We’ve been back for almost a month and Mother Nature has been less than kind. Weather aside we’ve gotten back into the swing of being home. I’ve lunched with friends, we’ve connected with Dan’s dad, and on Friday night we had our movie night friends over for an experimental dinner.
I’ve often heard that you shouldn’t try a new recipe when you are having guests, which I think is crazy cuz I do it all the time, as a matter of fact, our friends kind of expect it - well at least these friends do, probably because I do it so often.
When we were in Arizona my friend Ann made a fabulous Mushroom Wellington, filled with onions, nuts, and of course lots of mushrooms. I’ve been hungry for beets lately and I decided to make a Beet Wellington - a rift on her recipe if you will.
Unless you are retired and love to spend a good portion of your day cooking, this is not a recipe for a weeknight nor for the faint of heart. You can minimize mushroom chopping by using a food processor but be careful not to over-process, you want mushroom texture. One ingredient I would add going forward would be toasted walnuts, but since my friend has a horrible reaction to them I left them out.
We served the welling with steamed broccoli and wild rice - it was delicious.
Ingredients:
Filling
4 medium to large beetroots - approximately the same size
olive oil
10 shallots
8 cloves of garlic - minced
2 lb mushrooms - I used a mixture of chestnut and cremini
1 lb of spinach
salt and pepper
2 tsp rosemary - dried
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 egg beaten with a splash of water
Everything bagel seasoning for top
Balsamic Reduction
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
Instructions:
Heat up the oven to 200° C / 390° F and line a baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
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).
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.
Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy-based pan. Add finely chopped shallots to 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 for a few minutes until soft and fragrant.
Chop your mushrooms into fine dice (you can also use a food processor) while you’re frying the shallots and garlic. 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. Add wine to the pan and allow it to cookout. 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.
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 and ¼ cup of breadcrumbs.
Assemble:
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and heat the oven to 390.
Lightly flour the baking paper and put a defrosted sheet of puff pastry on it so that the shorter edge is facing you.
Designate a long, narrow area (about 4 inches by 10 inches) where the filling will be stacked. The area should be about 2 inches from the edge of the pastry so that the pastry on the other side of the filling can be wrapped over the filling. Leave a 2-inch margin on each end so that you can fold the ends nicely.
Scatter bread crumbs on the puff pastry to provide a barrier between the filling to prevent a soggy bottom.
Start by placing the spinach mixture in the long rectangle. Press it down with your hands so that it is packed tightly. Place the roasted beetroots in a long row over the spinach.
Mold the mushroom mixture over the beetroots making sure it fills all the nooks and crannies tightly.
Fold the pastry over the filling as tightly as you can - a second pair of hands can be helpful here. Seal the pastry together with the 2-inch margin you left on the other side. Wrap the pastry on both ends like you would wrap a present.
Make shallow cuts on the top of the wellington with a sharp knife. Brush the top and sides with egg/water mixture and sprinkle with the bagel seasoning.
Bake for 60 minutes until golden brown.
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