Vegan Vegetable Wellington – Connoisseurus Veg

Flaky puff pastry is stuffed with a sweet and savory mixture of mushrooms, butternut squash, pecans and rice to make this mouth-watering vegan vegetable Wellington. This stunning holiday main dish will please vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike!

This recipe is carb-o-riffic. But hey, if there’s a day when you can go all out on the carbs, it’s got to be Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or any of the year-end holidays really.

Vegan holiday recipes certainly take the cake (ha ha! Um, sorry.) when it comes to carbing things up. This one is puff pasty stuffed with carbs. And it’s SO good.

This dish is kind of based on beef Wellington, but it’s also kind of not. I’ve wanted to create a vegan beef Wellington (or at least a vegan beef Wellington-inspired dish) forever, but didn’t know where to start. See, beef Wellington is basically a big piece of meat and a few other fixings wrapped in puff pastry. Great! So I’ll wrap some vegan food in puff pastry. But the challenge was in deciding what foods would work best.

I decided to give up on the idea of using any filling that resembled beef, and instead to combine a bunch of sweet and savory fillings, including a whiskey-spiked mixture of mushrooms, butternut squash, pecans and herbed brown rice.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Brown rice. You could substitute another type of rice, but I like the grainy texture and nutty flavor of brown rice best in this recipe. Also, you may need to alter the cook time and amount of liquid you cook it in. Refer to the package directions for guidance.
• Vegetable broth.
• Dried herbs. We’re using thyme, rosemary and sage. Prefer fresh herbs? Just double the amounts!
• Olive oil. You could substitute another type of high-heat oil if you’d like.
• Butternut squash. Another sweet variety of winter squash could be substituted here, such as acorn, kabocha, or delicata squash. Sweet potatoes are another option.
• Mushrooms. We’re using cremini mushrooms, also known as baby portobellos or baby bellas. Regular portobellos or button mushrooms could be substituted.
• Onion.
• Garlic.
• Whiskey. This adds a wonderful flavor to the filling, but it can be left out if you prefer to cook without alcohol.
• Pecans. Walnuts or hazelnuts would make good alternatives if pecans aren’t your favorite.
• Salt & pepper.
• Flour. I’ve only tested this recipe with all-purpose wheat flour.
• Frozen puff pastry. Accidentally vegan puff pastry is surprisingly easy to find! Always be sure to check the ingredients for things like butter. I used Pepperidge Farm brand.
• Vegan butter. Look for brands such as Earth Balance and Miyoko’s near where the regular butter is sold at the supermarket.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

• Start by roasting your squash and mushrooms. Dice them both up and toss them with a bit of olive oil.
• Arrange the diced squash and mushrooms on separate baking sheets and roast them until they’re tender.

• While the squash and mushrooms roast, combine your broth, rice, and herbs in a small saucepan. Heat the broth to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pot and let the rice simmer until the broth is fully absorbed.
• Let the pot sit with the lid on for a few minutes, then uncover it and fluff the rice with a fork.

• Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and add diced onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes until it softens up, then add the garlic and cook it briefly with the onion.
• Lower the heat and carefully add the whiskey to the skillet. Let it simmer with the onion and garlic until it reduces a bit.

Tip: Always be super careful when adding alcohol to a hot cooking vessel. If it heats up too rapidly, it can catch fire!

• Add your cooked rice, squash, mushrooms and pecans to the skillet. Toss everything to combine, and give the mixture a quick taste-test. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. It’s important to taste-test and season the filling before adding flour, which shouldn’t be eaten until fully cooked.
• Now sprinkle in the flour and stir the mixture up to combine everything.

• Use a rolling pin to roll your puff pastry to a large square. Transfer the dough to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then arrange the fillings in a long strip down the center.
• If you’d like to braid your dough, cut it into 1-inch strips along the sides, then pinch alternating strips together over the fillings. Alternately, you can simply fold the dough over the fillings and seal it together. Either way, you may find that you need to stretch the dough a bit in order to fit it over the fillings. This is totally fine!

• Brush the pastry with melted vegan butter. This will help to crisp and brown the pastry since we’re not using a traditional egg wash.

Tip: It’s a good idea to move the pastry before filling it. As you can see in the photo above, I didn’t do that! Moving your Wellington can be tricky once it’s assembled. I like to recruit a helper and use a couple of spatulas.

• Bake the Wellington until it’s golden brown and puffy.
• Use a sharp knife to slice it up. I find a serrated knife works best.
• Serve and enjoy!

Tip: I like to serve my Wellington with spiced wine cranberry sauce or doused in vegan gravy.

