When David Attenborough highlights the power of a plantbased diet to address both climate breakdown and biodiversity loss, you know something’s changing (As he said in Planet Earth III, “If we shift away from eating meat and dairy and move towards a plantbased diet, then the sun’s energy goes directly into growing our food. And because that’s so much more efficient, we could still produce enough to feed us but do so, using a quarter of the land.”)
But isn’t Christmas all about meat, cream and cheese? We need plantbased, planet-friendly, animal-kind recipes! Together with our friend PlantPoweredPolly, we pick some of our favourites.
Ingredients
8 baby artichokes
4 cloves of garlic
1 lemon
olive oil
1 bunch of fresh mint
Basic Bruschette - I large loaf
1 large loaf
1 clove of garlic
extra virgin olive oil
Method
Start by preparing the artichokes: peel them back to their pale, light leaves, then halve them and remove the hairy chokes with a teaspoon.
Place the prepped artichokes in a pan with just enough water to cover them. Add the unpeeled garlic cloves and a little squeeze of lemon juice and cook until the stalks are tender.
Drain in a colander, then place the artichokes straight back into the empty pan with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil and fry for 4 minutes to get a bit of colour on them.
When they're slightly golden, remove from the heat, squeeze in a little lemon juice, pick, roughly chop and add the mint leaves, then season carefully to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
Remove 4 artichoke halves from the pan and put to one side, then mash all the rest in the pan, using a fork to squash the garlic out of the skins (throw the skins away).
For the basic bruschette, cut the loaf in half, then slice it crossways, about 1cm thick.
Chargrill these slices on a barbecue or in a griddle pan until they are crisp on both sides, then lightly rub each piece a couple of times with a cut clove of garlic.
Drizzle with some good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of sea salt.
Spread the mashed artichokes over the basic bruschette, tearing one of the reserved artichoke halves over the top of each.
Ingredients
230 g gluten-free plain flour
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
60 g dairy-free margarine
60 g vegetable shortening
Filling:
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
5-6 carrots , (450g)
250 g chestnut mushrooms
360 g peeled chestnuts
olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
225 g soya cream cheese
250 g wild mushrooms
½ a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley , (15g)
2 tablespoons garlic oil
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
Redcurrant gravy:
1 tablespoon walnut oil , or garlic oil
1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly
300 ml hot vegetable stock
1 heaped tablespoon cornflour , mixed with 2 tbsp water
Roast potatoes:
2.5 kg floury potatoes
groundnut oil , or olive oil
Method
Preheat the oven and a large baking tray to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Start by making the pastry. Sift the flour and xanthan gum into a food processor, add the margarine, vegetable shortening and a pinch of sea salt, and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, place the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and cut together with the flat of a knife.
Add 2 tablespoons of cold water, pulsing as you go (or stirring with a flat-bladed knife, if making the pastry by hand), until the mixture begins to pull together to form a dough.
Tip the pastry into a large bowl (or keep in the same bowl, if making it by hand) and, using your fingertips, pull together into a ball. Knead lightly for about 2 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
Shape the pastry into a ball and place between 2 large sheets of clingfilm, then roll it out into a circle slightly larger than the tart tin and no thinner than 3mm. Peel off the uppermost sheet of clingfilm and carefully flip the pastry into a deep 23cm tart tin. Peel away the remaining clingfilm and gently press the pastry into the sides of the tin, filling in any cracks with pastry and patting it flat with your fingertips. Trim the edges and set aside.
Next, prepare the potatoes. Peel and cut in half, quartering any large ones. Place in a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. The second the water begins to boil, time the potatoes, allowing them to cook for 4 minutes before removing from the heat and draining. Shake the potatoes in the colander a little to chuff up the edges – this helps them crisp up.
Pour 8 tablespoons of the groundnut oil into a large roasting tin, tip in the potatoes and 1 heaped teaspoon of sea salt and firmly shake to coat evenly. Set aside while you make the filling for the tart.
Finely chop the onion, crush the garlic, then finely grate the carrots. Trim the stalks from the chestnut mushrooms and slice into rounds. Halve 240g of the chestnuts (the rest will be used for the topping).
