For a vegetarian Christmas dinner for 4 to 6, Delia Smith parsnip roulade rolls a cheese sponge round sage and onion stuffing and creamed parsnips. You bake the sponge at 200°C until springy, then roll it up warm in toasted hazelnuts. From the first chopped onion to the table, it takes about an hour.
Delia created this cheese and parsnip roulade after a vegetarian wrote asking for a dish with stuffing, sauce and all the trimmings. He wanted to feel as Christmassy as everyone else, and she cooked it on her BBC series Delia Smith’s Christmas in 1990. The card here is from Delia’s Happy Christmas of 2009, and her Vegetarian Collection of 2002 prints it too.
The clever part is that the stuffing bakes under the sponge, so it ends up rolled inside with the parsnip. It is a meat-free cousin of the pork Christmas stuffing she puts in the turkey, made with butter, onions, herbs and breadcrumbs.
Serve it with bread sauce and cranberry relish, as Delia suggests. To get ahead, reheat it from chilled under foil for 40 minutes at 200°C, uncovering it for the last 10. Her website says it also freezes for up to 3 months, cut into 2 or 3 pieces.
Delia Smith Vegetarian Roulade
Course: Main CourseCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy6
servings20
minutes40
minutes440
kcalA soft cheese sponge with a nutty coat, filled with herby stuffing and buttery parsnip.
Ingredients
- For the roulade:
40g butter
25g plain flour
275ml cold milk
3 eggs, separated
110g Cheddar, grated
1 rounded tablespoon chopped sage
40g hazelnuts, chopped and toasted
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
salt and black pepper
- For the stuffing:
40g butter
225g onions, chopped
1 heaped tablespoon chopped sage
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
75g white breadcrumbs
salt and black pepper
- For the filling:
350g parsnips (prepared weight)
25g butter
2 tablespoons double cream
whole nutmeg, for grating
salt and black pepper
Directions
- Oven: Heat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas mark 6. Line a 30 x 20cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment.
- Stuffing: Melt the butter in a small heavy-based pan, add the onions and cook for about 6 minutes, until transparent. Stir in the sage, parsley, breadcrumbs and seasoning, then sprinkle it evenly over the lined tin.
- Sauce: Put the butter, flour and milk in a saucepan and whisk over a medium heat until thickened. Season, then cook over the gentlest heat for 3 minutes.
- Yolks: Take the pan off the heat to cool slightly, then whisk in the egg yolks really well. Add the Cheddar and sage, and taste for seasoning.
- Whites: With a spotless whisk, beat the egg whites in a large bowl to soft peaks. Fold one spoonful into the cheese sauce to loosen it, then fold this into the remaining whites bit by bit.
- Bake: Spread the mixture evenly over the stuffing and bake on the top shelf for 20 to 25 minutes, until springy and firm in the centre.
- Parsnips: While it bakes, steam the parsnips for 10 to 15 minutes until soft. Cream them with the butter, cream, a grating of nutmeg and seasoning, by hand or in a food processor, and keep them warm.
- Hazelnuts: Lay a sheet of baking parchment, a little longer than the roulade, on the work surface and sprinkle the hazelnuts over it.
- Turn out: Turn the roulade out onto the hazelnuts and carefully peel off the base paper. Spread the warm parsnip evenly over the stuffing.
- Roll: With a short end nearest you, roll the roulade away from you, using the parchment to help. Lift it onto a serving plate and dust with the Parmesan.
Notes
- 350g is the weight of the parsnips once peeled and trimmed.
- Warm creamed parsnip spreads far more smoothly over the hot roulade.
FAQs
Which cheese is best for cheese and parsnip roulade?
Cheddar works very well, and her Happy Christmas version mixes 110g of it with a rounded tablespoon of chopped sage. Her Vegetarian Collection uses Sage Derby instead, which gives a lovely sage flavour of its own.
Her website suggests Lancashire with chopped fresh or dried sage if you cannot find Sage Derby. It also tells a reader that Cheddar, or Cheddar mixed with Gruyère, will be good.
How do I keep parsnip roulade vegetarian?
Delia wrote it for a vegetarian Christmas, so nothing in the stuffing or the sponge comes from meat. The one ingredient to check is the Parmesan, because traditional Parmesan is made with animal rennet.
Her website points vegetarians to a vegetarian Parmesan-style hard cheese instead. It is worth checking the label on your Cheddar too.
How do I toast the hazelnuts for the roulade?
Her own method sits on the same page of her Vegetarian Collection as this roulade. Spread the hazelnuts on a small baking tray and toast them in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes, using a timer.
Your oven will already be at 200°C, which is hotter than she uses there, so watch them closely. Let them cool, then chop them before you scatter them over the parchment.
Why is my cheese roulade flat?
A flat roulade usually means the egg whites lost their air, so whisk them in a large, grease-free bowl only to soft peaks. Loosen the sauce with one spoonful of white first, then fold in the rest a little at a time.
Fold gently and stop as soon as no white streaks are left. Press the middle lightly before you take it out: it should spring back and feel firm.
Which way do I roll parsnip roulade?
It depends on the tin, and Delia gives both ways in her books. Her Happy Christmas version bakes in a 30 x 20cm tin and rolls from the short end, away from you.
Her Vegetarian Collection uses a bigger 32 x 23cm tin and rolls it along the longest side, which gives a longer, thinner roulade. Either way, let the parchment do the work, and she says it is not difficult at all.
