Festive Vegetarian Roast with Brown Butter Sauce
Make this impressive vegetarian roast for your veggie friends!
- Serves: 4-6 |
- Difficulty: a little effort
- Prep Time : 60 mins |
- Cook Time : 60 mins
Ingredients
Stuffing
½ onion, finely chopped
salt
250 g portabellini mushrooms, finely chopped
50 g baby spinach, washed, dried and roughly chopped
40 g feta, crumbled
Butternut
salt
1 large courgette (one that will fit nicely inside the cavity of the butternut)
olive oil
5-6 Findus Baby Carrots
50 g pecan nuts, roasted
Brown Butter
juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper
Method
Stuffing
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook over a low heat until the onions are softened throughout. Add the mushrooms and cook for another couple of minutes until cooked through.
Remove from the heat and add the spinach, leave to wilt for a minute or two. Check the seasoning and place in a colander or sieve to allow the excess liquid to drain off. When ready to stuff the butternut, add the feta and mix well to combine.
Butternut
Preheat the oven to 180 ºC.
First things first, get your butternut, wash it and dry it. Then carefully halve it and scoop out the seeds.
Then, using a small paring knife, roughly mark the outline you’re going to scoop to – you want to leave about two fingers’ width.
Then, using a spoon and a little force, scrape out the filling of the butternut ensuring you leave enough of a border to keep the roast secure.
Keep scooping until you have a nice even shaped cavity. Trim the ends off your courgette and check that it fits snugly in the cavity.
Halve the courgette and very gently remove the seeds with a teaspoon.
Place a little amount of stuffing down the canal of the courgette and then place your Findus Baby Carrots on top of that filling.
Lastly, carefully sprinkle over the chopped pecans then carefully (and quickly!) place the two halves together.
Secure with twine, place on a roasting tray and then oil and and season.You may need to use a couple of large stainless steel serving spoons to wedge the butternut and to keep it from rolling over on the tray.
Place in the oven to cook for at least 1 hour. Check for doneness, the butternut needs to be soft all the way through.
Brown Butter Sauce
While the roast is cooking, make the brown butter sauce.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and increase the heat, whisking as it melts. The butter will foam up, then subside and begin to caramelise and you’ll be able to smell a nutty aroma.
Cook for a few more minutes to allow it to turn a deep nut brown, remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Watch out for spitting when you add the lemon juice.
To Serve
Use a serrated knife to slice the butternut and drizzle with brown butter.