Beet Wellington with balsamic reduction

Beet Wellington with balsamic reduction

beet wellington

PS: YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO CHECK OUT OUR NEW, IMPROVED BEET WELLINGTON RECIPE HERE.

‘But what are you going to make at Christmas?’ is a question I have heard a lot ever since I went vegan. An average person has trouble imagining a big family gathering – like Christmas or Thanksgiving – without a meat centrepiece.

I totally get that, even though I no longer eat meat. When my next door neighbours are making a roast chicken for a Sunday dinner, it still smells nice to me and brings back the memories of family meals…I mean, it’s impossible to completely erase a lifetime of food memories just because your meat eating blinkers have finally come off.

As it is nice to have an impressive centrepiece that everyone round the table can share, I’ve decided to come up with a plant-based tradition of my own. Last year I attempted vegducken, which was, hands down, an unmitigated disaster. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not slagging the recipe off here. Living on a small island, I have had to do a few substitutions and I couldn’t quite find a trio of vegetables that would fit one into another snugly and the result was really not that tasty.

This year, inspired by my favourite Aussie Masterchef, I decided to attempt my version of Beet Wellington. It took me a few goes and there were some tears and some swearing until I got it right, but I am finally happy to present you with something we’ve been enjoying in our Lazy Cat Kitchen ‘test kitchen’ for the past week.

One key lesson from my fails is that instead of spreading the mushroom mixture (known as duxelles) on the pastry and then attempting to roll the Wellington, it is way more prudent to stack the filling up high 2 thirds down the sheet of pastry and fold the pastry tightly over it. It works a treat and if you get a helping hand at that stage to ensure that there is no slack in the pastry, you’ll end up with a neat parcel of plant-based goodness wrapped up in a crispy puff pastry shell.

Gorgeous to look at, perfect for sharing and delicious too! I’m happy to announce that my very own plant-based tradition is born.

beet Wellington whole

beet Wellington cooked pastry

beet Wellington vegan xmas dinner

serves
8
PREP
60 min
COOKING
60 min
serves
8
PREPARATION
60 min
COOKING
60 min
INGREDIENTS
  • ½ cup walnuts
  • 4 medium-large (the same size!) beetroots
  • olive oil
  • 10 shallots, finely diced
  • 8 garlic cloves, finely diced
  • 1 kg / 2 lb chestnut mushrooms / cremini
  • 1 chia or flax egg
  • 500 g / 1 lb (weight assumes leaves only) spinach
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 tsp dried rosemary
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • approx. ½ cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 sheet frozen (vegan!) puff pastry*, defrosted
  • 1 tbsp soy milk mixed with 1 tbsp of reduced aquafaba**, to glaze
  • coarse sea salt (I used black), poppy or sesame seeds, to decorate

BALSAMIC REDUCTION

  • 240 ml / 1 cup balsamic vinegar
  • about 100 g / ½ cup sugar (I used raw cane)

METHOD
FILLINGS

  1. Put a small frying pan on a medium heat and dry roast walnuts until lightly browned and fragrant. Make sure you move them around the pan frequently as they burn easily. Chop roughly once cool.
  2. Heat up the oven to 200° C / 390° F and line a baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
  3. Peel the beetroots. Pound 3 tsp of dry rosemary with 1½ tsp of coarse sea salt in a pestle and mortar until you get fine rosemary salt. Brush the beetroots with olive oil and sprinkle with some (not all) of the rosemary salt. Place on a baking tray and put into the hot oven for about 1 hour (until the beetroots can be easily pierced with a knife).
  4. Place balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small pot. Bring it to the boil gently and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes or so until the liquid reduces by about ½ and becomes thick. Beware that it will become even thicker once it cools so don’t let it reduce too much. If you do, add a splash of water to bring it back.
  5. Heat up 3 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy base pan. Add finely chopped shallots to a hot oil (you want them to sizzle once added to the pan). Fry on a low heat stirring from time to time, until lightly browned. Add garlic and fry it off for a few minutes until soft and fragrant. Chop your mushrooms into a fine dice (you can also use a food processor) while you’re frying the shallots and garlic.
  6. Now, remove one third of the shallot and garlic mixture and set aside. Add chopped up mushrooms into the pan and coat in the shallot and garlic mixture. Cook mushrooms on a medium heat until all the water evaporates.
  7. Add wine to the pan and allow it to cook out. Season the mushroom mixture with some of the rosemary salt and black pepper. Let it cool. Once cool, add chia egg and mix well. The mixture should be sticky but not watery.
  8. Wilt spinach in a warmed-up pan with a lid. Once wilted, allow it to cool completely. Once cool squeeze all the water out of the spinach using your hands or a muslin cloth. Go over the spinach twice or even three times to ensure that it is as dry as possible. Place spinach in a large bowl, season with rosemary salt, pepper and nutritional yeast. Add shallot and garlic mixture you’ve set aside in step 6, ¼ cup of breadcrumbs and fold in toasted walnuts.

