Chestnut, Parsnip and Squash Wellingtons

Ingredients

for the pastry

• 2 x 200g ready rolled sheets vegan puff pastry
• 50g plain flour, for dusting
• 2 tbsp dairy-free milk
• A pinch of dried thyme, to decorate

for the filling

• 500g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1cm chunks
• 150g medium parsnips peeled and cut into 5mm rounds
• 4 garlic cloves, left whole
• 5g sage leaves, chopped
• 10g thyme leaves, chopped
• ¼ tsp ground mace,
• ¼ tsp mixed spice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 300g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
• 50ml vegan white wine or vegetable stock
• 250g cooked chestnuts, sliced
• 50g white breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C / 200°C Fan Oven / gas mark 7.
2. Put the squash, parsnip, garlic cloves, half the sage and thyme, and all the spices onto a large shallow baking tray, and drizzle with 2 tbsp of the olive oil and toss well. Roast for 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft, and golden around the edges. When done, leave the vegetables to cool down.
3. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion for 5-6 minutes over a medium heat, until very soft. Add the mushrooms and fry for another 5-6 minutes until they are dry and starting to turn golden. Stir in the wine or stock, and simmer for another minute and then stir in the remaining herbs and 100ml water or stock. While still fairly liquid, remove ⅓ of the mix and transfer to a blender or use a stick blender, to blend into a smooth paste.
4. Stir the paste back into the mushroom mixture and add the chestnuts and breadcrumbs. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir until you get a stuffing consistency which is firm and moist, but not wet. Remove from the heat.
5. Remove the roasted garlic from the squash tray, and peel off their papery shells. Make them into a paste by squashing them using the side of a knife. Stir into the chestnut pan along with the roasted vegetable mix from step 1.
6. Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll one of the puff pastry sheets out so it is 5cm wider and longer than the other. The rolled out sheet will be the tops. Cut this sheet into 4 even rectangles and transfer to a parchment lined tray and chill.
7. Unravel the second pastry sheet and cut into 4 even rectangles. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment or non-stick silicone sheet. These will be the bases. Divide the parsnip and chestnut filling between the four pastry rectangles, leaving a 1cm border. Brush the border with half the dairy-free milk, and add the tops to the wellingtons, removing any air bubbles as you press down around the filling.
8. Trim the pastry, and crimp with your fingertips or a fork to seal. Use any offcuts of pastry to decorate if you like. Brush with more dairy-free milk, sprinkle over the dried thyme and chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
9. To cook: Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Brush the wellingtons with more dairy-free milk, and bake for 1 hour from frozen, or 35-40 minutes from chilled. To check they’re cooked, pierce the centre with a metal skewer; it should be hot to the touch.
10. Serve the Wellington on a large board or serving platter, with your choice of roast accompaniments. Leave the Wellington to cool down slightly before slicing as this will help it to hold its shape.