A recipe for carrot and sage savoury shortbread

I love Christmas unashamedly - the twinkly lights, the nights out, the time off work - but when it comes to the lacuna between the big day itself and the return to the office, I find myself a bit jaded on the food front.

After having been repeatedly assaulted by salty or fatty treats and having become oblivious to their charms, suddenly now they're pretty much all I want to eat at the moment.

So I duly turned into a fatty, salty treat for the new year: savoury shortbread.

I am sad to report these savoury biscuits don't really keep well at all, so get them eaten as soon after you've made them. It's as good excuse as any for a bit of gluttony, I reckon.

They're good served with soup in case you wanted some inspiration on how to dispatch them - I ate a good few with a bowl of aubergine and tomato soup. Unfortunately, the soup in question - while tasting quite good - looked like a cross between a pete bog and a monster from Star Trek, so I'll spare you the recipe for that one.

Carrot and sage savoury shortbread

Makes about 10 biscuits

Ingredients

2oz vegan margarine

4 and a half oz self raising flour

A couple of generous handfuls of nutritional yeast

A medium carrot (say about 2 or 3oz when topped and tailed), grated

Half a teaspoon of vegan broth powder

A sprig or two of sage (about 10 to 12 leaves), chopped

A little water

Salt and pepper

How you do it

Rub the flour into the marge until you have something that looks a bit like breadcrumbs.

Add the nutritional yeast, grated carrot, chopped sage, broth powder, salt and pepper to the mix and stir until combined.

Add a little water (start with a dessertspoon or two) to the mix and work in. You're aiming to end up with a ball of dough that comes away cleanly in a single solid lump. If it's too dry, add more water, a teaspoon at a time. If it's too wet, add more flour.

Once you've got a ball of dough that's cohering happily together, wrap it and stick it in the fridge for an hour.

Once it's had time to cool, get it out and roll it out on a floured board until it's about 3mm thick or so.

Cut out rounds (if you don't have a cookie cutter to hand, use a wine glass) from the shortbread and lay onto a greased baking tray.

Cook in a 200C oven for about 15 to 18 minutes, until the edge of the shortbread is crispy and starting to brown.