Ingredients:

Filling 

• Olive oil, as needed 
• 1 onion, diced finely (note 1) 
• 2 carrots, diced finely (note 1) 
• ¼ cup tomato paste 
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2 teaspoons thyme leaves, dried or fresh 
• 2 teaspoons oregano, dried or fresh 
• 1 teaspoon rosemary, dried or fresh 
• 3 cups mushrooms, diced finely (note 1) 
• 1 x 400g can lentils 
• ½ cup breadcrumbs or quick oats, optional 
• Salt and pepper, to taste 

To assemble 

• 2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted 
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or any other liquid sweetener 
• 1 tablespoon water 

Method:

1. Place a large fry pan over high heat and drizzle with a little olive oil. 
2. Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes or until fragrant. 
3. Add the carrots, tomato paste, soy sauce, garlic, herbs and spices to the fry pan. Saute for 5 minutes or until fragrant. 
4. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5-10 minutes until the mushrooms leak most of their water and have reduced in size. The carrots should also be mostly tender. Remove the fry pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool. 
5. Add the lentils and stir. If the mixture is very wet, add the breadcrumbs and mix through. Season with salt and pepper as desired and allow the mixture to cool. 
6. Preheat the oven to 180C (note 2). 
7. Place one sheet of puff pastry on a large piece of baking paper. 
8. Scoop the lentil mixture to the middle of the pastry and shape into a firm log. Use a pastry brush to brush some water in a 1.5cm around the lentil mixture. 
9. Place the second sheet of pastry on top and press it down against the filling and the bottom sheet of pastry. 
10. Cut off the excess pastry leaving a 1.5cm crust. The excess pastry can be reused to make any small puff pastry dessert or rerolled into shortcrust pastry. 
11. Crimp the edges with a fork. Use a sharp knife to make a criss cross pattern on the wellington. 
12. To make the glaze, combine the maple syrup and water in a small bowl. 
13. Brush the glaze on the wellington. 
14. Bake the wellington for 30-40 minutes or until the surface is golden brown. 
15. Serve with gravy and your favourite Christmas sides.  

To save time, use a food processor to pulse the onion, mushrooms and carrots (separately) until they are chopped finely. Be careful to not pulse them too much as we still want some texture! If you’d like to prepare this wellington the day before, you can make the filling, assemble and chill it in the fridge overnight. The wellington can be baked straight from the fridge, though it may take 10-15 minutes longer. 

This recipe was created for us by Anthea aka Rainbow Nourishments. You can follow her on Instagram here, and checkout all of her delicious Vegan recipes at her website here!