Cranberry Crusted Veggie Roast

Start with a frying pan which will be used to prep the whole of this roast.

Start by dry roasting the pine nuts in the pan. Once golden in colour, transfer them to a large mixing bowl.  Heat then the vegetable oil in the same pan and fry the finely chopped onion until just starting to soften and colour.  Add the chopped garlic and dried herbs followed by the celery, carrot, juniper berries and salt and pepper.  Allow to cook for 5 minutes then transfer to the bowl with the pine nuts.

Heat the 2^nd tbsp. oil in the pan then add the sliced mushrooms and the nutmeg.  Keep stirring until the mushrooms brown well.  Transfer these to the bowl with all the other ingredients.  Add the fresh parsley to the bowl and give everything a good mix.  Have a taste at this stage and add more seasoning if required.

Take the drained chick peas and place them in the bowl of a food processor and blitz to a rough paste. Add then the egg, mustard and ketchup and blitz again until you have a smooth puree. Add the ingredients from the bowl and just allow the mixer to blitz for a second or two.  You want a mixture that is well combined but still has some structure to it.

Transfer the mixture to the oven proof dish and smooth out then sprinkle over the grated cheese.

Back to the frying pan.   Heat the oil or butter then pop in the breadcrumbs and stir well allowing them to become coated in the oil or butter.  Turn down the heat and add the cranberry sauce.  The sauce will begin to dissolve amongst the bread crumbs.  Take from the heat and transfer to the dish with the rest of the ingredients.  Spread the breadcrumbs so that they cover the whole of the roast.

Bake at 190 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the top is crunchy and golden and the inside is bubbling.

Serve in squares with lashings of gravy (vegetarian of course !!) and all the Christmas veg.