Mushroom Wellington

method:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Roast your mushrooms: Lay 10 nice-looking chestnut mushrooms in a row down the middle of a sheet of tin foil. Drizzle over a little olive oil, sprinkle over a little salt and pepper, lay four sprigs of thyme, two sprigs of rosemary, three cloves of garlic and a sprig of sage on top of the mushrooms. Wrap the mushrooms up tightly in the tin foil, put the parcel in the roasting tin, put the roasting tin in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
• Prepare your filling: Whilst the mushrooms are roasting, peel and finely slice the long shallots. Peel and finely grate the carrot. Finely dice the celery. Finely slice the sun-dried tomatoes. Peel and finely grate the garlic. Pick the leaves off four sprigs of thyme, two sprigs rosemary, a small sprig of sage and finely chop. Blitz 300g of the mushrooms in the food processor to form a mince. Blitz 100g chestnuts and 200g pecans in the food processor to form a meal. Roughly chop the remaining chestnuts.
• Warm the sun-dried tomato oil over a medium heat in the deep-frying pan. Add the shallots to the pan and fry for five minutes until soft. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and garlic and stir for one minute. Add the carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme and sage to the pan and stir for four to five minutes. Add the minced mushrooms to the pan, increase the heat to high, and cook for ten minutes until well sweated. Pour the red wine and cranberry sauce into the pan, add the bay leaf, simmer for six to seven minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Turn the heat down, add the nutmeg and cinnamon and stir for one minute.
• Take the roasting mushrooms out of the oven and open the foil. Put the mushrooms on a plate and pour the liquid from the tin foil into the mixing bowl. Pour the breadcrumbs and nut meal into a mixing bowl and mix them together with a spoon. Pour the mushroom mince into the mixing bowl, remove the bay leaf, fold everything together to form a thick, textured dough and leave to cool to room temperature.
• Prepare your wellington: Lay one sheet of puff pastry out on a baking sheet. Spread half the mushroom mixture length ways down the middle of the pastry. Use your hands to mould it into a rectangle shape with a flat top, leaving at least a 5cm gap on both sides. Place two neat lines of mushrooms down the middle of the mixture, you will have five lines in total. Layer the rest of the mixture over the top, encasing the mushrooms. Smooth and shape into a neat, long, rectangular mound.
• Using a pastry brush or your finger, brush a little of the plant-based milk around the exposed pastry edge. Lay the second pastry sheet over the filling and press it all down well, ensuring there are no air bubbles. Seal the edges by pushing down all the way round the filling with your fingers. Trim any excess pastry from the edges, making sure you leave a 1.5cm crust around the base of the wellington. Put the excess pastry to one side for later. Use a fork to crimp all around the edges of the pastry to firmly seal the wellington in a decorative fashion.
• Take a sharp knife and score a criss-cross pattern across the top of the whole wellington. Pierce a few air vents in the top of the pastry. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake the Wellington for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, mix the maple syrup and plant-based milk in a small bowl to make a glazing liquid and brush the whole wellington, place back in the oven until golden brown and crispy, for around 25 minutes. Cut the wellington into equal slices and serve immediately with all the trimmings.