Butternut Wellington With A Caramelized Pear, Thyme & Pecan Stuffing
Welcome to day three of my Very Vegan Christmas! If you missed day 1 and 2 you can find the Christmas canapés for this festive menu here and here. Today, we’ll be making butternut wellington!
This centrepiece will definitely make a statement! Full of caramelized pears and onions, and loads of pecans, it’s a guaranteed showstopper! I used Woolworths puff pastry, which is incidentally vegan!
This recipe does require some tender loving care to elevate the simple ingredients into something really special, so if this is daunting for you to complete, follow our Very Vegan Christmas plan to break it down into manageable parts, making Christmas day an absolute breeze.
*Notes on choosing your butternut – As you wont be using the bulbous part of the butternut containing the seeds, choose a butternut with a nice long and fat neck. This will be hollowed out with a spoon or melon baller like a canoe to form the bulk of your wellington.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this using other mushrooms for the gravy?
Feel free to experiment with other mushrooms – oyster, king oyster, and other meaty brown mushrooms will all add delicious nutty flavour to this dish!
Can I replace the butternut with another vegetable
We have not tested this. But 1-2 very large sweet potatoes could work just as well.
Can buy readymade vegan stuffing and gravy?
Sure! If you can source this it will save you time. Choose a fruity, nutty stuffing to compliment the butternut. Prepare the stuffing as directed then follow the directions below for assembly. Once ready to serve heat your shop bought gravy.
Butternut Wellington With A Caramelized Pear, Thyme & Pecan Stuffing
- Total Time: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Welcome to day three of my Very Vegan Christmas! Today, we’ll be making butternut wellington!
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash
- 2 Tbsp non-dairy milk
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup, divided into 1 Tbsp each for the butternut, pears and pastry
- 1 roll defrosted vegan-friendly puff pastry
- flour for rolling the pastry
- Olive oil, salt and pepper as needed.
- Baking paper
For the Stuffing
- 120g sourdough, or stale white bread cubed and soaked in 125ml vegetable stock
- 1 finely sliced onion
- 1 rib celery, finely diced
- 1 large peeled, cored and diced pear
- 70g cup roasted and salted pecans, roughly chopped
- 3 Tbsp chopped sage (reserve 5 large leaves for the wellington)
- 1 Tbsp picked thyme leaves
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Vegan Gravy
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 125g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 350ml vegetable stock (350ml water, and 1/2 tsp vegetable stock concentrate)
- Oil, salt and pepper as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C and prep your ingredients as listed.
- Peel the butternut, and cut it in half lengthways. Cut off the bulbous section containing the seeds (save this for soup!) reserving only the fleshy neck of the butternut. You should now be left with two half-moon shaped logs.
- Using a melon-baller or spoon, hollow out the centre of the butternut logs to leave space for the filling, aka turning your half-moon shaped log into a rainbow or half pipe shaped log.
- Next line a baking tray with baking paper. Grab a 40cm sheet of baking paper, roll this into a long sausage and place this on the lined baking tray. Drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil over the butternut and give them a generous sprinkle of salter and pepper, making sure the butternut is evenly coated.
- Nestle your butternut logs over the baking paper log, so that the centre you just hollowed out is propped up by the baking paper. The paper sausage will help support your butternut half pipes as they bake, so the hollowed centre does not collapse.
- In a small bowl, toss your cut pear with 1 Tbsp maple syrup, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Scatter this around the butternut and pop it into the oven. Cook the pears until they are soft and well caramelized (about 30 minutes) then remove from the oven. Cook the butternut a bit longer, until it is cooked through (40 minutes or so) and lightly golden brown.
- For the final 7 minutes of cooking, glaze the butternut with a tbsp of maple syrup, and turn the heat up to 200 to get a nice lacquered sheen on the exterior
- While the butternut cooks, make the gravy. Place a saucepan on medium heat and drizzle in a little oil. Add the onion and cook until soft, then add the mushrooms and cook until everything is a lovely golden brown. About 15 minutes. These lovely brown veggies are the flavour base of the gravy, so get a good golden colour on them.
- Add in the grated garlic and saute for 1 minute more.
- Sprinkle over the flour and stir it through the vegetables. Warm the vegetable stock in the microwave, then slowly pour it into the saucepan, whisking as you go to prevent lumps from forming.
- Cook the gravy until thickened, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain the mushrooms and onions from the gravy (these can be repurposed in a soup or side dish, or discarded)
- Set the gravy aside until needed.
- Make the stuffing. Fry the sliced onion and celery in a pot with the lid on in 1 Tbsp of olive oil, on medium to low heat, for 15-20 minutes until soft and golden. Chop the sage, add it to the onion mix and fry for a further minute. Remove the onion mix from the pan and add it to a bowl along with the soaked bread. Add the roasted pear, pecans, parsley and thyme and mix everything together. Season the mixture to your preference with salt and pepper.
- To assemble, roll your pastry out into a rectangle long enough to wrap around the butternut.
- On one end of the pastry pop a few spoons of stuffing, and shape it into a rectangle, as big as your roasted butternut. This will form the base of the wellington. The stuffing should be 1cm or so in thickness at the base. Stuff the cavity of the butternut and place the stuffed butternut, flat side down, on top of the stuffing base. Neaten everything up and add more stuffing if necessary.
- Mix together the final Tbsp of maple syrup with the non-dairy milk. Using a pastry brush, brush the mixture all around the edges of the pastry (this will help it all stick together)
- Fold the pastry over the stuffed butternut, to snugly cover the butternut and stuffing. Trim off the excess pastry, leaving a 1cm pastry border around the butternut. Seal the edges of the wellington by gently pressing down on them with a fork.
- Brush the whole wellington with the milk glaze, then, using two spatulas, transfer the wellington log to a baking tray. Bake for 40 minutes at 180C, or until the pastry is cooked through and golden brown.
- Once the wellington is golden and crispy, remove it from the oven. Slice it and serve immediately with the reheated gravy. Enjoy!
- Category: Mains
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Christmas
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 371.34kcal
- Sugar: 16.05g
- Sodium: 456.16mg
- Fat: 17.09g
- Saturated Fat: 2.26g
- Unsaturated Fat: 13.72g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 52.71g
- Fiber: 6.94g
- Protein: 7.12g
- Cholesterol: 0g
