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.

Beetroot, cumin and walnut soup

 I have been threatening to do it for a little while, but I have finally started a food blog.

My reasoning of starting this blog is because I love to cook. I find it relaxing almost to the point of therapeutic. It is also excellent payment when a kindly soul does you a favour or offers a place to rest your weary head. And I love the satisfaction of cooking a good meal and enjoying it with friends. I also started this because I think I was starting to drive my friends crazy with a constant stream of Facebook updates about how amazing my dinner was...

If you know me then you might be aware of my massive collection of recipe books. This is all for show however, as I'm not one to follow recipes. Don't get me wrong, I love reading them, as I speak I have two cookbooks in bed with me now (hello, Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall) but I just can't stick to a recipe. I'm what you may call an intuitive cook (or more accurately, throw-it-in-and-hope-for-the-best cook), but more often than not it works.

I am vegetarian so expect practically everything to be so. I also don't have much dairy so some recipes may use soya milk but you can obviously substitute this for normal milk, or whichever alternative you wish.

A few days ago I made a lovely beetroot, cumin and walnut soup. I love soup. It is so warming and nutritious, and after the Christmas binge some virtuous eating will never go amiss. Fresh beetroot is great at this time of year, although I had some pre-cooked beetroot in the cupboard so that is what I used.

This was an adaptation from a salad recipe from Hugh Fernley-Whittingtall's new book 'River Cottage Veg' (I mentioned him above, no I definitely would NOT want the real thing in my bed)... I thought the ingredients sounded earthy and warming, which was very close to the truth after trying it.

Beetroot, Cumin and Walnut soup

1 large onion, chopped finely
Olive oil
Vegetable stock
4 cooked beetroots, chopped (NOT in vinegar)
1tsp whole cumin seeds
Handful walnut pieces
1-2 garlic cloves
Soya milk (or alternative)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil and gently fry the onion and garlic for 10-15 minutes, or until they turn translucent (this is boring but makes a huge difference to the taste)
2. Heat a dry frying pan and toast the cumin seeds and walnut pieces until they begin to brown and start giving off an aroma. Once they have browned put them to the side.
3. Add the beetroot to the onion mixture and stir, browning the beetroot slightly to give a deeper flavour
4. Add the cumin and walnuts to the pan and mix
5. Add enough stock to cover the mixture and leave to cook for 5 minutes
6. Blend the soup (I use a hand blender). It should be quite a thick consistency.
7. Slowly add the milk to achieve the consistency you wish. This should lighten the soup and give it a wonderful red/purple colour.
8. Heat the soup back up, and serve with crusty bread