The Time I Made A Vegetarian Wellington
Date New Experience Took Place - 29th December 2023 / New Experience Number 42
When I had a go at making a vegetarian wellington, it ironically turned out to be a bit of a beast!
I enjoy trying recipes which are a bit more challenging, such as making toasted teacakes and noodles from scratch, which is why I gave this a go.
‘I made it for my girlfriend on valentine’s day and it gave us food poisoning’. These words from a close friend who made a beef wellington from scratch are the reason I decided to play it safe and cook a vegetarian version!
What Is A Wellington?
Traditionally, a wellington is made with beef. It’s usually a fillet steak which is given a liberal coating of pate, (fois gras was more frequently used in the past), then a layer of duxelles*. Finally it is all wrapped up in puff pastry before being baked in the oven, and served in slices.
*If you’ve just read that previous paragraph and wondered what the heck duxelles is, you’re not alone! It’s a deliciously rich mixture that is usually made from chopped up mushrooms, diced onions, herbs, butter, cream and sometimes a drop of sherry or madeira.
Why On Earth Is This Dish Called A Wellington?
In the UK wellington also refers to very useful waterproof boots. Maybe one of the first beef baked in pastry concoctions was particularly rubbery, or as tough as old boots, but I doubt that’s really how it got its name.
I did a bit of digging, and there is some thought that it might have been named after the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley. Though apparently there’s nothing that really connects the two.
There’s the suggestion it may have been the name given to the rebranding of a dish brought from overseas. Once again there is little to support that notion.
A Polish chef who had learnt their craft in Paris and Vienna, had a cook book published in 1910 which featured beef fillet a la wellington. This is perhaps one of the occurrences of the dish in print, but it still doesn’t really tell us how it came about. If you have any ideas, please let me know!
The Recipe For Making A Vegetarian Wellington
If you’ve read any of my other food experience posts, you’ll know I regularly use the BBC Good Food site. Once again, they came up trumps with a great recipe.
The beef was replaced with beetroot, and rather than have a layer of pate and then a layer of duxelles, this recipe just created a single thick coating of deliciously soft vegetables.
I could have attempted to make my own puff pastry, but I decided to leave that and give it a go another time. This already felt like a recipe that required a fair bit of effort, and I wanted to try to create something edible!
Seven Steps To Making The Beast
There were 7 easy to follow steps in this recipe. I worked my way through them all, and the one I was most apprehensive about was rolling everything up.
Carefully turning the pastry over the beetroot centre and the soft mushroom and squash layer, it neatly folded over itself and joined at the bottom to make a good solid casing.
For some reason, it was only at that particular point that I realised just how blooming massive it was. Even though I had seen in the recipe that it was enough for 8 people, I seemed to have completely ignored it!
It was as long as my forearm! There are only two of us in the house! I really hoped this was good as we’d be eating it for days.
Brushing an egg wash over the top and scoring in the pattern lines, it then needed to go into the fridge before cooking
Results
I got a face of hot air and a nose full of delicious aromas as I opened the oven door. It looked good! Not shop-bought uniform-quality good, but the pastry was fairly neat and everything had stayed encased.
Of course, the proof was in the tasting, and I’m pleased to say it was really good! Fresh herbs mingled amongst the soft outer vegetable mix and the earthy tones of the beetroot matched it well. A deliciously different main perfect on a chilly winter evening.
As we had quite a lot left, we enjoyed a slice or two over the next few days. It was a bit like a very fancy vegetarian sausage roll, and surprisingly worked well cold and dipped in a bit of brown sauce!
Taking The Time To Make A Vegetarian Wellington
In total, this recipe took me three days. Not constantly cooking of course, but there were some steps that needed time. Don’t worry, if you decide to give it a go it is possible to make it and consume it on the same day!
On the first day I cooked the beetroot. The recipe needed cooked beetroot but I bought a fresh bunch. I peeled them (which made my hands look like I’d been in a brutal accident which was fun to scare the Other Half with), and cooked them the day before I made the dish.
On the second day, I made the wellington. However, the recipe says to chill it for at least thirty minutes, or over night, before baking it. So, once everything was combined and ready, I put it in the fridge until the next day.
On the third day, we baked and then devoured the deliciousness.
Would I Make It Again?
If I was entertaining and wanted to make something a little bit different for my guests, I’d definitely give this another go. It’s not something I’ll be making very often, but a good one to remember for more special occasions.
Want To Try It Yourself?
There are lots of recipes available to use to make a vegetarian wellington. The one that I followed was from BBC Good Food.
Check out any on-line or in-person cookery schools. Beef wellington is often on the list of classes, and a vegetarian option may also be available.
Cost Of Experience
If you need to buy all of the ingredients from scratch, they will set you back around £12 but it will depend where you shop.
Recommendations
If you don’t like mushrooms or beetroot, this may not be the make for you.
Check the timings for your recipe and plan accordingly. This did take more effort and needed some additional time for chilling, so make sure you’ve planned ahead.
You can get far more creative than I did with the patterns in the pastry.
Whatever recipe you’re following, check how many people it is for and adjust it as you need.
- Don’t forget to take a photo and let me know how you get on if you give it a go.