Mushroom Wellington

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking & Baking: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour & 10 minutes
Servings: 9 people

Mushroom Wellington is a beautiful, delicious centerpiece for your holiday table that is unforgettable. It’ll make both omnivores and vegetarians happy. It’s intensely satisfying and packed with richly flavored mushroom-and-lentil filling, enveloped by lovely, flaky puff pastry.

Why you'll love this recipe:

Ideal vegetarian showstopper for special meal.
Make-ahead to help spread out the labor later.
It’s indulgently rich and delicious, just a little bit extra.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 medium leek cut in half and thinly sliced
3 large onion chopped
3 medium carrot chopped
1 rib celery chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoon rosemary dry or fresh chopped
1 teaspoon sage dry or fresh chopped
½ teaspoon thyme
500 grams mushrooms
360 grams lentils or 2 cups cooked lentils
100 grams walnuts chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce or balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons rolled oats
1½ teaspoons salt more or less to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper
250 - 350 grams puff pastry sheet refrigerated or frozen and thawed

Directions:

Heat 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet.
Add 1 medium leek (cut in half and sliced), onion, carrot, rib celery, and cloves garlic (all chopped), and cook for 5 – 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add 3 tomato paste, rosemary, sage, thyme, and cook for 2 more minutes.
Meanwhile, rinse and coarsely chop mushrooms and add them to the pan.
Add lentils (drained and rinsed), walnuts (chopped), rolled oats, then season with soy sauce, salt, and black pepper.
Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste, adjust, and let cool down to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Arrange a puff pastry sheet on baking tray to create a rectangle of at least 12 x 8 inches (30 x 20 cm).
Make diagonal cuts on the sides of the puff pastry sheet (about 2.5 cm wide).
Arrange the mushroom filling in the center, leaving some space at the margins, and compact it with your hands or a spoon.
Fold in the strips to create a cross-hatch pattern and wrap the filling.
Brush with heavy cream, milk, or their non-dairy substitutes.
Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Let it cool down for 5 minutes, then cut it with a serrated knife. We recommend serving it with mushroom gravy.

Tips & Notes:

Mushroom filling: make it in advance so that it has time to cool down before you wrap it in puff pastry. You can even make it a day or two before.
Hand chopping vs. food processor: you can chop the veggies in the food processor, but if you do so, don’t overprocess them. We did blind tests, and our families preferred the Wellington with hand-chopped veggies because they keep their texture better.
Puff pastry: The easiest way to make this is with refrigerated (not frozen) puff pastry that comes in a roll. The best shape is rectangular (not round).
For frozen unbaked Wellington, thaw in fridge for 3+ hours before baking.

Substitutions:

Onion: Substitute shallots.
Leek: Substitute one extra onion for leek.
Carrot and Celery: Try not to substitute them as they are essential to a flavor base.
Rosemary, sage, and thyme: Substitute an Italian dried herb mix.
Tomato paste: Try not to substitute tomato paste. It’s essential for depth of flavor and color.
Mushrooms: You can use most mushrooms, such as white button mushrooms, brown mushrooms, fresh shiitake, cremini mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, and oyster mushrooms. Combine two or more mushroom varieties for a more exciting flavor.
Lentils: You can use brown, green, black, and French lentils. Canned lentils are the easiest option, but you can also use dried lentils that you previously boiled in water for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender. Here’s our guide on how to cook dried lentils. Substitute black beans for lentils, slightly mashed with a potato masher.
Rolled oats: Substitute breadcrumbs for rolled oats.
Walnuts: Substitute chopped cashews or almonds. You can also omit the walnuts if you prefer.
Soy sauce: Substitute tamari or balsamic vinegar for soy sauce. Balsamic vinegar has the advantage of being low in sodium.
Puff pastry: We recommend a rectangular store-bought puff pastry roll between (250 to 350 grams).
To make a vegan mushroom Wellington, you can choose a butter-based puff pastry sheet or, if you prefer, a vegan puff pastry sheet.
Substitute a gluten-free puff pastry to make this gluten-free.

Make ahead & Storage:

Make ahead: We recommend making the mushroom filling ahead of time (from a few hours to a day in advance) so it has time to cool down before wrapping it in the puff pastry.
Refrigerator: Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. The filling keeps very well. However, the puff pastry layer loses its flakey and crunchy texture.
Freezer: You can freeze mushroom lentil Wellington for up to 3 months before baking it. When you are ready to cook it, let it thaw in the fridge for at least 3 hours and bake as per instructions.
You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Let them cool down completely and transfer them to a freezer-friendly container.
Reheat: Warm this in the microwave for a couple of minutes. You can also reheat it in a preheated oven at 350°F or 180°C for 10 minutes.

Serving suggestions:

creamy mushroom gravy
Sautéed green beans or green bean salad
Roasted potatoes or roasted potatoes and carrots
Mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes
Smashed potatoes
Roasted butternut squash or roasted kabocha squash
Roasted Brussels sprouts or roasted carrots and Brussels sprouts
Braised red cabbage
Sweet potato casserole or vegetarian stuffing

Nutrition:

Calories: 408kcal, Carbohydrates: 38g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g, Monounsaturated Fat: 11g, Sodium: 579mg, Potassium: 610mg, Dietary Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 2830IU, Vitamin B6: 0.3mg, Vitamin C: 7mg, Vitamin E: 1mg, Vitamin K: 18µg, Calcium: 52mg, Folate: 148µg, Iron: 4mg, Manganese: 1mg, Magnesium: 60mg, Zinc: 2mg