ASSEMBLY

  1. Line a baking tray with a fresh sheet of baking paper and heat up the oven to 200° C / 390° F.
  2. Flour the baking paper very lightly and place a defrosted sheet of puff pastry on it so that the shorter pastry edge is facing you.
  3. Designate a long, narrow (about 10 cm / 4 in by 25 cm / 10 in) area where the filing mixture will be stacked. Place it about 5 cm / 2 in from the edge of the pastry so that the pastry on the other side of the filling is long enough to be folded over the filling. Leave 5 cm / 2 in margin at the ends too so that you are able to fold the ends nicely. Scatter a bit of extra breadcrumbs on the pastry, under the filling to prevent a soggy bottom. Start the stack by making a long rectangle with the spinach mixture. Press it down well with your hands so that it is tightly packed. Place four roasted beetroots in a long row over the spinach. For more stability, you may want to skewer all the beetroots together with a long wooden skewer, which you can pull out after cutting into the Wellington. Now mould the mushroom mixture over the beetroots making sure it fills all the nooks and crannies tightly. Finally, fold the pastry over the filling as tightly as you can – it’s good to have another pair of hands here to make sure the pastry is tightly wrapped around the filling. Seal it together with the 5 cm / 2 in margin you left on the other side. If there is too much overlap, trim the excess. Wrap the pastry at both ends like you would wrap a present. Make shallow cuts on the top of the Wellington with a sharp knife. Brush soy milk and aquafaba ‘egg wash’ all over the Wellington and sprinkle the top with your garnish of choice – I used black salt. Make three small holes in the pastry (on the side where the seam is) to ensure steam can escape during baking and the pastry does not burst. Bake for about 60 minutes, until golden.
  4. Serve with your favourite side dishes drizzled with the balsamic reduction you made earlier.

NOTES
 *I know that Jus-Rol and Pepperidge Farm are definitely vegan and that Dufour definitely isn’t. If in doubt, check the packet for more details.

