Vegetarian Dishes
Mushroom and Chestnut Wellington
Recipe No. 0666
A centrepiece for the meat-free side of the table: a rich, well-reduced filling of chestnut mushrooms, porcini and chestnuts, wrapped in a layer of spinach and sealed in crisp, golden all-butter rough puff pastry made from scratch. It slices cleanly, can be assembled ahead, and is easy to make vegan.
- Serves 6
- Vegetarian (vegan option)
- British
- Pastry: make 1–2 days ahead
- Hands-on 1 hr 15 min
- Bake 35–40 min at 220°C
- Assemble ahead or freeze raw
Method
Before you start
- Make the rough puff pastry 1–2 days ahead, or at least 2 hours before you need it: it needs four roll-and-folds with chilling in between.
- Keep the butter in the fridge until the moment you cube it, and use iced water.
- Make the filling earlier in the day (or the day before) so it is completely cold. A warm filling gives soggy pastry.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan), 425°F, gas 7 with a heavy baking sheet inside for at least 20 minutes before baking.
- Have ready flour for rolling, baking parchment, the beaten egg and a pastry brush, and the probe thermometer.
Make the rough puff pastry, ideally the day before. Mix the flour (250 g) and salt (½ tsp) in a large bowl, add the cold cubed butter (200 g) and toss so every piece is coated. Stir the lemon juice (1 tsp) into the iced water (120 ml). Pour in about three-quarters of it and mix with a table knife to a rough, shaggy dough; add the rest only if dry patches remain. You should still see lumps of butter: that is what makes the layers. Press into a rectangle, wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough away from you into a strip about 45 × 15 cm, keeping the sides straight. Fold the bottom third up and the top third down, like a letter, then give it a quarter turn so the folded edge is on your left. Roll and fold once more, wrap and chill for 20 minutes. Repeat to give four roll-and-folds in all, then chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
For the filling, pour the boiling water (100 ml) over the dried porcini (10 g) and leave for 15 minutes. Lift them out, squeeze them gently and chop finely. Keep the soaking liquid, leaving any grit behind in the bottom of the bowl.
Chop the chestnut mushrooms (750 g) finely in the food processor, in two batches, with short pulses: you want pieces like coarse breadcrumbs, not a purée. Heat the butter (25 g) and oil (1 tbsp) in your widest frying pan over a medium heat, add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic and thyme for 1 minute.
Add all the mushrooms, the porcini and their liquid and a pinch of salt. Cook over a medium-high heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring often, until all the liquid has gone and the mixture is a dark, dry paste that clumps together. When you drag a spoon across the pan, no juice should seep back. Add the wine (75 ml), if using, and cook until that has gone too.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the chestnuts (180 g), breadcrumbs (40 g), mustard (2 tsp) and parsley. Season well with salt and pepper. Spread out on a tray to cool, then chill for 30 minutes.
Put the spinach (300 g) in a large pan with a splash of water, cover and wilt for 2–3 minutes, turning once. Tip into a sieve and leave until cool enough to handle, then squeeze it really hard in a clean tea towel until no more water comes out. Chop it, and season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.
Lay a large sheet of cling film on the worktop, spoon the cold filling along it and use the film to roll it into a firm, even log about 28 cm long and 9 cm across. Twist the ends tight and chill for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan), 425°F, gas 7 with a heavy baking sheet inside. On a floured surface, roll the pastry into a rectangle about 35 × 30 cm and 4 mm thick, then lift it onto a sheet of baking parchment. Spread the spinach in a band down the middle, the size of the log, and set the unwrapped log on top.
Brush the pastry edges with beaten egg (1 egg). Fold one long side over the log, then the other, trimming so they overlap by only about 2 cm. Press to seal, trim the ends, fold them under and roll the Wellington over so the seam is underneath. Brush all over with egg and chill for 15 minutes.
Brush with egg once more, score a light criss-cross with the back of a knife and cut two small steam holes in the top. Slide it, on its parchment, onto the hot baking sheet. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until deep golden and crisp underneath. If the top browns too fast, cover it loosely with foil. A probe thermometer in the centre should read at least 75°C.
Leave it to rest for 10 minutes, then cut into 6 thick slices with a serrated knife.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
No food processor?
- Mushrooms. Slice them thinly, then chop across finely with a large knife until the pieces are the size of coarse breadcrumbs. It takes about 10 minutes for 750 g.
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No soggy bottom
- Dry filling, cold filling. Cook the mushrooms (or spinach) until no liquid seeps back when you drag a spoon through the pan, then chill the filling hard. Warm, wet filling melts the butter in the pastry before the oven can set it.
- Squeeze the spinach. Wring it out in a clean tea towel until no more water comes out. A big pile of leaves ends up as a tight ball not much bigger than an egg.
- A barrier layer. The spinach band sits between the filling and the pastry and soaks up the last of the juices.
- Hot tray. Bake on a heavy baking sheet heated in the oven, on a sheet of baking parchment. The base starts cooking the moment it goes in.
- Single layer underneath. Trim the pastry so it overlaps by only about 2 cm under the roll. A thick double seam stays doughy.
- Chill before baking, and let it steam out. Chill the wrapped Wellington for 15 minutes, cut two small steam holes, and rest it for 10 minutes after baking so the slices hold.
Make it vegan
- Pastry. Make the rough puff with a firm vegan block baking fat instead of butter (check the label says vegan). It is softer than butter, so freeze the cubes for 15 minutes first and give the dough an extra 10 minutes’ chilling between folds.
- Filling. Use 2 tbsp olive oil instead of the butter and oil. Check the wine and the bread are vegan.
- Glaze. Brush with unsweetened soya milk mixed with a few drops of maple syrup instead of egg, for colour.
Make ahead, freeze and reheat
- Pastry. Wrapped, keeps 2 days in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Filling. Make and shape the log up to 2 days ahead and keep it chilled.
- Assemble ahead. Wrap the Wellington up to 8 hours ahead and keep it chilled, uncovered, on its parchment. Glaze just before baking and add about 5 minutes.
- Freeze raw. Freeze the wrapped, unglazed Wellington on a tray until hard, then wrap well; it keeps for 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then glaze and bake as normal.
- Reheat leftovers. Put slices on a rack over a baking tray and heat at 180°C (160°C fan), 350°F, gas 4 for 15–20 minutes until piping hot. Avoid the microwave: it makes the pastry soggy.
Serve it with
- Roast potatoes (in sunflower oil for vegan guests), buttered carrots and sprouts.
- Cranberry sauce, and gravy: our Onion Gravy made with vegetable stock and no Worcestershire sauce (it contains anchovies).
See also
Chef’s notes
- Why chestnut mushrooms? They have less water and more flavour than white button mushrooms, so the filling cooks down faster and tastes deeper. The few dried porcini add a lot of depth.
- The filling looks like a lot of mushrooms at first: 750 g cooks down to about a third of that.
- The pastry is all butter, made from scratch: rough puff is the quick cousin of our Puff Pastry, with the butter mixed in as cubes instead of being folded in as a slab. Use a full batch of our Puff Pastry if you have the time.
- For one-person portions, cut the pastry and filling into six and make individual parcels. Bake for 22–25 minutes.
- Some wines are fined with animal products. If you are cooking for strict vegetarians or vegans, choose one labelled vegetarian or vegan, or leave the wine out.
Shopping list for 6 portions
Fruit & veg
Dairy & eggs
Baking
Oils, vinegars & sauces
Wine & drinks
Fresh herbs
Store cupboard (check you have)
A Cookeryonline original recipe, November 2026.