Tofu and Mushroom Nut Roast

I've never made nut roast before, but I thought I'd try my hand at a tofu based one and it turned out really well. I like tofu but I don't cook with it often because of the hassle of pressing all the water out; for this recipe I used silken tofu which you can just buy in the supermarket in the asian food section, and it doesn't need to be refrigerated or drained. I used eggs in my recipe but if you're vegan then just omit them (or you could always use an appropriate egg substitute). I cobbled this recipe together from various online recipes I found, so I was slightly worried I'd get the consistency wrong but it turned out perfectly. Not bad for an experimental recipe! I used walnuts, pine nuts, and sesame seeds but I'm sure you could vary the nuts to suit your preferences. 

This makes about 8 servings if cooking a roast dinner. Since there are only two of us (with a third on the way!) in our house, there were quite a lot of leftovers, but it works very well as a cold sandwich filling along with a bit of mayonnaise and lettuce (or whatever condiments you prefer).

 

Ingredients:

349g firm tofu (approx  - I used a firm silken tofu from Blue Dragon)
2 eggs (omit if making a vegan nut roast)
2 tbsp soy sauce
75g bread, blended/broken up into breadcrumbs
230g mushrooms (I used chestnut, but any will do)
90g walnuts
40g pinenuts
1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1 onion
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried sage
pinch celery salt (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas Mark 4

1. Chop onion finely and chop mushrooms into small chunks. Fry in a saucepan with butter/oil until tender, seasoning with the dried herbs and celery salt.

2. Blend tofu, walnuts, pinenuts, sesame seeds, soy sauce and eggs together in food processor/blender, until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Add the mushroom and onions to the tofu mixture and mix thoroughly.

4. Add the breadcrumbs to the bowl and mix thoroughly.

5. Add to a lightly greased loaf pan and press mixture down into the pan.

6. Bake in oven until cooked through and the outside is brown; around 75 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly before slicing, as otherwise it will likely collapse.