**Reduced aquafaba simply means simmered, without a lid on, until excess water evaporates and aquafaba becomes like an egg white. Please cool it down completely before using in this recipe.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
370
18%
sugars
23 g
26%
fats
15 g
22%
saturates
4 g
19%
proteins
10 g
21%
carbs
48 g
19%
*per serving
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5.0
11 reviews, 53 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Clancy:
This looks delicious. Do you think it would work with Gluten Free just roll pastry too?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Clancy,
    Yes, absolutely! Find the brand you enjoy the taste of and you are good to go. Hope this helps! x Ania
Florence:
Very good
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Florence! Lovely to hear!
Cynthia:
Just made this for Sunday dinner with friends......an overwhelming success! I even forgot to make the balsamic reduction (LOL), and it was still just delicious. It was so beautiful too, I could hardly believe that I MADE THAT!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, that's amazing, Cynthia! Sounds like you ought to give yourself more credit though! I am really happy to hear that both you and your guests were pleased with the outcome and thank you so much for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Denise:
Wanted a special meal for New Years Eve and this was excellent! Tasted delicious and was a very nice presentation!! Thank you.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Denise! I'm delighted to hear that you and your guests enjoyed it. Happy New Year! x Ania
Hania:
This looks delicious but I can't eat mushrooms, would anything else work instead of mushrooms? Xx
    Ania
    Ania:
    You could use chestnut filling like in this recipe or perhaps a mixture of lentils, walnuts, olives, dried figs? Ania
Stephanie:
I made this for xmas this year and it was amazing! Thanks so much! https://howgrow.wordpress.com/2019/12/27/my-very-first-veggie-christmas/
    Ania
    Ania:
    That's lovely to hear, Stephanie! Thanks for letting me know. x Ania
Steve:
I am planning on making this for Christmas day this year but I am having to make it a day or two beforehand to reheat on the big day. I am just wondering though if it might be suitable for freezing? In which case i could make it at a more convenient time . Thank you
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Steve,
    I would say that it is definitely safe to make individual elements (beetroot log, duxelles and gravy) in advance and freeze, but I would not recommend to assemble and freeze the entire thing just in case it ends up soggy - although I have not tried it so I may be wrong. However be aware that freezing tends to dull the flavours a little sometimes. Ania
Jwni:
Made this last night, amazing, so tasty and not difficult as long as you're organised. Will definitely make it again.
Thank you
    Ania
    Ania:
    Yay! I'm delighted to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to leave us nice feedback too! Ania
Melanie Devos:
I'm going away at christmas and as the only vegan wanted to prepare myself, this recipe looks gorgeous! I just wanted to know is it possible to freeze at the stage when the recipe is ready to go in the oven, and then thaw it and cook on christmas?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Melanie,
    I'll be honest, I have not tried that. If you buy your pastry frozen, I would not recommend that as it would be having to thaw it and freeze once again. Maybe you could freeze the filling and assemble on the day? Ania
Kristina:
Hi there!
I' m super excited to finally try this recipe but I have a question about the puff pastry. What size was your full sheet of pastry? The pastry I was able to get here comes in a block that can be separated in two and needs to be rolled out by hand. Each block yields a 12x12 inch square of pastry. From reading the recipe I get that one side needs to be about 14 inches, but I'm not sure about the other side.
Thanks so much!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Kristina,
    I'll be honest with you, I don't remember and it was a Greek brand which I no longer have access to, but basically forget about my measurements and architect your wellington so that it works with what you have at your disposal. Use my instructions as a guide only. Put the filling along the longer edge of your pastry, leaving a generous margin for sealing and make sure the pastry is wide enough (otherwise adjust the height of the filling by using half beets for example) to go over the filling before you commit. Hope it makes sense! Ania
Bernadette:
Can this be made a day or two ahead of time, refrigerated, and baked later?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Bernadette,
    Yes, absolutely! I would recommend making the stuffing and the sauce in advance but not wrapping everything in pastry until you are ready to bake as otherwise your Wellington may end up soggy. Hope that helps! Ania
Kerry:
I want to start by saying, I am a novice how me cook. The directions were clear and easy to follow. I was shocked at how beautiful it turned out. I made this for Thanksgiving and, a month later, my friends and family are still raving about it. I left out the nuts for allergy reasons but it didn’t seem to affect the final outcome as far as I can tell because it was just amazing.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, thanks so much, Kerry - that's so lovely to hear! I am really pleased you and your family enjoyed it that much! Ania
Margaret:
This recipe looks wonderful and I am so excited to serve your Beet Wellington at a dinner party on Saturday. Can you direct me to the recipe for the cabbage side dish that accompanies it in the photographs? The two items look scrumptious together.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Margaret, I'm so glad to hear that. As for the side dish, I don't have a recipe for that as I made it up as I went along (it was red cabbage stewed with some onion, vinegar, cloves, bay leaf, all spice, apples and a bit of sugar, I think) Ania
Anna:
Can this be made in advance and frozen?
Thanks!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Anna,
    I haven't tried doing that myself so I am not completely sure how that would affect the dish. Instead, I would recommend making the filling in advance and freezing and then assembling the dish and baking it on the day. Hope that helps. Ania
Sophie:
This looks amazing. I have beets that need to get used this week so i will be making this for Thanksgiving. My question though, any type of mushrooms okay to use in this recipe? i have baby bella mushrooms. Also, i have unsweetened almond milk and flax seed milk, that okay to use as well or does it need to be soy? White wine? Any vegan friendly wine recommendation? Thank you.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Sophie,
    I'll be honest, I've had to google 'baby bella mushrooms' as I am not familiar with that name, but it sounds like it's just another name for 'cremini' so yes, they will work absolutely fine. I haven't tested with any other plant milk, but I am pretty sure that almond milk will work the same. Finally, as for wine this is a good database (link here) to use in search of vegan wines. Hope that helps! Ania
