Butternut Squash Wellington

The wellington is an absolutely classic British dish. Butternut squash is the hero ingredient here which we wrap inside a lovely mushroom, walnut and thyme stuffing.

Ingredients

-1 people+

Metric

Method

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 200°C fan / 425°F.

   
2. 2

   Trim the top off the butternut squash, carefully slice it in half lengthways, then peel and remove the seeds. 

   
3. 3

   Cut off the bulbous part from each half of the butternut squash (where the seeds were) leaving you with 2 long pieces and 2 bulbous pieces. Roughly chop the bulbous parts and transfer all the butternut squash to a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 30 minutes.

   
4. 4

   Remove the tray from the oven, add the walnuts and roast for another 5 minutes.

   
5. 5

   Put a drizzle of olive oil into a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the shallots and fry for 8 minutes.

   
6. 6

   Add the mushrooms and garlic and fry for 10 minutes.

   
7. 7

   Add the thyme leaves and the soy sauce and fry for 5 minutes.

   
8. 8

   Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor along with the Dijon mustard, generous pinches of salt and pepper, as well as the walnuts and roughly chopped pieces of squash from the oven (leave the long pieces of squash to one side for later). Process until mostly broken down.

   
9. 9

   Put the spinach, along with a tablespoon of water, into a pan on a medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until wilted, then drain any excess water from the spinach.

   
10. 10

    Before assembling the Wellington make sure the mushroom mixture has mostly cooled.

    
11. 11

    To assemble the Wellington, unroll the first sheet of pastry on to a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Spoon two-thirds of the mushroom mixture down the middle of the pastry, around 8cm (3”) wide, leaving 4 cm (2″) clear at the top and bottom.

    
12. 12

    Pop the wilted spinach over the mushroom mixture and place the long roasted pieces of butternut squash on top. Spread the remaining mushroom mixture over and around the butternut squash, filling in any gaps.

    
13. 13

    Unroll the second sheet of pastry and place it over the Wellington.

    
14. 14

    Press down with your fingers to seal the two sheets of pastry together. Trim the excess pastry with a knife and use a fork to crimp the edges (you can use the excess pastry to decorate the Wellington and refrigerate the excess for a couple of days in an airtight container to use in another recipe). Then make three cuts to the top of the Wellington to allow the moisture to escape.

    
15. 15

    Brush the Wellington with plant-based milk and bake for 35–45 minutes at the same temperature (200°C fan / 425°F) or until the pastry is golden brown.

    
16. 16

    Serve up for Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving, or Sunday roasts.