White Nut Timbales

Chava is a professional food writer and photographer www.flavourphotos.com and first started to create mouth-watering vegan recipes and photographs for Viva! in 2006. She lives in the Cotswolds with her partner and two young boys, Sam and Alex.
She says: ‘These timbales make an unusual and very attractive Christmas centrepiece. They’re lovely with a full-flavoured tomato sauce or rich red onion gravy… and of course all your festive trimmings. Vegan smoked cheese is widely available now, as Bute Island Sheese make the dairy-free range for Tesco.'
Ingredients:
Top Tips
- Using a food processor will save a lot of time when you make fresh breadcrumbs as well as for chopping the pine nuts, chestnuts and artichokes. Use quick bursts to retain some bite and texture.
- You will also need a baking tray lined with non-stick sheet, and 6 cutting rings (7.5cm/3in) lined with baking parchment.
Ingredients
- 45g/1½oz vegan margarine, eg Biona, Pure, Vitalite, Tesco Free From
- 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
- 100g/3½oz pine nuts, finely chopped
- 125g/4oz white breadcrumbs (Use Biona for GF option)
- 1 lemon
- 60g/2oz smoked vegan cheese, grated, eg Tesco or Sheese
- 280g jar (170g drained weight) sliced artichokes in olive oil, drained and chopped (Aldi and Lidl are very good value)
- 200g/7oz ready-cooked and peeled chestnuts, all but 3 chopped (eg Merchant Gourmet brand)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 quantity of egg replacer (e.g. Orgran’s No Egg or Ener-G) - see packet instructions
- 2 tbsp each of chopped fresh parsley, sage and thyme
- 6 sage leaves
Method:
- Heat the margarine in a pan, add onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add pine nuts, breadcrumbs, rind and juice of half the lemon, cheese, artichokes and chestnuts. Season and stir in the egg replacer and herbs.
- Divide the mixture between the rings. Firmly press down and smooth the tops with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. Cut the remaining lemon into slices. Arrange half a lemon slice, half a chestnut and 1 sage leaf on top of each. Cover and chill until needed.
- Set the oven to 200°C/400˚F/Gas Mark 6. Bake timbales for 15-20 minutes.
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