Anna Jones’ last-minute vegan Christmas recipes | Food (2024)

Day-ahead porcini and root veg gravy

This gravy freezes really well, so can be made up to three months ahead; simply defrost and reheat. I use a mixture of root veg (whatever I have around), but remember that if you use squash, you will end up with a slightly orange-hued gravy, which will taste delicious but perhaps look a little less traditional. If you can’t get porcini, use two tablespoons of brown miso in one litre of water.

Prep 30 min
Cook 1 hr 10 min
Serves 8

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas 6. Toss the mushrooms, celery, shallots, root veg, herbs and garlic in two tablespoons of the olive oil in a large roasting tray. Season generously and roast for 40 minutes, until the veg is soft and mashable. Use a potato masher to crush the veg and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan, add the flour and fry for four minutes, until biscuit-brown. Slowly add the porcini stock, strained through a fine sieve to catch any grit, reserving the mushrooms, and stir through until the stock has thickened. Stir in the mushrooms and mashed veg, stir in the wine and vinegar, bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes.

Pass through a sieve until you have a smooth, thick gravy. Add water to loosen, if needed, and season well before serving.

Speedy vegan stuffing

Instead of making this stuffing into a traybake as below, you could roll it into balls, toss them in a little olive oil and bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
2 red onions, finely chopped
3 sage leaves, shredded, plus extra to top
1 sprig thyme, leaves only, plus extra leaves to top
1 sprig rosemary, leaves chopped
Salt and black pepper
1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
100g mixed nuts (50g pecans, 25g blanched almonds, 25g blanched hazelnuts, plus an extra handful for the top)
6 chunky slices stale sourdough (275g)
Zest of 1 lemon
10 dried apricots, finely sliced
150g cooked chestnuts
250ml oat milk

Meanwhile, roast the nuts in the oven for 10 minutes, until golden. Char the bread in the toaster or under the grill – the slices need to be slightly blackened.

Tip the onion mix, nuts and toast into a food processor along with the zest, apricots, half the chestnuts and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Pulse until you have rough crumbs – it’s lovely to have chunks here and there. Transfer to a bowl.