Mushroom Wellington | Vegan Holiday Recipe

This is a fabulous vegan main dish for the holidays or any time of year. You can also serve it as a side dish. The mushroom gravy is a wonderful addition to the to the meal. It’s more like a sauce rather than a thick gravy.

This recipe has a few steps to follow, but it is really easy once you get started. We suggest reading through the recipe fully before you start creating the Wellington pastries, so you know what steps are coming up.

Tip Cook your chopped mushrooms until they release their moisture and then continue to cook them until the moisture evaporates. Be careful not to burn them. You can use the portobello mushroom stem as part of the chopped mushrooms for this dish.

Note To ensure your Mushroom Wellington crust is flaky and moist inside chill all the cooked ingredients well (onions, mushrooms and parsley) and ensure there is no moisture remaining. Let the Portobello mushrooms drain on a plate and dry with a paper/kitchen towel before adding them to the puff pastry. Use any excess liquid in the gravy. If the ingredients are wet the pastry will be soggy and may tear while you are wrapping it over.

Serves 4 (or 6 as a side dish)

Makes 2 Wellington pastries

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cooking Time 30 (for sautéing veggies)

Baking Time approx. 35 minutes

Ingredients

6 medium portobello mushrooms (stems removed)
2 large brown onions, coarsely chopped
40 medium white mushrooms, coarsely chopped (reserve 1 cup cooked mushroom for gravy)
3/4 cup finely chopped parsley (leave a little fresh chopped parsley when constructing wellington)
4 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves and a few sprigs (or ½ tsp dried thyme)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
3 sheets vegan puff pastry (thawed right before using. Use only 2 sheets if not adding decorative leaves on top of pastry).

Mushroom Gravy Ingredients

1 can coconut cream
reserved mushroom cooking liquid (from the portobellos)
1 cup cooked button mushrooms (reserved from Wellington ingredients)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or ½ tsp dried thyme (optional, to taste)
2 tbsp tamari, to taste
½ tsp sea salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste).

Method

Place a large frying pan on medium-low heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the onion, salt and pepper (to taste) and then reduce the heat to low. Cook while stirring occasionally, making sure they don’t burn, for approx. 15 minutes until the onions are caramelised and golden brown.
Remove the onions from the pan and place in a bowl. Return the pan to medium-heat and add in 1 tbsp olive oil with the chopped mushrooms, parsley, sea salt and pepper (to taste). Fry until the mushrooms are soft and then continue cooking while stirring until the moisture has evaporated. Remove these mushrooms from the heat and tip in with onions. Place cooked onions, mushrooms and parsley in the fridge and chill for at least 20 minutes before using. You may want to prepare this mixture the day before to save time the day you assemble the pastry.
Using the same pan, add 1 tbsp olive oil and place the pan on medium-high heat. Place the whole portobello mushrooms, top side down and generously season with salt and pepper. Cook on one side for approximately 4-5 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Then, turn them over and cook for another 4-5 minutes or until golden. Remove these mushrooms from the heat, and place on a large plate top side up to drain. They will continue to release a lot of liquid as they cool. Reserve any liquid from pan or plate and add to the gravy (steps below). Line another plate with paper towels to drain any excess liquid and let them cool a little.
Preheat oven to 200C/390F and line two large baking trays/baking tins with baking paper. Place puff pastry sheets on top of paper. Then, spread half the onion, mushroom and parsley mixture over the middle third’s of each pastry. Leave a border approx. 2cm/¾in around the edge of the pastry so you can seal the edges with a fork or your fingers.
Then place 3 portobello mushrooms on top of each pastry, then top with a little fresh parsley and fresh thyme leaves.
Very carefully lift one side of the puff pastry over the top of the mushrooms and then fold over the other side. The result will be a log which you will seal at both ends with your fingers or a fork.
Carefully roll each log over with your baking paper, so that the seam is facing the bottom. Seal the edges again with your fingers or a fork.
You may want to use a third piece of puff pastry to cut out some leaves to decorate on top of the Wellington.
Brush the Wellington pastries with a little melted coconut oil, instead of using an egg wash, to help crisp the pastry while baking.
Place both baking trays in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes, or until golden and flakey.
While the Mushroom Wellington is baking make the mushroom gravy. In a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat add in the coconut cream, reserved mushroom cooking liquid, reserved cooked mushrooms, thyme leaves, tamari, sea salt and pepper. Cook while stirring often for about 8 minutes until the coconut cream reduces and thickens slightly. (The gravy will not be thick; however, you can thicken it with a little flour or gluten-free flour (approx. 1 tbsp of flour and 2 tbsp water mixed together well). Stir the flour mixture into the gravy towards the end of cooking it and allow to thicken while stirring and remove from heat and keep warm until you are ready to serve).
Once the Wellington has finished baking place them on a large platter with rocket, micro greens or pea sprouts. Slice onto individual plates. Top with gravy on each piece.

Happy Holidays!

You may love Chef Kate’s cookbook, The Flavour of Joy. Containing stories to inspire, amuse and uplift as well as delicious, healthy recipes you’ll love.

Kate uses local organic and sustainable ingredients in her tasty and nutritious recipes, also including superfoods and medicinal herbs in her dishes to create healthy and nourishing food for the body, mind, and spirit.

@chefkatemcaloon | theflavourofjoy.com