This one is one for sharing! Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian a meat-eater gluten free or just a human you are bound to love this one! It’s a great alternative to meat for the non-meat eaters and is a great side addition for the meat lovers.

Now I know it looks like there’s a lot of ingredients here and you’re right there are but it’s Christmas so this should be indulgent and feel like a feast! I can assure you it is but super simple and quick to make and it can be made in advance so you just have to pop it in the oven on Christmas day! So pop your apron on and lets get cooking!

Here is my audio walk through of the recipe, press play when you want to start and just pause me whenever you want, to make your own:

Serves approx. 6-8

INGREDIENTS
2 Onions (Chopped)
4 Portobello Mushrooms (3 Chopped 1 Sliced)
1 Red Pepper (Chopped)
1 Cup Butternut Squash (Chopped)
10 Sage Leaves (5 leaves chopped, 5 leafs whole)
1 ½ Cups Cooked Chickpeas
¾ Cup Bread Crumbs
4 Sprigs Thyme
¼ Cup Pine Nuts
½ Cup Pumpkin Seeds
½ Cup Sunflower Seeds
4 Sprigs Rosemary (Chopped)
1 ½ Cup Pasata
1 ¼ Cup Water
1 ½ Cup Hazel Nuts (Broken)
1 Cup Cranberries (Fresh or Frozen)
3 tbsps. Chia Seeds
3 Cloves of Garlic (Minced)
4 tbsps. Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

First rule of fight club………… Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 320 degrees Fahrenheit.

First throw the chopped onion, butternut squash, pepper, mushrooms (except for the one sliced mushroom, that’s for decorating with!) garlic, cranberries, thyme leaves, chopped sage leaves and the rosemary into a large pan or pot and drizzle with olive oil. Sautee (oooh look at you and your big words!) for 10 minutes until the butternut squash has softened and the veg have cooked down.

Whilst waiting on the veg, pop the breadcrumbs, nuts and the majority of the seeds (apart form the chia seed) into a big bowl, keeping a small amount of the seeds aside for decoration. Now in a smaller bowl grab the chia seeds and mix them with the 1 ½ cup of water and set aside for 5 minutes. We’re using these instead of eggs as they form a gel like paste that will hold the loaf together but if you want to use eggs as a replacement for a non vegan version just use three eggs instead.

Okey doke, we should be ready to rock and roll now! Pop the sautéed veg (Fancy pants!) into the big bowl of the breadcrumbs with the nuts and seeds, give it a good aul mix and then add the pasata, lastly add the chia seeds. By now they should have made a paste. Mix everything together and then season well with salt and pepper.

So now my darlings we get to decorate, I like to do this by arranging the slices of mushrooms in a line at the bottom of a loaf tin (I use a silicone loaf dish but you can use whatever you like! Just make sure you line it with greaseproof if its not silicone), I then sprinkle the reserved seeds around the mushroom slices. Lastly you simply pop the mixture on top, making sure to smush the mixture down so that it is compact. Then pop it into the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Once firm and golden, turn out onto a serving dish and garnish with the reserved sage leaves! That’s it, Christmas dinner sorted! Well done you and Merry Christmas xxx

There’s more recipes on my blog here!