Week 19 Dish 1: Vegan festive roast with gravy

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope everyone had a brilliant day, I definitely did; full of family time, TV and good food and alcohol - what more could you want? And of course today was filled with SALE shopping!! Ahh so many bargains, so many new things....pweeettyyyy...I'm not materialistic at all, honest! (But still, just have a look at my haul :p)

I have baked a lot of sweet dishes, which thankfully have mostly been very successful. But, it's Christmas and the Christmas meal is not just about the desserts (though they are definitely very important) - it's about a full meal including a yummy roast. So, I found and made a delicious vegan roast, which even my dad loved (and he didn't like my nut roast last year). I definitely can't take all the credit for this, my mum, sister and I all pitched in and made our Christmas feast together - so much fun! It's full of veggies but very filling and of course tastes amazing. I know it's a bit late for Christmas this year but give it a go when you get the chance!! :D

Serves 6-8
Ingredients
For the roast
230 g chopped mixed nuts
110 g red lentils
1 large carrot
2 celery sticks
1 large onion
1/2 large courgette
1 aubergine
125 g mushrooms
4 tbsp vegan margarine
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp chopped parsley
10 g chopped dried apricots
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 pint water
Vegan pesto
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
For the gravy
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onions
5 crushed garlic cloves
1-2 tbsp plain flour (depending on how thick you like it)
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Method

1. Gently boil the lentils for 20 minutes. About halfway through the lentils' cooking timre, pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees C and grease a large bread tin or line with grease proof paper.
2. Chop the aubergine and courgette into small chunks. 
3. Roughly chop the carrot, celery, onion and mushrooms into small chunks and use a food processor to process until finely chopped.
4. Melt the margarine in a wok/ large pan and fry the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring in the curry powder.
5. In a large bowl mix the mixed nuts, cooked lentils, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, parsley, apricots, corn flour and water, and mix well. 
6. Add the fried vegetables and combine. Press 4 heaped tbsps of the mixture into the tin and spread a layer of pesto on top to taste. Spoon in the rest of the mixture and smooth over.
7. Bake for about an hour or until just firm, covering with top with foil if it starts to darken too much.
8. Carefully turn the roast out into a serving plate. Allow to cool and to finish, sprinkle with pine nuts and serve with gravy.
9. For the gravy, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent.
10. Add the flour and soy sauce and mix to make a thick paste, then slowly add the stock while stirring with a whisk to avoid clumps.
11. Season with  basil, salt and pepper, then bring to the boil and simmer while whisking continuously for 8-10 minutes. It is then ready to serve with the festive roast!

Original recipe: Luxury festive roast