Arlene:
Can it be made ahead of time? I would love to take it to my book club Christmas pot luck.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Arlene,
    Individual components can definitely be prepared in advance but I would advise wrapping in pastry and baking on the day as otherwise the pastry may go all soggy. Hope that helps! Ania
Eryka:
Is there anything I can use instead of mushrooms?? I'm really not a fan
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hmmm, perhaps a mixture of olives and bread chunks? Hope that helps! Ania
Malwina:
My number one!
Didn’t use yeast and added more breadcrumbs
Wrapped it tightly in clingfilm and let it rest for 10 minutes in the fridge before baking.
Came out delicious
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Malwina,
    Thanks so much for your kind words - that's lovely to hear!! :) Ania
Michele Sere:
This looks absolutely gorgeous!!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks, Michele! Lovely to hear! :) Ania
sasha:
I made this, but as am not vegan added butter to the mushroom mix, used a normal egg and normal pastry. A really fantastic recipe - will definitely be making again in the future, thank you for sharing! Everyone really loved it!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you for kind words, Sasha! That's lovely to hear :)
Rick:
Clever recipe for vegans...thanks!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks! :)
Marlene @ Idle Hands Awake:
Wow, this looks incredible! It's literally making my mouth water, lol. I am pinning this recipe for sure for fall and winter gatherings!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Marlene, that's lovely to hear :) Ania
Imogen:
Hi Ania,
My carnivorous twin brother decided to make beef Wellington for Christmas this year, so I was very pleased to use your recipe for my vegan alternative! Not only did it have everyone chuckling, but my entire meat/eating family agreed that it was delicious. Thank you!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Imogen,
    That's sooooo nice to hear, you made my day! Thank you for your lovely comment!
    Ania
Cindy:
Hi, Ania! This looks fabulous. Quick question for you. In step 6, you direct us to remove a third of the cooked shallots, but don't mention hat portion again. Are we meant to mix it into the cooked spinach? Thanks for clarifying. And thanks for sharing this beautiful dish!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Cindy.
    Yes, you are completely right, I forgot to tell you what to do with remaining shallots ;) - yes, they go into the spinach mixture. I shall amend the recipe now. Thanks for letting me know! Ania
Edie Pullman:
I made this for Christmas dinner and it came out looking beautiful and got good reviews from the vegans and vegetarians at the meal. The reduced balsamic vinegar sauce was delicious. I forget to use the nutritional yeast and, though I taasted the walnuts, I forgot to put them in the spinach also. That crunch element was missed in the dish. I also didn't have black salt or poppy seeds so I just sprinkled black pepper over it and it looked fine.
But when I make it again this is what I will do. I will use less mushrooms and more spinach. (I had leftover mushroom-mixture after stacking it on the beets.) I will role out the dough to be wider to easily cover the log. I think I will slice up the beets rather than leave them whole. It was hard to cut the log without making a mess of it. I think if you slice the beets and use the skewer to hold them together it will work better. Also, I was thinking it may be interesting to use vegan sausages instead of the beets for an entirely different take. Or maybe make a loaf out of the delicious "Beyond Meat" hamburgers and cover that with the spinach and mushroom mixture. But then the impact of that beautiful red beet will be lost. Maybe wrapping smaller beets in the "meat" loaf will do it---or--- am I getting crazy here.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Edie! I'm so pleased you and your guests liked this! Love your ideas about future iterations of this dish ;) I never stop tweaking things too! Ania
Kate:
This is stunning. I'm making it for Christmas but am a little confused (and nervous) about how to wrap it right. Pepperige farm PP sheets are 10x15", so I want to fill 4x10. In order to have seams on the short ends I would need to run the 4x10 square right up to the edges. Any advise would be very much apprecated. Thanks for this incrediblely beautiful masterpiece. Just brilliant!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Kate,
    If your sheet it 10 x 15", you could place a rectangle of the filling along the shorter edge of the pastry (10") and make it a bit shorter (say 8") so that you have 1 each spare at each end to seal the parcel. To compensate, you could make the log wider (5") as you will have as much as 15" of pastry to wrap this thing in. Alternatively, you could place the filling other way (along the 15" edge) and make it longer and thinner (use small beets) - say 12" by 3.5". Essentially adapt the measurements to the size of your pastry sheet and choose smaller beets for a slimmer Wellington and larger for a wider one - as it's important that the pastry hugs its contents tighly. Hope that helps! Ania
      Kate:
      Thank you, Ania. How kind of you to reply so quickly. I've created a diagram and am feeling much better about it. Unless it's a complete failure, I'll upload photos. I just can't even believe I get to make this!!!
      Thanks again and Happy Holidays!
      Kate
        Ania
        Ania:
        I really hope you'll like it, Kate! I'm sorry, I should have taken some process shots, but puff pastry cannot sit around for too long. Happy Holidays to you too! x Ania
Ine Therese:
Hey :)
Is it possible to cut the beets and Mix with the other stuff?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hello Ine,
    Yes, I suppose you could do that but it may be harder to slice the Wellington neatly afterwards. Ania
Lesley Clarke:
Hi Ania, this looks great! Unfortunately my boyfriend can't stand mushrooms. Can you suggest any alternatives for this recipe? Thanks! Lesley
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Lesley! Hmm, that's a difficult one as mushrooms are quite key to the overall flavour here, but perhaps some caramelised onions, more spinach mixture (you could double it for example), plus some sort of olive tapenade would work fine too.
    Hope that helps,
    Ania
      Lesley Clarke:
      Thanks, Ania, really like your suggested alternatives!
        Ania
        Ania:
        Great to hear, Lesley! Good luck! :)
Alicja:
is it ¼ cup nutritional yeast absolutely necessary? How can I replace it?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Alicja,
    No, it's not that necessary. Nutritional yeast does two things here, gives the mixture a bit of an 'umami' (or cheesy ;) ) flavour and adds a bit of dryness (to absorb any excess moisture from the spinach). You could simply up the amount of breadcrumbs instead and season the mixture a bit more.
    Hope that helps!
    Ania
      Alicja:
      Ania Thanks! I will try do it for this Christmas :) BTW: Love your blog :)
        Ania
        Ania:
        Aw, thanks so much, so lovely to hear :) x
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