Christmas is upon us, and if you need a vegetarian/vegan option or just something different, then this lentil, mushroom and sweet chestnut vegan wellington, flavoured with my secret ingredient, rose harissa, is going to blow you away. The filling of this wellington is fabulous on its own; I mean, you can end up just eating spoonfuls of it. Together with my vegan spinach and feta strudel, smashed Brussell sprouts, Roast miso & maple parsnips, and vegan gravy, you will hopefully have your Christmas day plant-based options covered.
If you want to go beyond a nut roast for the plant-based offering on your Christmas table, why not try this vegan wellington. It is very moreish and looks good too. The pastry is braided and when finished and cooked, it makes a great centrepiece on your Christmas table. Don't be daunted by the braiding, just follow my video below. Also rest assured that the puff pastry is quite forgiving, so any errors will be sorted during the baking.
The filling is easy to prepare and it remains moist after baking. The green lentils do not need to be soaked overnight and cook quite quickly. The mushrooms give it an earthiness. I decided to use rose harissa to give this recipe an extra lift.
Right then, let's cook!
How-To Video
Here is a video guide to making a braided vegan wellington.
📖 Recipe
Braided Lentil, Chestnut, Mushroom And Rose Harissa Wellington
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 250 gms Green lentils
- 100 gms Sweet chestnuts
- 150 gms Chestnut mushrooms
- 100 gms White onion
- 20 gms Garlic
- 50 gms Celery
- 50 gms Leek
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 teaspoon Sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Crushed black pepper
- 2 nos Bay leaves
- 300 ml Vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoon Rose harissa
- 50 ml Plantbased milk
- A pinch of turmeric powder.
- 1 packet Jus roll, puff pastry sheet
Instructions
- Soak the lentils for a couple of hours.
- Wash and boil the lentils until tender (about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, finely chop the onions, garlic, celery and leek.
- Chop the mushroom and chestnuts into small dices.
- In a pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the bay leaves, onion, garlic, celery and leek and sauté until soft—about 5 minutes.
- Now add in the mushrooms and sauté until soft.
- Add in the chopped chestnuts and the boiled lentils.
- Pour in the stock and add the salt and pepper. Bring to a quick boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often.
- Once the lentils are soft and most of the liquid has reduced off, stir in the harissa and mix well. Adjust the seasoning if required.
- The lentil mix is ready when most of the liquid has been absorbed. Set aside to cool.
- Remove the puff pastry roll from the fridge and bring it to room temperature.
- Once the lentil mix has cooled completely, roll out the puff pastry (you will be using the whole packet) on a piece of parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. This will make it easier to move the wellington later.
- Into the centre of the puff pastry sheet spoon in the wellington mix lengthwise. Leave about two inches on both ends to fold on over later. Shape the lentils mix like a log. We want it nice and tight.
- Cut equal sized strips into the puff pastry, about ½ inch segments, either side of the log mix. Leave thicker strips at either end as shown in the photograph to enable proper sealing.
- Mix the turmeric and plant based milk and brush the entire sheet with this.
- Carefully bring the top end to cover the wellington mix and press down to seal the puff pastry. At this point you will have a double folded strip, cut it into the same size as the other strips. Repeat for the bottom end.
- Now braid the pastry. Starting from the top sealed end, pull the strip for one side up and diagonally over the centre of the lentil log, then bring the other side and cross over the previous strip and press down. Repeat this process till you reach the end of the lentil log.
- This is how the ends of the braided puff pastry should look
- Brush the entire log with the plant milk and turmeric mix and refrigerate while you wait for the oven to preheat.
- Preheat oven to 200ºC (fan assisted)
- Place the wellington on a tray in the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool for at least five minutes before cutting and serving.
Vegan Wellington Recipe Notes
The braiding of the wellington is to create a showstopper for your Christmas table. If you wish to skip that step you can just gently fold the pastry over the filling.
The preparation time for this vegan wellington recipe is 30 minutes. You can save a bit of time by chopping the vegetables while the lentils are cooking. You can also buy pre-cooked tinned lentils to save time.
Rose harissa gives this recipe the extra kick and flavour. If you are using my harissa recipe, you may find it quite hot. If you are using store-bought rose harissa it is usually relatively mild, so adjust as per your threshold. My rose harissa will require rose petals. If you are making this in the winter months and thus do not have access to rose petals, you can buy dried rose petals in stores.
The lentil mix can be cooked in advance and stored in the fridge for up to three days. It can also be frozen in an airtight container and defrosted in the refrigerator overnight the day before you use it. The braided vegan wellington can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge in an airtight container or wrapped to keep the pastry from drying. Just brush it with plant milk again before baking.
nimmi says
outstandingly delicious would recomend