• garlic
• feta cheese
• garlic butter (or regular butter, if you don’t have garlic butter)

Because this recipe is essentially just ‘lots of stuff roasted up together’, it’s really easy to swap out any of the ingredients, if you want to put your own spin on the recipe. Here are some suggestions:

• If it’s not the right time of year to buy pumpkin in the shops, butternut squash is a perfect alternative.
• The arugula (rocket) can be replaced by any fresh green leaves which can brighten up the dish – perhaps some spinach, watercress, or even some fresh herbs like parsley or basil.
• Instead of rosemary, you could use any other woody herb, like thyme or sage.
• If you’re not a fan of feta cheese, you could use soft goat’s cheese, halloumi cheese, or even melt over a bit of cheddar!
• Feel free to add extra vegetables to this roasted gnocchi recipe – anything that will roast up nicely will work, e.g. mushrooms, zucchini, or peppers.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• pumpkin seeds. If you’re using shop-bought seeds, just skip the first few steps of the recipe.
• oil (to help them get nice and crispy)
• your choice of spices – I used smoked paprika, chilli powder and salt.

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• dried lasagne sheets
• vegetables – I used onion, carrots, mushrooms and celery
• canned tomatoes
• basil pesto
• fresh mozzarella
• cream
• vegetable stock (a stock cube + water, jelly stock, or liquid stock all work fine)
• garlic (I used garlic puree from a jar because I hate mincing garlic and the jarred stuff is so much quicker and more convenient)
• dried thyme

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Cheesy Slow Cooker Lentils

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Total time: 3 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

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This Tex-Mex lentil casserole is the perfect healthy comfort food – packed with veggies, and full of protein and fibre, but still cheesy and irresistible!

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Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd's pie is proper British comfort food, and this vegetarian version is absolutely packed with flavour and wholesome ingredients.

Total time: 1 hour hour

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If you’re looking for a straightforward, easy to make veggie burger that’s completely delicious and hearty too, these cheesy lentil burgers are the recipe for you!

Total time: 55 minutes minutes

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This vegetable moussaka casserole is a much easier version of a vegetarian moussaka – but is just as tasty, with a luxurious creamy topping!

Total time: 2 hours hours

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• potatoes
• eggplant (aubergine)
• canned lentils (mine were green lentils)
• onion – I only used half an onion (a small onion would also work!)
• canned tomatoes
• tomato paste
• garlic – I used pre-minced garlic from a jar (my favourite time-saving ingredient!)
• dried herbs – mint and oregano. I very rarely use dried mint but trust me, it tastes amazing in moussaka! Not a hint of toothpaste, I promise.
• tomato – to slice up for the topping
• milk, flour and butter – for the creamy white sauce. You can add a pinch of nutmeg to it as well, if you like.