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan until hot, add the onions and cook gently over a low heat until softened. Add the carrots, garlic, thyme and mushrooms, and fry gently until softened and all of the liquid from the mushrooms has been absorbed – around 10 minutes.
Stir in the cream cheese and halved chestnuts and mix together gently until the cheese has softened and formed a creamy mixture. Season to taste, spoon the filling into the pastry case then level the top.
Place the tart on the baking tray on the top shelf of the oven and the potatoes on the bottom shelf. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is crisp.
Remove the tart from the oven, cover loosely in foil to retain its heat and set aside. Move the potatoes to the top shelf of the oven and increase the temperature to 220°C/425°F/gas 7. Continue roasting the potatoes for a further 25 to 30 minutes until golden and crisp.
For the gravy, heat the walnut oil and redcurrant jelly in a small saucepan, stirring until melted and smooth. Add the hot stock, bring to a simmer and stir in the cornflour. Simmer gently and stir continuously until you have the desired consistency. Set aside.
Finally, tear the wild mushrooms into pieces, roughly chop the remaining chestnuts and finely chop the parsley. Heat the garlic oil in a heavy-based frying pan until hot, add the mushrooms and fry gently until softened. Stir in the chestnuts, cranberries and parsley, and spoon over the tart to form a decorative layer. Reheat the gravy and serve with the tart and roast potatoes.
Ingredients:
3oz cashew nuts
3oz hazelnuts
3oz wholemeal breadcrumbs
3tbsp sunflower oil
3 large onions chopped finely
2tsp Marmite
1/2 pt tomato juice
1 veg stock cube
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1/2 tbsp dried thyme and 1/2 tbsp dried sage
Method:
1 . Grind nuts and bread crumbs together.
2. Saute onions in the oil
3. Add the marmite, tomato juice and stock cube.
4. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few mins.
5. Take off the heat and mix in all the dry ingredients (breadcrumbs, nuts and herbs).
6. Bake in a loaf tin for around 40 mins - until crispy on the top. It will be fairly soft (not sliceable - more scoop-able).
If you want a firmer, sliceable, loaf - double the breadcrumbs.
For sides: Jamie Oliver's roast potatoes, parsnips & carrots
Ingredients
1.2 kg potatoes
6 parsnips
6 carrots
1 bulb of garlic
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
olive oil
Method
If you’re cooking your veg separately, rather than with my perfect roast chicken, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Peel the vegetables, halving any larger ones lengthways. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled, and bash them slightly with the palm of your hand. Pick the rosemary leaves.
Put the potatoes and carrots into a large pan – you may need to use two – of boiling salted water on a high heat and bring back to the boil. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then add the parsnips and cook for another 4 minutes.
Drain in a colander and allow to steam dry. Take out the carrots and parsnips and put to one side.
Fluff up the potatoes in the colander by shaking it around a little – it’s important to ‘chuff them up’ like this if you want them to have all those lovely crispy bits when they’re cooked.
Put a large roasting tray over a medium heat and either add a few generous lugs of olive oil or carefully spoon a little of the fat from the meat you’re cooking, and add the garlic and rosemary.
Tip the vegetables into the tray, season with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper and turn the veg over to coat them in the flavours. Spread them out evenly into one layer – this is important, as you want them to roast, not steam as they will if you have them all on top of each other.
Roast for 1 hour, or until golden and crisp, then serve immediately with your roast and some delicious gravy.
Ingredients
16 shallots
2 leeks, cleaned
2 garlic bulbs, cloves separated and peeled
Rapeseed oil to fry and drizzle
250g fresh yeast (see Know How)
2 tbsp smoked rapeseed oil (see tips)
250g white mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp white miso paste (make sure it’s gluten-free if needed)
Pinch mixed spice
Splash ruby port
Splash cider brandy (optional)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
Handful dried mushrooms, roughly chopped
½ bunch thyme
½ bunch chives
Handful chervil or parsley
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp water (optional
Method
Heat the oven to 180°C fan/gas 4. Divide the shallots, leeks and garlic into two even piles. Roughly chop one pile and finely slice the other. Add the roughly chopped veg onto a baking tray, drizzle with oil and season with salt. Put in the oven to roast for 40 minutes until a deep golden brown.
