Roasted sweet potato, leek, celeriac and cashew nut wellington

Lisa

Merry Christmas! Embrace the Welly.  I cannot resist pastry in any form – so a wellington or savoury strudel is the classic I go for at Christmas. It satisfies the eye as well as the palate and the tum, and it’s a brilliant vehicle for our organic veg.

We’ve picked a vegan welly that’s not overly elaborate, using ready-prepped puff pastry – a dish you can return to through the winter.  Recipe (adapted) from waitrose.com

If you don’t have celeriac in your veg box, you could try substituting parsnip.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium sweet potato, cut into bitesize pieces
  • 1 medium leek, cut into bitesize pieces
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 200g celeriac
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
  • 100g curly kale, chopped (remove coarser bits of stem)
  • 75g wholewheat couscous
  • 1 mint tea bag
  • 150g roasted cashew nuts
  • Pinch of dried chilli powder
  • 2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • 320g pack puff pastry sheet
  • 2-3 tbsp non-dairy milk drink

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C, gas 6. Place the sweet potato and leeks on a baking tray with 1 tbsp of oil and a big pinch of salt, mix and bake for 20-25 mins until soft.
  2. Peel and coarsely grate the celeriac. Put the remaining oil in a large pan on medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic, stirring, for 5 mins or until golden.
  3. Add the celeriac and a pinch of salt, and sweat for 5 more mins, stirring, until the celeriac starts to brown. Stir in the chopped kale, cook for a couple of mins, then turn off the heat.
  4. Place the couscous in a bowl with the tea bag and pour over 100ml boiling water. Cover and leave to stand for 5 mins. Discard the tea bag. Fluff up the grains with a fork.
  5. Roughly chop two-thirds of the cashews. Add a pinch of chilli to the celeriac mixture, along with the tamari, salt and pepper. Fold in all the cashews, couscous and roasted vegetables. Cool.
  6. Reduce oven to 180°C, gas 4. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Put the pastry on the tray and spoon the filling into the centre third, lengthwise, leaving a third of the pastry either side and a little space at each end.
  7. Form the filling into a smooth, firm mound that will hold its structure when cut. Bring the pastry round from the sides so it covers the filling. Press to seal the ends, remove any excess pastry, and fold in so it’s fully covered.
  8. Use any pastry offcuts to create decorative leaves for the top. (optional)
  9. Roll the welly over so the top is smooth. Add the decorative pastry leaves if using. Brush with the non-dairy milk. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is golden.