A great vegetarian alternative for any Sunday dinner or even your Christmas table. A vegetable packed Wellington made with no mushrooms will impress with the array of flavours and textures it has to offer! Made with nutritious kale and red peppers, mixed with two types of cheese and encased in buttery puff pastry, this Vegetarian Wellington is a perfect centrepiece that will be ready in less than an hour and will not disappoint any vegetable lovers. Beef Wellington, who?
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Serve this Veggie Wellington with French Boulangere Potatoes and Tenderstem Broccoli, and you will have yourself a feast!
Mushroom-Free Wellington
Quite a few friends of mine don't like mushrooms. I didn't eat mushrooms myself until I was in my twenties (I now ask myself, why?). Doing a quick internet search, it became evident to me that most of the vegetarian dishes created for Christmas include mushrooms in one form or another. So I was on a mission to find something that tastes good, looks the part and contains no mushrooms.
A slight adaptation from Aldi Cookbook, this Vegetarian Wellington hit the spot with both of us. Creamy kale and red pepper filling encased in buttery puff pastry was something we definitely wanted to eat. We were worried, though, that it wouldn't taste festive enough though. Well, whilst it is an easy enough dish to put together on any day, it certainly looked and tasted special when served with roast potatoes, glazed carrots and cranberry gravy on the side.
Method
Cooking over Christmas can get stressful... So we opted to use a ready-rolled puff pastry, instead of making our own on this occasion for a quick and easy Vegetarian Wellington Without Mushrooms. The trick with ready-made pastry is to take it out of the fridge to warm up slightly before unrolling it (it will crack if too cold).
STEP 1: Prepare the Filling
First, wash and shred your kale into small pieces, discarding any woody stalks. Dry the kale thoroughly before cooking. Thinly slice the red onion. Finely chop garlic. Core and thinly slice red peppers.
Add 2 tablespoon of oil to a large frying pan. Add the onions, garlic and peppers and fry for approx. 5 minutes. Add your kale, stir briefly, then cover with a lid and cook for about 8 minutes until the kale has wilted. Remove the lid and cook for another minute until any moisture in the pan has evaporated, and the vegetables are soft.
Tip the kale mixture into a colander and using a wooden spoon or a spatula, press to squeeze out any excess moisture. Allow the mixture to cool down slightly.
In a large bowl, crack two eggs in and whisk lightly. Take a tablespoon out of the mixture and set aside for brushing the top of the pastry later. Add cream cheese, grated cheddar, paprika and some seasoning and beat to combine. Tip the cooled down vegetables in and mix.
STEP 2: Assemble
Preheat the oven to 200°C Fan. Roll out your pastry on a large sheet of baking parchment. Then spoon the kale mixture into the centre of it. Fold in the short sides over the filling and brush with some reserved egg before folding over the long sides. You should be left with a log-shaped Veggie Wellington. Roll the Wellington over so the seam is at the bottom.
Using a sharp knife score the to top the pastry in any pattern you desire. Then brush with the remaining egg and pop in the oven for 25 minutes until the pastry turns a lovely golden brown colour.
What To Serve Vegetarian Wellington With?
- Fried Tenderstem Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon (Garlic Broccolini)
- Creamy Mashed Potato
- Slow Cooker Braised Red Cabbage
Other Christmas Recipes
For other festive recipes, have a look at our Christmas recipe collection, including:
- Christmas Chicken with Cranberries & Oranges
- Festive Pilaf | Christmas Rice Side Dish
- Lime & Passionfruit Charlotte Royale
Recipe Card
Vegetarian Wellington with Kale and Red Peppers
Ingredients
- 375 g puff pastry ready-rolled, brought to room temperature
- 200 g kale hard stalks removed, shredded
- 2 red peppers deseeded, thinly sliced
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 eggs
- 100 g cream cheese
- 70 g mature cheddar coarsly grated
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoon of oil to a large frying pan. Fry the onions, garlic and peppers for approx. 5 minutes.
- Add kale, stir briefly, then cover with a lid and cook for about 8 minutes until the kale has wilted. Remove the lid and cook for another minute until any moisture in the pan has evaporated, and the vegetables are soft.
- Tip the kale mixture into a colander and using a wooden spoon or a spatula, press to squeeze out any excess moisture. Allow the mixture to cool down slightly.
- In a large bowl, crack two eggs in and whisk lightly. Take a tablespoon out of the mixture and set aside for brushing the top of the pastry later. Add cream cheese, grated cheddar, paprika and some seasoning and beat to combine. Then tip the cooled down vegetables in and mix.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C Fan. Roll out your pastry on a large sheet of baking parchment. Then spoon the kale mixture into the centre of it. Fold in the short sides over the filling and brush with some reserved egg before folding over the long sides. You should be left with a log-shaped Wellington. Roll the wellington over so the seam is at the bottom.
- Using a sharp knife score the to top the pastry in any pattern you desire. Then brush with the remaining egg and pop in the oven for 25 minutes until pastry turns a lovely golden brown colour.
Nutrition
Claudia Lamascolo says
Wow I was pleasantly surprised how much everyone loves this version of Wellington and will make it again I loved it!
Ieva says
That's lovely, Claudia! 🙂
Lisa Hamm says
Can you use spinach instead of kale?
Ieva Greber says
I haven't tried it with spinach, but I don't see why not 🙂
I would, however, blanche and squeeze out most moisture out of the spinach, otherwise the pastry base will be very soggy. That will probably mean having to use twice the weight of fresh spinach. Hope this helps 🙂
Dana Sandonato says
Absolutely loved the flavors in this, and the crust was so flaky and tasty!
Ieva says
It's a great recipe, and it's brilliant how there's not too much moisture in the filling so the pastry stays crisp! 🙂
Amy says
This looks fabulous! Love the idea of using kale and pepper instead of meat 🙂
Ieva says
Definitely worth a try! We never miss meat, when eating this veggie wellington!