Mushroom Wellington

Try this mushroom wellington for your Christmas main or for your roast. Three different types of mushroom, plus a mirepoix and tons of flavour!

A wellington is a classic roast/Christmas dish which is normally meat based. It tends to involve meat surrounded in a mushroom duxelle, followed by a savoury crepe and wrapped up in puff pastry. I’ve turned this into a mushroom wellington to make it suitable for vegetarians and vegans. This is my favourite Christmas main to serve up. We have this every year along with my leek and sage stuffing, miso roast potatoes and some onion gravy.

THIS is the family favourite, this wellington makes an incredible centre piece and it’s so easy to cut slices out too. It’s what my siblings always look forward to, we all love mushrooms so this makes for the perfect main.

What’s inside the mushroom wellington?

This mushroom wellington is filled with a LOT of mushrooms which have been beautifully caramelised. This means NO SOGGY mushrooms, we all hate that! Along with the mushrooms I’ve added in a mirepoix of vegetables (onions, celery and carrots) which provide an aromatic and flavourful base. I’ve used dried and fresh sage which adds so much freshness it lifts the entire wellington. So I would strongly advise not to leave this out. There’s a couple of secret ingredients which I’ll run through shortly – and they are game changers for this. They add umami, sweetness and just help tie all the flavours together.
I can’t forget the honey mustard layer and the flaky buttery puff pastry – it’s a combination that works insanely well together.

What you’ll need

• Puff pastry – a flaky, buttery pastry made from laminated dough. This means layers of dough are separated by layers of butter or some form of solid fat. As this bakes the fat melts and turns into steam which causes further separation of these layers. They lift up to form gaps, thus providing the flaky texture. I would recommend just buying a roll of pre-made puff pastry from the supermarket
• Mushrooms – We’ll be using 3 different types, chestnut, shiitake, and oyster. Each one provides a different flavour profile and texture. Mushrooms are naturally high in glutamates and using different varieties in combination maximises the umami of the dish
• Mirepoix – a traditional French aromatic and flavour base made from celery, carrots and white onion. This will complete the flavour as it helps to add depth. As we then go on to add tomato paste, it becomes a pinçage instead. This will also add sweetness to the mushroom wellington
• Fresh and dried sage – provides a herby earthiness and a mild minty flavour. I love this herb here, the flavour is incredible
• Tomato paste and miso paste: These two in combination add a ton of umami and help moisten up the filling to give it some body. If you’re curious about miso, check out my miso roast potatoes for more info! I’ll link it below, just tap the image
• Honey mustard: A mix of butter, Dijon mustard and honey (can substitute the honey for a vegan alternative). This provides additional sweetness and a mild acidity which cuts through the richness of the pastry
• Plain flour and corn flour – this will help bind everything together so you don’t end up with a filling that falls apart

Preparing in advance

The only thing I would prepare in advance is the filling, this can be done the day before. This is actually preferable as the filling needs to be cold before assembling. If you place a warm or hot filling directly onto puff pastry, the butter will start to melt and seep out. Therefore no crispy and flaky pastry.

This will need to be assembled right before baking, but that doesn’t take long to do at all.

Process shots

Mushroom wellington tips

• Assemble your wellington ON the tray you will bake it on. Line this with greaseproof paper. Once it’s assembled, it’ll be near impossible to transfer
• After baking on the middle rack, then transfer to the lower rack as per the recipe. You will see the edges and the base puff up and that’s the sign that the pastry is fully cooking through. This also frees up the middle rack to pop any sides in as well

What can I serve this with?

Serve it with my leek and sage stuffing, and my miso roast potatoes. I buy pre-made onion gravy, one shortcut is allowed when it’s Christmas!

Mushroom Wellington

dishbyrish

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 450 g chestnut mushrooms finely chopped
• 125 g shiitake mushrooms sliced
• 150 g oyster mushrooms torn up into small pieces
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium carrots finely chopped
• 3 sticks of celery finely chopped
• 1 large white onion finely chopped
• 0.5 tsp dried sage
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• Handful of sage roughly chopped (don’t be stingy on the sage!)
• 1.5 tbsp tomato paste
• 1.5 tbsp white miso paste
• 1.5 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp butter melted
• 0.5 tbsp dijon mustard
• 0.5 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp corn flour

Instructions

 

Method:

• Sautee your chestnut mushrooms in 1tbsp oil on high heat until crisp, add a pinch of salt at the end and then leave aside
• Sautee your shiitake and oyster mushrooms together in another tbsp oil and add into your chestnuts and leave aside. Also add a pinch of salt
• Sautee carrots, celery, onion, and dried sage in 2tbsp of oil on low heat. Season with salt and black pepper. This is our mirepoix and we’re not aiming to colour or caramelise, just to slightly soften. ~15 mins
• Then add minced garlic, fresh sage, mushrooms, and season with salt and black pepper again (careful on salt as miso is salty). Cook for a further 1-2mins
• In a small bowl whisk your tomato paste, miso, and water and add this to the wellington mix. Cook for a further 2-3 mins. UMAMI ALERT
• Let the mix cool completely, then add flour and corn flour

-PRE HEAT OVEN TO 180’C FAN/200’C CONVENTIONAL-

• Roll out puff pastry and place the cooled filling on one end, leaving an inch border next to it and shape into a log. Do this all on your baking tray
• Mix your melted butter, honey, and dijon mustard to make a honey mustard butter, it will initially split but keep whisking until a smooth sauce. Brush this on the rest of the pastry
• Fold the pastry over the filling and seal around the edges, smooth the surface over and cut off any excess pastry with a sharp knife
• Lightly score the top surface, try not to go all the way through the pastry
• Brush with the remaining honey mustard butter and bake on the middle rack for 30 mins or until browned, then transfer to the lower rack for another 30 mins (allows you to put any roasties or any appetisers above for perfect dinner timing)
• Once baked, rest for 5-10 mins before cutting into

Notes

Mirepoix + tomato paste = pinçage and though its main purpose is sauces, it makes a great base here to add an abundance of flavour into the wellington. The resting period at the end is essential for the filling to firm up and bind

Keyword christmas, mushrooms, party food, vegetarian, wellington