Merchant Gourmet's Chestnut Range. Ideal for your Christmas feasting

Available on their own or incorporated into different recipes, Merchant Gourmet’s chestnuts range is stunning.

Here are three ways for using the range:-

Chestnut stuffing balls

Serves: 4, Time: 20 mins

INGREDIENTS

1 pouch of Merchant Gourmet Chestnut Stuffing

A splash of water

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat your oven to 180C.

Tip the stuffing into a bowl and mix well, adding a splash of water if needed.

Shape into 8 balls and place on a lined baking tray.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

 

Chestnut wreath

Serves: 8-10, Time: 1hr 10

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1.5cm cubes

250g mushrooms, roughly chopped

180g Merchant Gourmet Whole Chestnuts, roughly chopped 

120g aalnuts, roughly chopped

30g pumpkin seeds

75g dried cranberries

80g breadcrumbs

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped (including the stalks)

8 sage leaves, finely chopped (reserving 4-5 leaves for the end)

2 sprigs rosemary

1 orange, zest

Cranberries for decoration, if you like

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and sweat the onion until soft, adding the garlic for the last 2 minutes. . 

Add the butternut squash to the pan and continue frying on a medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Then add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes - again stirring regularly and gently mashing the squash with the back of a wooden spoon as it cooks. 

Add the chestnuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, mustard, chopped thyme and sage to the pan, season well with salt and pepper and mix everything together well.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F. Tip the mixture into a greased bundt tin pushing down firmly into the tin, and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden and crisp on top.

Allow to cool briefly and then tip onto a flat plate. Fry the reserved sage leaves and rosemary sprigs  in 1 tbsp oil until crispy and use these to garnish the wreath along with the orange zest and cranberries, if using. 

Ultimate (Christmas) leftover sandwich

Serves: 2, Time: 25 mins

INGREDIENTS

1 x 250g pouch of Merchant Gourmet Spiced Grains & Chestnuts

1 tsp cornflour

Leftover roasted vegetables (i.e carrots, parsnips)

Leftover braised red cabbage

Kale/ spinach / winter greens

Pickled red onion slices

Thick sliced white bread

Vegan mayonnaise 

INSTRUCTIONS

Tip the Spiced Grains & Chestnuts into a pan with approx. 50ml water and heat gently.

Sprinkle over the cornflour and mix well to combine, stirring over the heat for 3 minutes.

Take off the heat, put into a food processor and blitz the mixture until the grains break down slightly

Shape into small patties and put on an oiled tray and bake for 15 minutes.

Layer up your ultimate leftover sandwich as follows and make sure you pack in plenty of each: bread, cranberry sauce, kale, roasted root veg, Spiced Grains & Chestnuts patties, braised red cabbage, spinach, pickled onions, mayo, bread.

You can learn more about the range here https://www.merchant-gourmet.com