Layered Festive Roast with Vegan Gravy

Festive layered roast

1. Squash – chop into 1.5 cm cubes, toss in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast with 4 unpeeled cloves of garlic for 20 minutes at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Remove the garlic cloves and save for the spinach layer. Mixed with finely chopped fresh sage/dried.
2. Beetroot – grate then mix with finely chopped fresh/dried rosemary, salt and pepper.
3. Spinach – squeeze as much water as you can out of the defrosted spinach then coarsely chop. Peel and finely chop the roasted garlic from the squash and add to the spinach. Grate in approximately ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, salt & pepper. Mix thoroughly.
4. Lentil mixture – Rinse both types of lentils separately under cold running water. Add the green lentils to the 4 cups of cold stock (or add stock powder to 4 cups of cold water) and bring to the boil. Once boiling add the red lentils and simmer for 20 minutes. Most of the water should have been absorbed and the green lentil cooked through and the red starting to fall apart – check by trying them if you are unsure. Different types/brands of lentils absorb different volumes of water so keep an eye on them while cooking and top up if needed. When they are cooked the water should be sitting level with the top of the lentils.
5. While the lentils are cooking, fry the onion in a little olive oil for 5 minutes. Peel and finely chop the remaining 4 cloves of garlic, add to the onion and continue to fry until the onion is soft and translucent. Add this to the cooked lentils.
6. Thoroughly stir the flax egg, oat flour, gram flour, seeds, ketchup, some salt and pepper into the lentil, onion, & garlic mix.
7. At this stage you can let the layers cool down and refrigerate until needed; they will keep for 3 days.
8. Lightly oil a 3lb loaf tin (we used 23.5cm long x 11.5 cm wide x 8.5cm deep) and line the base and long sides with baking paper.
9. Spread some of the lentil mix approximately 3 cm deep at the bottom of the tin and push it up all 4 sides around 1.5cm in from the sides of the tin. Add the beetroot mixture to the well. Add a layer of the lentil mixture starting from the edges in, create a second well and fill with the spinach layer. Repeat adding the squash and then top with the remaining lentils until all the squash is completely covered, this should reach the top of the tin.
10. Bake in a preheated oven – if you are cooking straight away this will take 1 hour at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. You may need to cover lightly with foil for the last 15-20 minutes if the top is browning too quickly.
11. If you have prepared the layers in advance and they have come from the fridge, cover loosely with foil and bake at 160°C/320°F/Gas Mark 3 for 1 hour 20 minutes, removing the foil for the last 20 minutes.
12. Once cooked leave to cool for 30 minutes before turning out, it will remain hot enough to serve straight away.
13. If you wish to prepare and cook it in advance let it cool completely then slice into portions. Reheat for 10-15 minutes at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Alternatively the portions can be frozen and reheated from frozen, place on a baking tray, cover with foil and cook for 20-30 minutes (depending on thickness) at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Vegan gravy

1. Mix the flour and oil together in a pan and cook on a low heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring continuously. Slowly add the wine and water whilst stirring, then add in the other ingredients. Continue to stir whilst bringing to the boil. Once fully boiling it is ready to serve.
2. If you have cooked out the flour and oil mixture for long enough at the start the gravy shouldn’t be lumpy but don’t worry if you get a few lumps use a stick blender to make it smooth.
3. You can make in advance and store in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze until needed. If you have frozen, it may look lumpy/split when defrosted but if you heat it to a rolling boil on the hob it will return smooth or if you are reheating in a microwave you may need to blend it again.