Mushroom and Nut Loaf in Bread

Some flavours seem to be made for colder days and sweater weather. Here, I have a mushroom and nut loaf that might have every single one of those flavours in it. The recipe is a lot easier than what you'd think and incredibly delicious. 

I came up with this recipe for a Thanksgiving dinner I attended I while ago. But, to be honest, as soon as cranberries make an appearance at the store, I'm off to get my nut loaf game on. Natural cranberries are not available year round, so I try to make the most out of the season. 

Also, at home, we love the aromas that invade the house after baking a nut loaf. It puts us all in holiday mode straight away. For me, this is a bit dangerous. I get very inspired and I end up cooking way too much food. 

For this reason, I try to save this recipe for days when I'm having a lot of people over or for an actual holiday. It's a great recipe for sharing, and you most likely won't have to deal with leftovers. Even though, you can save it and reheat it, I think it is best to eat it straight out of the oven. 

The nut loaf requires a few ingredients, but you probably already have most of them in your kitchen. And if you happen to be missing something, everything we are using today you can easily find at your local supermarket. 

For the dough, we only need wheat flour, olive oil, dry yeast, a bit of salt and some water. I recommend preparing the dough the night before. If you can't make it ahead of time, let is sit for at least 30 minutes so you allow it to rise. 

Once you start playing with the dough get a feel for it. If it's sticking to your hands, the dish and everything else, don't hesitate to add more flour. Be mindful that the more flour you add the drier your nut loaf will come out. It's all about balance. 

A lot of nut loaf recipes out there usually mix the dough with the rest of the ingredients and it kinda looks like a loaf of bread. This version is slightly different. We are stuffing the dough with the mushroom and nut mix. Achieving this can be a bit tricky, so you really have to pay attention when you wrap and close the loaf so everything stays inside. 

You don't want to leave any filling behind! There are so many elements in this filling which add a ton of flavour to our nut loaf. I don't ever use a lot of salt, so make sure you try the filling while it's still in the bowl. Adjust the flavour to your personal preference, you can add more salt or any of the spiced we've already used. 

The final touch and what brings our nut loaf to another level is our delicious home made Cranberry Sauce. You can find out how to make it here.