Ella's happy, healthy Christmas recipes.

Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan.

Coat the pumpkin pieces with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place on a baking tray and season with salt and pepper. Place in oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until you can pierce them easily with a fork. 

Make the croutons. Tear the bread into small pieces, toss with the olive oil, nutritional yeast and dried sage. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment and bake for 10-12 minutes until crispy.

While the pumpkin and croutons are cooking heat the other tablespoon of olive oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently until they have softened and become translucent. 

When the pumpkin is cooked add it to the saucepan along with the vegetable stock. Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes, then blend until smooth. Season to taste and garnish with cheesy sage croutons, fresh sage and chili, if desired.

Place a large pan over a low heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once warm, add the onions and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until golden and sticky - cooking them for this long will add lots of flavour. 

Drain and finely chop the porcini mushrooms (you can use the soaking liquor as a stock elsewhere) and cook with the onions for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme leaves, cook for another 5 minutes before removing from the heat and spooning into a large bowl. 

Put the mushrooms in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped - you will need to do this in 3 batches. Using the same frying pan, fry the chopped mushrooms - you will again need to do this in 3 batches, as mushrooms release a lot of water and overcrowding will make them soggy. Fry each batch in a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt, stirring every so often until all the water they release has evaporated and the mushrooms are golden brown. Add the cooked mushrooms to the bowl of onions.

Spoon the drained borlotti beans into the food processor and pulse until you have a coarse paste. Add this to the bowl. 

Place the spinach in a large colander and pour a whole, freshly-boiled kettle over them - this will wilt the leaves. Leave to cool, then squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Finely chop and add to the bowl. 

Add the tamari to the bowl, then mix thoroughly until everything is well incorporated. Taste and season, before leaving to cool completely. You can prepare the carrots and mushroom filling up to 2 days in advance. 

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan. Place a baking tray in the oven to preheat. 

Unroll one sheet of puff pastry and lay it flat on the paper it comes wrapped in. Sprinkle the oats in the middle of the pastry, in a rectangle roughly 25cm x 10cm. Spread a quarter of the mushroom mix over the oats.

Layer the carrots on top of this so that they’re neatly stacked on top of each other - you may need to cut some to fill the space evenly. Then pile the remaining mushroom mixture around the carrots so that they’re completely covered - it’s easiest to use your hands for this. 

Layer the carrots on top of this so that they’re neatly stacked on top of each other - you may need to cut some to fill the space evenly. Then pile the remaining mushroom mixture around the carrots so that they’re completely covered - it’s easiest to use your hands for this. 

Shape into a neat mound, then cover with the remaining sheet of pastry. Press down the edges and trim off the excess pastry, leaving a rim of 2cm around the base. Crimp the base using a fork. Using a sharp knife, lightly score the top of the pastry, being careful not to pierce all the way through. 

Mix together the maple syrup and oat milk and brush over the pastry. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. 

Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan setting. 

Place the sprouts in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup and a pinch of salt. Mix well until all of the sprouts are coated in oil.

Roast for 25-30 minutes, until nice and crispy.

Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan, and add the onion, carrot, celery, herbs and salt. Fry over a medium heat for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and sticky - you want lots of caramelisation. 

Add the flour, stir and cook off for a further 5 minutes, then add the medjool dates, marmite, tomato puree, red wine vinegar and tamari and fry for another 5 minutes. 

Add the stock, bring to the boil then leave to simmer over a low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Strain through a fine sieve, pushing down the vegetables to get out every drop of liquid. Use right away, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days or freezer for 1 month, and simply reheat when needed.

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan.

Carefully wash the carrots, scrubbing away all grit but leaving them unpeeled. 

Add the carrots to a large roasting tray, then add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, caraway seeds and sea salt. Mix to coat evenly and roast in the oven for 40 minutes, or until golden and sticky. 

Finely grate the zest of one of the oranges and toss through the carrots. Then cut away the peel using a sharp knife and slice both oranges into segments.

Add the orange segments, flaked almonds and parsley to the roasting tray and toss to coat, so that everything is well mixed in the roasting juices. 

Peel and chop the potatoes so that they’re all roughly golf-ball sized. Place in a large pan of cold salted water, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the edges of the potatoes are crumbling slightly. Drain in a large colander and leave to steam dry. 

Carefully wash the carrots, scrubbing away all grit but leaving them unpeeled. 

Add the carrots to a large roasting tray, then add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, caraway seeds and sea salt. Mix to coat evenly and roast in the oven for 40 minutes, or until golden and sticky. 

Finely grate the zest of one of the oranges and toss through the carrots. Then cut away the peel using a sharp knife and slice both oranges into segments.

Add the orange segments, flaked almonds and parsley to the roasting tray and toss to coat, so that everything is well mixed in the roasting juices. 

Then line a 2 litre glass pudding bowl with baking paper. 

Spoon in the mixture into the lined bowl, place baking paper over the top and then tie a piece of string around it so the paper stays on top of the bowl like a hat.

Put the bowl inside a wide pan and fill the pan with boiling water half way up the bowl. 

Cover with a lid, bring to a medium heat and simmer the pudding for 2 hours.

Make sure that the water doesn’t evaporate as it might burn the pudding and crack your bowl so check on it every half hour.

Whilst the pudding is cooking, make the vanilla cashew custard: drain the cashews, reserving the cooking water, and place in a blender with the vanilla, maple syrup and half of the soaking liquid.

Add the rest of the water gradually to get desired thickness and taste.

Blend for around 5 minutes or until completely smooth.

Then pour the custard into a pan and gently heat until warmed and thickened to a nice creamy consistency.

Once the pudding has finished cooking, place an upside down serving plate on top of the bowl and flip to remove the pudding.