Vegan Nut Roast with Bread Dumplings and Creamy Onion Sauce
If you're allergic to nuts, we're very sorry and would advice you to quickly open another recipe (how about this potato and broccoli casserole?) and just pretend you've never seen these lines and pictures. While we usually try to add soy-free or nut-free alternatives to many of our recipes, we simply can't avoid using a lot of nuts in this one. But if you're one of the lucky ones without a nut allergy, congratulations: you can enjoy this beautiful and delicious vegan nut roast!
There are many ways to prepare a vegan roast – with seitan, soy, beans, lentils, or with nuts. We already published a lentil roast and a 'sauerbraten' made from seitan but today we're going nuts. To make this nut roast, you'll need a food processor (alternatively you could use a blender) and a loaf pan for baking (alternatively you can use a deep casserole dish). And while we're at it: it's also good to have a clean kitchen towel and some kitchen string or rubber bands to be ready as you'll need them for our vegan bread dumplings.
We're not doing regular potato dumplings today, but so called 'Serviettenknödel' (literally napkin bread dumplings). The preparation is a bit easier as you don't need to shape each dumpling and since they require wheat buns as a base (so you don't need to boil any potatoes). In the end, it's basically a bread dumpling dough that is wrapped and cooked in a kitchen towel (or linen napkin, which is where they got their name from) and sliced afterwards. We directly added the wrapped dough to a pot of simmering water, but there's also the option to steam it over hot water. Even though I could have bet that 'Serviettenknödel' originate from the Franconian cuisine, their actual origin isn't clear. However, until the 1930s this type of bread dumpling was mostly known in Thuringia, upper Franconia, and around Hamburg.
But back to more important things: side dishes! Even though we would highly enjoy to serve every dish with our vegan gravy, we opted for a creamy onion sauce for this dish. It's quick to prepare and covers the nut roast and bread dumplings like a tasty silken blanket. We also prepared some Brussels sprouts, but you can basically choose any vegetable of your desire.
Vegan Nut Roast with Bread Dumplings and Creamy Onion Sauce
Ingredients
For the nut roast:
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 (approx. 200 g / 7 oz) carrots
- 10 g (0.33 oz) fresh parsley
- 250 g (8.75 oz) kidney beans from a can (drained weight)
- 250 g (8.75 oz) nuts (e.g., almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts)
- 2 tbsp (1 oz) mustard
- 1 tbsp (0.5 oz) tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 tbsp (1 oz) soy sauce
- 25 g (2 tbsp) cornstarch
- vegan butter for greasing
- salt
- pepper
For the napkin dumplings:
- 400 g (14 oz) wheat rolls
- 2 tbsp (30 g / 1 oz) cornstarch
- 300 ml (1.25 cups) plant-based milk
- 1 large onion
- 10 g (0.33 oz) fresh parsley
- 0.5 tsp nutmeg
- salt
- pepper
For the onion cream sauce:
- 2 onions
- 5 g (0.25 oz) fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp (1 oz) vegan butter
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp (0.25 cup) wheat flour (type 405)
- 250 ml (1 cup) vegetable stock
- 250 ml (1 cup) vegan cooking cream
- 1 tsp mustard
- 1 tbsp (0.5 oz) soy sauce
- nutmeg
- salt
- pepper
For the side dish:
750 g (26.5 oz) Brussels sprouts
Instructions
For the nut roast, first peel and chop the onion and garlic into small pieces. Wash the carrots and also chop them. Wash the parsley and shake it dry. Drain the kidney beans in a sieve and rinse with water.
Place the nuts in a food processor, blend finely, and then transfer to a large bowl. Then also place the onion, garlic, carrots, parsley, and kidney beans in the food processor and process into a chunky and slightly mushy mass. Add the mass to the chopped nuts. Add mustard, tomato paste, dried thyme and rosemary, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt, and pepper, and mix.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C/355 °F (fan). Grease a loaf pan with vegan butter and fill in the nut roast mixture, smooth it out, and bake for 60–70 minutes.
While the nut roast is baking, cut the rolls for the napkin dumplings into small cubes, place them in a large bowl, and sprinkle the cornstarch over them. Heat plant-based milk until warm. Then pour it over the bread cubes and let them soak for 5–10 minutes.
In the meantime, peel and finely dice the large onion. Wash the parsley and also chop it finely. Add the onion, parsley, and nutmeg to the bowl with the bread cubes. Season the mass generously with salt and pepper and knead well with your hands. Then form it into an elongated wide roll.
Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Wrap the napkin dumpling roll in a clean kitchen towel and tie the ends with kitchen twine or rubber bands. Let the napkin dumplings simmer in gently simmering water (not boiling vigorously) for 30–40 minutes. Then remove from the pot and let cool briefly.
While the napkin dumplings are simmering, bring salted water to a boil in a second pot. Remove the stem and the outermost dirty leaves from the Brussels sprouts. Simmer the Brussels sprouts over medium heat for 15–20 minutes until soft. Then rinse with cold water and set aside.
For the sauce, peel and finely dice the onions. Finely chop the parsley. Heat vegan butter in a pot and sauté the onion cubes together with tomato paste. Sprinkle flour over it and let it roast for 2–3 minutes. Once the tomato paste and onions are slightly browned, slowly pour in vegetable stock and vegan cream while stirring constantly so no lumps form. Add mustard and soy sauce and season the sauce with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste. Finally, stir in chopped parsley.
Take the nut roast out of the oven and let it cool for approx. 10 minutes. Then carefully cut it into slices. Also cut the napkin dumplings into slices (this works, for example, with kitchen twine or a knife) and serve with the nut roast, Brussels sprouts, and the onion cream sauce.
