Chestnut, sundried tomato and sweet potato loaf

Sitting down with the family at Christmas and Easter normally makes me feel a little left out, with my own 'special' potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sausages and of course the main star of the show to replace the meat, whatever it may be that I have dreamt up this time. I am always trying to find something special to make for these family meals, and for the 6 or so years I have been vegetarian, I have struggled to find the 'perfect' vegetarian alternative. Sometimes I am so uninspired I just have veggie sausages or Quorn fillets. However, I can now say this loaf  could be a contender, with a few tweaks here and there.

Since turning vegetarian, I have learnt to cook. My mum wasn't very happy when I decided to turn veggie, and put her foot down saying something along the lines of "if you want to be vegetarian you bloody well cook vegetarian", so I did. I'm glad she did, because I probably wouldn't have found such a passion for cooking. It has also meant I cook alongside my mum when the family are together, giving us mother/daughter 'bonding' time, and an extra pair of hands (and taste buds).

I made this for Easter, and got lots of ooohs and aaaaahs when I brought it out. Even though the rest of the family had their turkey, they all helped themselves to my loaf. Definitely a great centrepiece to a vegetarian dinner table, and one I will keep on experimenting with.

Chestnut and sweet potato loaf

Serves 6
110g fresh breadcrumbs
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp of dried
1 handful of fresh basil, chopped
10 to 12 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
200g vacuum-packed chestnuts, roughly chopped*
70g walnuts
1 egg, beaten
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
300g fresh spinach
Grated nutmeg
Butter
Decorate with sun-dried tomatoes and fresh rosemary

*I used Merchant Gourmet pre-cooked chestnuts. You can get these from nearly all the major supermarkets.

1. Peel and chop the sweet potato into about 1 inch chunks and place in boiling salted water over a medium heat for around 8-10 minutes, or until soft. Drain and mash with a little butter and seasoning.
2. Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft and translucent.
3. Combine all other ingredients (except sweet potato and spinach) in a bowl. Next add onion mix and stir in sweet potato and combine.
4. Place spinach in a heatproof bowl. Pour hot water over spinach to wilt. Drain, chop and mix with a little butter and grated nutmeg.
5. Grease 500g loaf tin and add half of nut mix, pressing down. Then pile in the spinach. Top with rest of nut mixture.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes at gas mark 4/180°C/fan 160°C, remove foil for last 10 minutes to brown top. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before turning out.
7. Decorate with sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary.

P.s. Mine looks huge because I used 2 MASSIVE sweet potatoes. Next time I cook this I will weigh the sweet potato, as 'medium' or 'large' doesn't really give you a good indication of how much you need.