Make-Ahead Option

The filling for this vegetable Wellington can be made up to 2 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Assemble and bake the Wellington according to the recipe on the day of serving.

Leftovers & Storage

Vegan Wellington is best eaten right away, since puff pastry loses its crisp, flaky texture over time. If you do have leftovers, they’ll keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

More Vegan Holiday Main Dishes

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Vegan Vegetable Wellington

Flaky puff pastry is stuffed with a sweet and savory mixture of mushrooms, butternut squash, pecans and rice to make this mouth-watering vegan vegetable Wellington. This stunning holiday main dish will please vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike!

Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

• ½
  cup
  uncooked brown rice
• 1
  cup
  vegetable broth
• 1
  teaspoon
  dried thyme
• ½
  teaspoon
  dried rosemary
• 1
  teaspoon
  rubbed sage
• 2
  tablespoons
  olive oil,
  divided
• 3
  cups
  diced (½-inch) butternut squash
  (Note 1)
• 8
  ounces
  diced ½-inch) cremini mushrooms
  (about 3 cups of mushrooms)
• 1
  medium onion,
  diced
• 2
  garlic cloves,
  minced
• ¼
  cup
  whiskey
  (Note 2)
• 1
  cup
  chopped pecans
• Salt & pepper,
  to taste
• ¼
  cup
  all-purpose flour
• 1
  sheet (about 9 ounces)
  frozen puff pastry, thawed
  (Note 3)
• 1
  tablespoon
  vegan butter,
  melted

Instructions

1. Place the rice, broth, thyme, sage and rosemary into a small saucepan and set it over high heat.

2. Bring the liquid to a boil, lower the heat and cover. Allow the rice to simmer for about 40 minutes, until the liquid is fully absorbed.

3. Remove the pot from heat and allow it to sit with the lid on for at least 5 minutes before uncovering.

4. While the rice cooks, preheat the oven to 400°.

5. Toss the squash with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and and toss the mushrooms with 2 teaspoons of oil. Arrange them separately on the baking sheets.

6. Place the baking sheets into the oven and bake until the squash and mushrooms are tender, about 20 minutes.

7. Remove the baking sheets from the oven but leave the oven on.

8. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and place it over medium heat.

9. When the oil is hot, add the onion. Sweat the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

10. Add the garlic and sauté another minute, until very fragrant.

11. Lower the heat and carefully add the whiskey (Note 4). Raise the heat back to medium, bring the whiskey to a simmer it simmer for about 2 minutes, until most of the liquid has cooked off.

12. Add 1 cup of the cooked rice (Note 5), squash, mushrooms and pecans to the skillet. Stir a few times to mix everything up.

13. Taste-test the mixture at this point (careful, as it will be hot) and season it with salt and pepper to taste.

14. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to incorporate. Remove the skillet from the heat.

15. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

16. Place the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it to about a 12-inch square. Transfer it to the baking sheet.

17. Pile the filling on the puff pastry, forming a long rectangle extending down the center of the puff pastry sheet. Shape the filling with your hands and pack it in. It should seem like a lot, but you can remove some if it’s way too much.

18. Option 1: Braid the dough. Use a knife to cut approximately 1-inch strips down either side of the rectangle, stopping about a half in from the strip of filling. Starting at the bottom, fold the strips inward at a slight diagonal, over the filling, pinching opposite strips together.

19. Option 2: Simply fold the top and bottom ends of the puff pastry over the filling, then wrap the sides overtop to form a log shape, pinching tightly at the seams to form a seal. Poke a few holes in the dough to allow steam to escape.

20. Brush the pastry with the melted butter.

21. Bake the log until golden and puffy, 30-35 minutes.

22. Allow the vegetable Wellington to cool just for a couple minutes, then slice and serve.

Recipe Notes

1. You’ll need about 14 ounces or half of a medium butternut squash.
2. The whiskey can be omitted if you prefer to cook without alcohol. Simply skip step 11 of the recipe.
3. Pepperidge Farm brand puff pastry is vegan.
4. Alcohol is flammable, so always be careful when adding it to a hot cooking vessel.
5. You’ll probably have some leftover rice. Save it for another use or make a snack of it.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Vegetable Wellington

Amount Per Serving (1 slice (⅙ of recipe))

Calories 368
Calories from Fat 147

% Daily Value*

Fat 16.3g25%

Saturated Fat 6.1g31%

Sodium 294mg12%

Potassium 542mg15%

Carbohydrates 44.6g15%

Fiber 4.2g17%

Sugar 4.3g5%

Protein 7.9g16%

Calcium 40mg4%

Iron 2.5mg14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.