Vegan Mushroom Wellington

brush the pastry with plant milk
to make it golden brown

Preparing food for a vegan treat, to be eaten while others tuck into a roast is worth doing. Why should anyone lose out on an occasion meal. The aim, while preparing the vegan mushroom pie (Wellington) is for everyone to envy the person eating it.

What is needed then?

• a dish that looks great
• flavour packed into every mouthful
• texture and moisture - to keep the eater's attention
• nutritional value

Deep flavour 

- use a mirepoix or soffrito, celery, carrot and onion sweated gently in olive oil. Mix this with chick peas, a spoonful of nut butter or tahini and crush or blend it all together, adding garlic if you like.

- a rich stock, home made vegetable bouillon or ready made with added porcini mushrooms, peppercorns, cloves, bayleaf and other herbs all simmered gently for 30 minutes

This isn't a quick dish to prepare, it's a proper main to match any other Sunday Roast type main. I served this alongside roast lamb, and those eating the lamb still eyed up the veg wellington. You may want to add gravy to the list, although if you serve it with a dressed salad you won't need it.

Mushroom Wellington - makes two

Ingredients

• Leaf spinach - one bunch
• Mirepoix - 1 stick celery, 1 carrot, half onion
• large onion
• mushrooms (1 punnet)
• half cup chick peas
• parsley chopped fine
• chopped mixed nuts (I use sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds)
• half dessert apple peeled and finely diced
• porcini mushrooms 
• puff pastry block or ready rolled
• 1tsp veg bouillon or veg stock cube (read label to ensure they are vegan)
• 1 tbsp nut butter (I like almond butter as it adds richness but not flavour)
• nut or other plant milk
• mixed herbs
• oil

Method

• Take half the onion for the mirepoix mixture (see below)
• Prepare the mirepoix, chopping celery, peeled carrot and onion very fine, put into pan over low heat with a spoonful of oil, cook gently until tender (this is sweating) check the heat and stir, you don't want the mixture to brown.... once it's cooked add finely diced peeled dessert apple and cook until soft, stir through the finely chopped parsley, season and then set to one side COMPONENT: MIREPOIX MIXTURE
• Clean mushrooms by tapping out soil and removing stems, set caps to one side COMPONENT: MUSHROOM CAPS
• prepare half cup of stock adding spoonful of porcini mushroom and stems from the other mushrooms - boiling all together to deepen the flavour. If you don't have any suitable stock the mushrooms will good favour in a cup full of water, add herbs to taste. Once the stock is flavourful turn it off. You can discard the mushrooms or keep them to add to the chickpea mixture BUT if you do you'll need to puree them very well
• slice remaining half onion and fry gently in small amount of oil until brown, add herbs and chickpeas and stock and reduce until only small amount of liquid remain, then mash or puree chick pea mixture adding in spoonful of nut butter, pepper and salt to taste stir through the mixed nuts and set to one side COMPONENT: CHICK PEA PUREE
• wash the leaf spinach and dry COMPONENT: SPINACH
• you're nearly ready to put the mushroom wellington together 

you can prepare up to this point in advance

these are all the ingredients except the nut butter

Putting together the mushroom wellington - mounding the ingredients

whole nuts add crunch and the apple adds
pops of sweetness

Set the oven to 180 degrees to warm up

Line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper

• roll out the pastry if needed and cut  four squares, two about 10x10cm (4 inces) two about 14x14cm (over an inch larger than the other) and us the smaller squares as the base COMPONENT: PASTRY SQUARES
• Line up the components: pastry base, mushroom caps, chick pea puree mixture, mirepoix mixture, spinach leaves
• set out two smaller squares spacing them a couple of inches apart
• moisten the edges of the smaller pastry square with nut milk using your finger or a pasty brush
• cover pastry base with spinach leaves, keeping the edges clear
• spread a spoonful of mirepoix mixture onto spinach leaves, spreading it like butter in a sandwich
• spoon chick pea puree mixture on top of mirepoix mixture and spread thickly
• stack sliced mushroom caps onto mixture, leaving a gap at the sides so the mushrooms sit inside the chick pea puree mixture
• spread another spoonful of chick pea puree over the mushroom slices
• spread mirepoix mixture over the chick pea puree
• cover with spinach leaves
• drape larger pastry square over the mounded ingredients and seal it to the base square using a fork
• put some steam holes into the top so that the steam can escape during cooking
• repeat with second mushroom wellington



pierce pastry with fork to let
steam out while cooking

• brush both wellingtons with nut milk

whole mushroom caps for the centre
chopped mushroom stems and onions for added richness

cook for around 40 minutes until piping hot and golden brown

serve with veg gravy, and steamed green veg or salad

crimp the edges with a fork