Serves: 4-5 | Difficulty: Medium | Suitability: Vegan

Christmas wouldn't be complete without some delicious pastry. Stuffed with lentils and mushrooms, giving it a meaty texture and packed with fragrant herbs, Happy Skin Kitchen's vegan wellington recipe is not just delicious but incredibly nutritious. Serve with sautéed veggies, mushroom gravy and cranberry sauce for the ultimate plant-based Christmas feast! 

Ingredients

1/2 cup Tropical Sun Red Split Lentils

1 tbsp Tropical Sun Vegetable Oil

1 white onion, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

7 chestnut mushrooms, diced

1/2 cup of cooked chestnuts (about 80-100g), roughly chopped 

1 cup of mixed unsalted nuts (walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts), roughly chopped 

1 tbsp white miso paste 

1½ tsp Tropical Sun Onion Powder

½ tsp Tropical Sun Dried Thyme 

Small bunch of fresh sage, finely chopped 

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves roughly chopped 

A few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only (optional)

1 tsp Tropical Sun Apple Cider Vinegar 

Salt & pepper to taste

1 sheet store-bought puff pastry  

Method

1. Rinse the lentils and place them in a saucepan with enough water to cover them completely. Bring to a boil and cook the lentils until soft and mushy, about 10-15 minutes. Drain them and set to one side.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 C. 
3. Add the oil to a large frying pan. Once hot, add in the onion and carrot. Cook for 3-4 minutes until translucent and soft. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute. Add in the mushrooms and chestnuts. Cook for 4-6 minutes until all the water from the mushrooms has evaporated.
4. Add in the mixed nuts, miso paste, onion powder, dried and fresh herbs and vinegar. Mix everything well and cook for a further 5 minutes.
5. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor and add in the cooked lentils. Pulse a few times only - you do not want to have a completely pureed mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Cover a large baking tray with some parchment paper. Roll the puff pastry sheet onto it. Place the mushroom mixture in the middle of the sheet in a ‘sausage‘ type shape.
7. Fold the pastry from each side onto the mixture to seal the wellington. Close each end by folding the pastry.
8. Cut away any excess and if you like, roll the pastry again and cut into stars to decorate the wellington.
9. Flip the wellington onto the other side to hide the seam of the pastry fold.
10. Brush the exterior with non-dairy milk and cook in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the puff pastry is nice and golden. 
11. Cut the wellington into slices and enjoy while still warm!