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Vegetable Wellingtons with Port Sauce

We hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  We’ve really been enjoying the long weekend, and have actually had a chance to relax a bit from all of the craziness of the semester, before the final push.  I also had some time do some serious cooking, and am hoping to share some of my creations over the next few weeks. First up are these Vegetable Wellingtons…!

When we were in the UK last summer I had a Vegetable Wellington at one of the pubs that we went to, and knew I had to try and recreate it at home.  These Wellingtons are packed with all sorts of good stuff, and made for a perfect main dish for our vegetarian Thanksgiving.  The filling is made up of sautéed spinach, mushrooms, shallots, toasted hazelnuts, and dried cherries.  This mixture is topped with a few slices of brie cheese and then all wrapped up in a puff pastry shell.  The Wellington that I had in England was also served with a tasty port sauce, so I tried recreating that as well.

These Wellingtons would also be great for Christmas dinner or some other festive occasion, so give them a try and let us know what you think!

Vegetable Wellingtons

These Wellingtons were pretty substantial when served with some roasted Brussels sprouts and pumpkin rolls (recipe coming soon).  I made 6 Wellingtons with 3 sheets of puff pastry, but there was a good amount of filling left, so you might be able to make at least 8 Wellingtons with 4 sheets of puff pastry.   

  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 large shallots, diced
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, diced
  • 6 button mushrooms, diced (optional)
  • 16 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
  • ¼ cup dried tart cherries or cranberries, roughly chopped
  • ½ cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 small to medium wedge of brie cheese
  • 3 sheets frozen puff pastry (roughly 26 ounces), thawed
  • 1 egg, beaten (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan.  Add the diced shallots and cook until translucent.  Add the garlic and cook another minute.  Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes and then season with salt and pepper.  Stir in the spinach, cherries, and hazelnuts and cook until heated through.  Season with salt and pepper, stir in the sherry vinegar, and set aside off of the heat.

To prepare the puff pastry, flatten the sheets on a surface dusted with a little flour and roll them out slightly with a rolling pin.  You want enough surface area to cut out four rounds (about 4-5 inches across) from each sheet (I used a small bowl with a 4.5 inch diameter to cut the dough into rounds). 

To assemble the Wellingtons, place one round of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place about ¼ cup to ½ cup filling in the middle of the round, leaving at least a half-inch border between the filling and the edge of the round.  Place a few thin slices of brie on top of the filling and then place another dough round on top of the brie.  Seal in the filling by crimping the edges of the dough together with your fingers or using the tines of a fork.   Repeat for the remaining rounds of dough.  Arrange all of the Wellingtons on a baking sheet and lightly brush the tops of each one with a little of the beaten egg.   Bake the Wellingtons for about 25-30 minutes or until they are golden.

Port Sauce

I read through several different port sauce recipes and finally ended up creating my own based on what I had read.  To thicken the sauce a bit, I added two tablespoons of cornstarch.  This made the sauce a little too thick though, so I would recommend only adding 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.  This sauce can be made ahead and reheated before serving.

  •  2 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 large shallot, diced
  • 1 cup ruby or tawny port
  • 1½ cups of vegetable broth
  • ¼ cut of dried cranberries, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan.  When the butter has melted add in the diced shallot and cook until translucent.  Stir in the port and vegetable broth and allow the mixture to come to a boil and reduce by half.  In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and a small amount of water.  Stir the liquid into the port sauce and cook for a few more minutes.

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:

Recipe Report Card Notes About Recipe Ratings

Tasty Rating

Chefs--4.1

Four Chefs (Delicious!)

Buttery puff pastry, gooey brie, and a delicious vegetable, fruit and nut filling make for one yummy dish.  Add the port sauce to take it to the next level.

Easy Rating

easy--2

Two Easy Chairs (A Long March…)

There are several steps involved with making the Wellingtons and port sauce. If you don’t want to mess with the puff pastry and sauce, the filling is also very good on its own, and would not take that long to make.

Healthy Rating

healthy--3

Three Apples (Average Nutritional Quality)

Sadly the buttery puff pastry and brie lower the health score for this dish.

Green Rating

green--3

Three Leaves (Average Environmental Friendliness)

Some of the ingredients were organic and some were not.  Anyone know of a good organic puff pastry or port?
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4 comments to Vegetable Wellingtons with Port Sauce

  • This is something I will love too. The port sauce sounds marvelous. I look forward to your pumpkin rolls!
    Have a wonderful week ahead!

    Angie

  • I’m impressed! What a beautiful dish! After browsing through the recipe, I can tell its taste as wonderful as it looks! I don’t know what the one in the UK was like, but it doesn’t matter. You did a killer job with this! The port sauce is also amazing!!! Hope you had a marvelous holiday weekend!

  • This is such a beautiful presentation. Very impressive for the holiday table. Looking forward to the pumpkin rolls recipe post!

  • Ooh I am loving this and the port sauce sounds fantastic. Looks so delicious. Happy Holidays to you!!

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