Flavours of Persian cooking are the perfect to compliment to veggie-based dishes at Christmas

INGREDIENTS

400 g squash

Olive oil

1 red onion

2 cloves of garlic

50 g dried apricots

50 g sour cherries or cranberries

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 lemon

1 bunch of fresh coriander , (15g)

200 g tinned or vacuum-packed chestnuts

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

100 g shelled pistachios

100 g almonds

100 g cooked quinoa or brown rice

2 medium free-range eggs

1 pomegranate

200 g feta cheese , optional

1 lemon , optional

1 teaspoon coriander seeds , optional

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Grease a 24cm loose-bottomed tart tin with a little olive oil. Peel, deseed and chop the squash into 1cm chunks, then toss onto a baking tray with a drizzle of oil and sea salt and black pepper, and roast for 20 to 25 minutes.

Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic, and roughly chop the apricots and cranberries. Bash the cumin and coriander seeds, and zest the lemon. Pick and roughly chop the coriander, then roughly chop the chestnuts.

In a frying pan over a medium heat, cook the onion in a little oil for 10 minutes or until soft and sweet. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, until beginning to soften, then add all the spices and a little more oil. Cook for a couple more minutes, until it’s all smelling great. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Blitz the pistachios and almonds until they’re ground to a coarse powder with a little texture. Tip into a bowl with the quinoa or rice and dried fruit, then add the lemon zest, coriander and chestnuts. Beat and stir in the eggs and the onion. Take the squash out of the oven and mash half of it with the back of a fork, leaving the other half in chunks, then stir this into the mixture too. Pile the lot into the prepared tin and press down to flatten. Cook in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until set.

Take the nut roast out of the oven, then carefully remove it from the tin and place it on a serving platter.

Scatter the loaf with the feta (if using), and the pomegranate seeds.