Meanwhile, line a separate large baking tray with baking paper, then crumble the fresh yeast into it, drizzling over half the smoked rapeseed oil. Put in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The yeast will initially melt but will then begin to brown and form a crust (it looks a little like crispy chicken skin).
While the veg and yeast roast, add a generous drizzle of oil to a large saucepan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the finely sliced vegetables and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden and caramelised. Add half the mushrooms and continue cooking until they release their liquid and begin to colour too.
Once the mushrooms and sliced veg are cooked, put the roasted vegetables in the saucepan with the fried veg. Pour in just enough water to cover, then add the miso, mixed spice, port, cider brandy (if using), balsamic vinegar and the remaining smoked rapeseed oil. Bring to a simmer with the lid on, then add the roasted yeast, which will thicken the liquid and make it look creamy. Simmer (covered) for 30 minutes to get as much flavour out of the solids into the liquid as you can.
Add the remaining mushrooms, half the celery, the dried mushrooms and half the thyme sprigs. Cover and continue to simmer for another 20-30 minutes.
Add the remaining celery and thyme along with the chives, chervil (or parsley) and the nutmeg, then remove from the heat. Give the gravy a stir, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain through a fine sieve, squishing the solids with a spoon to get as much liquid/flavour out of them as possible, either into a gravy jug (if serving right away) or a lidded container to cool and then keep in the fridge or freezer. If you like your gravy thicker, you can whisk in the slaked cornflour whilst the (strained) gravy is still very hot.
Ingredients
400ml malt vinegar
400g dark brown soft sugar
2 red onions, sliced
1 tsp allspice berries
6 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes
100g raisins
1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp sea salt
Method
Put the vinegar and sugar in a large pan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Put the remaining ingredients in the pan and bubble on high for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The chutney is ready when the mixture looks sticky and thick, and a wooden spoon leaves a brief trail on the bottom of the pan. Leave to cool, then pour into sterilised jars (see Make Ahead).
Serves 8-10
For the Crust:
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 1/2 cups raw almonds
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
(use double boiler method to keep it raw)
For the Cheesecake:
3 cups soaked cashews
3/4 cup orange juice
2/3 cup agave
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon orange extract
3/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup grated dark chocolate as garnish, optional
To Make the Crust:
Blend all ingredients together in a food processor or strong blender. I use my Vitamix and it works like a charm every time. You want the nuts and dates to the consistency of a sort of chunky, less malleable cookie dough.
Scoop mixture into a 9" springform pan (the easiest way) or line a cake or pie tin with waxed paper (less easy) and scoop it into that.
Press the mixture into the sides and bottom of pan.
Freeze to set, at least one hour or more.
To Make the Cheesecake:
After your cashews have soaked for at least an hour, throw them in your blender or food processor. Add the freshly squeezed orange juice, agave, cocoa powder, salt, orange extract, and coconut oil. Blend on high for about a minute, more if your machine needs it. The consistency will be that of a thick pudding, whipped and mostly pourable.
Remove the crust from the freezer and pour cheesecake filling on top, tapping the pan several times on the counter to level the filling completely flat.
Place the assembled cheesecake back in the freezer or in the refrigerator, at least 3 hours to set completely. Placing it in the freezer will result in a firmer, more ice cream-like texture. Placing it in the fridge will leave it much softer and more like a custard.
Once the cheesecake has set, remove it from the fridge/freezer and top around outer edge (or anywhere you like really) with grated chocolate.
Slice, serve & enjoy.
Ingredients
300g/10½oz mixed dried fruit (sultanas, currants, raisins)
75g/3oz caster sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp ground mixed spice
6 cloves
½ whole nutmeg, finely grated
1 orange, zest only, finely grated
1 unwaxed lemon, zest only, finely grated
750ml/1 pint 5fl oz bottle good quality vodka
Method
Mix the dried fruit with the sugar, cinnamon sticks, mixed spice, cloves, grated nutmeg and citrus zest in a large bowl.
Pour over the vodka, and cover tightly with cling film.
Place in the fridge and leave for 3 days, stirring once each day.
Line a sieve with a double layer of fine muslin and place over a large, clean jug.
Pour the dried fruit and vodka mixture into the sieve and allow to drip through into the jug.
Pour into a sterilized bottle.