Sunshine Food Zone

Ingredients
¼ of a butternut squash , (300g)
2 carrots
200 g raw beetroot
2 red onions
1 bunch of thyme , (20g)
olive oil
10 g dried porcini mushrooms
400 g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 g vegetable suet
250 g pouch of cooked mixed grains
180 g vac-packed chestnuts or shelled unsalted walnut halves
50 g Cheddar cheese
1 whole nutmeg , for grating
6 sun-dried tomatoes
1 large free-range egg
150 ml semi-skimmed milk
unsalted butter

Method
This works great as a stand-alone recipe, but also as a component in Jamie’s Celebration Roast from Together – see the full collection of menus here.

GET AHEAD Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Scrub the squash, carrots and beets, and chop into 3cm chunks. Peel and quarter the onions. Place it all in a roasting tray, keeping each veg separate. Strip over the thyme leaves, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and add a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, jiggling the tray to coat. Roast for 1 hour, then remove and leave to cool.

Soak the porcini in 100ml of boiling kettle water. Place the flour, baking powder, suet and grains in a large bowl, crumble in the chestnuts and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Coarsely grate in the Cheddar and finely grate in half the nutmeg. Scoop out the porcini, finely chop with the sun-dried tomatoes and add to the mix, then pour in the porcini soaking water, discarding just the last gritty bit. Beat the egg into the milk, and stir it all together. Mix in the cool roasted veg, taking care not to break them up, and adding an extra splash of milk to bring it together, if needed. Generously grease a 2-litre non-stick bundt tin, pudding basin or 23cm springform cake tin with butter, pack in the mixture, cover with greaseproof paper and a tight double layer of tin foil, then refrigerate overnight.

TO SERVE Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Roast the veggie crown above the meat for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until crisp at the edges, then turn out, slice and serve. It will sit happily, covered, for up to 40 minutes before serving, if needed.