Food hourglass nut roast

Here is the the nut roast recipe I promised last week. It turned out great and is delicious as a main meal, hot, or as a cold pate.

Food hourglass nut roast

1 onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 leek
2 celery stalks
2 courgette 2 vegetable stick cubes dissolved in three tablespoons of hot water
1 tin black, brown, or black eyed beans
50g rye flour
120 grams ground hazelnuts
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons parsley
I tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper


First heat oven to gas mark 5 180C or 160 for fan ovens
Then rub the inside of a 2lb loaf tin with olive oil, then shake 2 tablespoons of rye flour into the tin and tip it around until the  inside has a fine coating of flour. Discarding any excess.

Fry onion for five to ten mins until starting to brown, add garlic and fry for  two minutes, add leek, celery and courgette all chopped fairly small. Add the dissolved stock cubes to the pan, stir, then turn down heat, cover pan and allow to sweat for a further ten minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Add a dash of water if the mix looks like sticking.

Mash the beans and add to the onion mix with the flour, nuts, eggs, parsley and rosemary. Season well with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly then turn into the 2lb loaf tin.
Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about an hour or until the nut roast is set and slightly browned on top.
 Serve hot with a large helping of spring greens or broccoli, carrots and onion gravy.
Eat the next day in rye bread sandwiches, or with a salad of rocket, baby tomatoes, cucumbers, a few sprigs of parsley and a few plump sultanas if you like them. Dress with rape seed oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon well seasoned with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. 

I tried this last week and it was glorious. If you can't get ground hazelnuts, experiment with other ground nuts. They work almost as well, I just love the sweet full bodied taste of the hazelnuts.