Hi kittens! How are you? It’s been a very cold week: snow and ice have covered where I live and I was really a Winter Wonderland! Just perfect for the pre-Christmas period. And it’s a great time to have some comfort food like this Vegan Vegetable Wellington by ConnoseurusVeg.
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
- Place the rice, broth, thyme, sage and rosemary into a small saucepan and set it over high heat.
- 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.
- Remove the pot from heat and allow it to sit with the lid on for at least 5 minutes before uncovering.
- While the rice cooks, preheat the oven to 400°.
- 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.
- Place the baking sheets into the oven and bake until the squash and mushrooms are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven but leave the oven on.
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and place it over medium heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the onion. Sweat the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté another minute, until very fragrant.
- 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.
- Add 1 cup of the cooked rice (Note 5), squash, mushrooms and pecans to the skillet. Stir a few times to mix everything up.
- Taste-test the mixture at this point (careful, as it will be hot) and season it with salt and pepper to taste.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to incorporate. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it to about a 12-inch square. Transfer it to the baking sheet.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Brush the pastry with the melted butter.
- Bake the log until golden and puffy, 30-35 minutes.
- Allow the vegetable Wellington to cool just for a couple minutes, then slice and serve.
I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Love,
TVCL xx
The Vegan Cat Librarian 