STL Vegetarian

Recipes

From the archives, 1910 · 50 min · 6 slices

Wheldon’s nut roast

Pine nuts, olive oil, crumbs, tomato — a 1910 vegan loaf. Walnuts from Local Harvest cut the bill in half.

Home-cook price: About $24 with pine nuts, or $12 with walnuts · typical St. Louis grocery, not a quote

Wheldon’s nut roast

Sample image — a modern plate in the spirit of the 1910 recipe, not a photo from the book.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb pine nuts, flaked or chopped — or 1 lb walnuts (our STL swap)
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 breakfast cups breadcrumbs (about 2 cups)
  • ½ lb tomatoes, peeled and mashed
  • Salt (our addition)
  • Extra crumbs to sprinkle

Method

  1. 1Heat oven to 375°F. Chop or pulse the nuts until they look like coarse meal, not butter.
  2. 2Mix nuts, oil, breadcrumbs, mashed tomato, and a pinch of salt. Pack into an oiled pie dish or loaf pan. Sprinkle crumbs.
  3. 3Bake until the top is well browned, 35–40 minutes. Rest 10 minutes, slice.
  4. 4Wheldon served it as the meat of the plate. We send you to Plant Italia on Olive when you want someone else to roast the nuts.

Public domain · 1910

The 1910 plate

Adapted from “25. Nut Roast No. 1” in No Animal Food; and Nutrition and Diet, with Vegetable Recipes by Rupert H. Wheldon (1910). US public domain. Read the book.

Original: 1 lb flaked pine kernels, 4 tablespoons pure olive oil, 2 breakfastcupfuls breadcrumbs, ½ lb tomatoes peeled and mashed. Mix, pie-dish, sprinkle crumbs, bake until well browned. Pine nuts are a splurge in 2026 St. Louis — walnuts or a walnut/pecan mix from Local Harvest bulk are the honest weeknight. Bake 375°F, 35–40 minutes.

Buy it in St. Louis

Independents first. Prices are typical shelf, not a live feed.

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Skip the stove

This plate is in conversation with Plant Italia in Creve Coeur.

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