Gluten-free & vegan festive quinoa squash nut roast with almonds, pistachios and pomegranate.
I am a complete newbie when it comes to making nut roast and this Quinoa Squash Nut Roast is my first one.
I’ve kept the core ingredients, but changed the seasoning and added some of my favorite herbs. And oh my, it’s so not disappointing, the flavors are amazing, all of the ingredients are so festive and it looks fabulous topped with some pistachios and pomegranate.
The nut roast does take a good couple of hours to make, but it’s not at all difficult. Once you prepare all of the ingredients, it’s a matter of mixing everything together and popping it into the oven for about 45 minutes. This recipe fits perfectly into 10″ x 4½” loaf tin, try to get one close to this size if possible, so it’s easy to flip over once baked.
One thing that I’m changing about my original recipe is cooking quinoa slightly more. I’ve made really fluffy quinoa, but I think more sticky quinoa would work better in this recipe to ensure it holds well together when being sliced. If you don’t like chestnuts, I think they could be easily replaced by mushrooms if you prefer. I’ve used one small Hokkaido squash in this recipe, because of the flavor and rich orange color that comes through really nicely. Hope you like it:)
Quinoa Squash Nut Roast (gluten-free & vegan)
Gluten-free & vegan festive quinoa squash nut roast with almonds, pistachios and pomegranate.
Ingredients
- 3 cups squash, chopped into small pieces (400 grams)
- 3/4 cup quinoa (150 grams)
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup almonds (120 grams)
- 1/2 cup pistachios (80 grams)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries (40 grams)
- 1/2 cup cooked peeled chestnuts (100 grams)
- 3 sage sprigs
- 3 rosemary sprigs
- 5 thyme sprigs
- 1/2 lemon, zest
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- sea salt & pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoons water
Topping:
- chopped pistachios
- pomegranate
Instructions
- Grease 10" x 4 1/2" loaf tin and line with baking paper. Use two long rectangles that you cross in the middle. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C)
- Peel the squash, scrape out the seeds and chop into small pieces. Place onto a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt, add couple of sprigs of thyme and roast for about 30 minutes until soft.
- Measure 3/4 cup of quinoa, rinse under running water and place into medium pot. Add 1 1/2 cup of water and bring to boil. Leave to simmer for about 15-20 minutes until all of the water has been absorbed. It's best if the quinoa is slightly overcooked. Leave to stand for 5 minutes and fluff up with a fork.
- Drizzle little olive oil onto frying pan, add chopped red onions and cook for about 10 minutes until soften. Finely chop the garlic and add to the onions and leave to cook for another couple of minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool down.
- Mix 3 tablespoons of ground flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water and set aside to thicken.
- Place almonds and pistachios into food processor or blender and blitz few times until broken down and coarsely ground. Scoop into a large mixing bowl.
- Roughly chop cranberries and add to the nuts.
- Chop chestnuts into small pieces and add to the nut mixture.
- Pick and roughly chop the sage leaves. Finely chop rosemary. Pick the thyme leaves. Add all to the nut mix. Add lemon zest, cayenne, sea salt, black pepper and mix to combine.
- Now stir in quinoa, red onion and flax eggs. Taste for seasoning and finally fold in squash.
- Lower the oven to 350 °F (180 °C)
- Spoon the mixture into prepared tin, level the top and press tightly down. The mix should come all the way to the top.
- Bake for about 45 minutes until set and toasted on top.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool down for 10 minutes.
- Place serving dish on top and carefully flip over to release from the tin.
- Decorate with some chopped pistachios and pomegranate kernels.
- Enjoy!
Notes
I've used Hokkaido squash in this recipe, butternut squash would work well too.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 500Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 308mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 12gSugar: 20gProtein: 16g
This looks lovely, Hana! Is this what you’ll be serving for Christmas dinner this year? I’m sure it would be lovely with all the trimmings and a rich vegan gravy! Do you have a recipe for vegan gravy up your sleeve? Xx
Thank you Sasha! Yes, I think I will most probably make it with some braised red cabbage, sprouts and cranberry sauce:) I don’t have a recipe for a vegan gravy, but I’m not a huge gravy fan, I much rather have some cranberry sauce:) xx
It looks really festive and delicious! It will have a place on the table during the Holidays for sure!
Thank you so much Catherine! Yay, I hope you like it :)
I just got mine out of the oven for Thanksgiving. Looks delicious. Smells amazing. I’ll let you know how it goes down with the family! xo Thank you for the recipe!
It was amazing! I got so many compliments. Thank you. xoxoxoxo
I’m so happy you loved it April! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know. Hope you’ve had a really wonderful Thanksgiving. xoxo
Hey Hana,
Sorry to trouble you again. I am having difficulty accessing chestnuts. What could I use instead? Thanks it looks really nice. And can i use carrots instead of squash/pumpkin? Feel like i have overdosed on those two. Thanks.
Hi Shamani, you can just leave them out or add few mushrooms or extra nuts. Chestnuts are seasonal so I suppose they will only be available in the autumn. Carrots will be lovely too, why not? Hope you like the recipe :)
Is it possible to make a few days before and freeze? Or the day before and refrigerate?
Hi Poppy, it will keep fine in fridge until next day. You can also freeze it, I tend to freeze any leftovers. Hope you like it :)