Easter Nut Roast and Feasting

We went down to Geelong to have Easter Sunday lunch with my family. My mum made a roast dinner so I took along a nut roast. Initially I thought I would make a tried and trusted recipe but then came across a recipe for a Crunchy Nut Roast on a website called Are you on a Budget? It interested me because it had cornflakes, wheat flakes or weetbix in it. I had a few mini packets of weetbix so I was curious to try it.

The nut roast was quite easy to put together. The name led me to believe that there would be some crunch in nut roast. I don’t eat weetbix often these days but had them in hospital recently and when I poured juice on them, I remembered how quickly they soften to mush. It was no different in this nut roast which was very soft and cereally. No crunch! There was also a lack of seasoning in the recipe. I thought maybe this was due to there being so much salt in weetbix but it could have done with some extra seasoning (which I have included in the recipe below). I got away with this given the flavoursome sides served with the nut roast.

We managed to arrive just as dinner was about to be served so my mum heated the nut roast in the microwave. I was a bit distracted with feeding Sylvia so I wasn’t overly observant with the food served, nor did I remember to photograph more of it. I hope my memory is correct. I think a few of my family had a little of the nut roast. There were so many side vegetables (as well as some roast meat) that it went a long way. I had nut roast, chutney, roast potatoes, roast pumpkin, roast parsnip, peas, cauliflower cheese, sautéed zucchini and eggplant. Happily we were able to take home leftovers, which we had that night with apricot chutney, corn and broccoli.

I also took down some mars bar slice (in lieu of easter eggs) and date chocolate and walnut loaf (a version of Frances’ loaf). There was a tyranny of choice in desserts. Not only was there bowls of easter eggs on the side board but there were also apple pie, pavlova, brownies, nanimo bars, and a wonderful gluten free apricot and cranberry cake. I went home with a swag of leftovers but forgot to take some of my mum’s hot cross buns – luckily she brought me up some a few days later. As you can see, I managed much feasting despite only eating one Easter egg this year.

Cereal Nut Roast
(Adapted from Crunchy Nut Loaf Recipe)
Serves 4-6

1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups of cornflakes, wheat flakes or crushed Weetbix (6 bricks or 90g of Weetbix)
1 medium carrot, grated
¾ cup ground almonds
½ cup cottage cheese
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
Seasoning

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Fry onion, celery and garlic in oil for 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mix in remaining ingredients. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper as required. Grease and line a loaf tin (I used my 13 x 22cm silicone loaf tin which doesn’t need any greasing or lining). Spoon into tin and bake for 40 – 70 minutes (it took me 70 minutes but the recipe suggests 40) or til firm and golden.

On the stereo:
Dark Black Embers: Current 93