Stuffed roast pumpkin wellington

This golden vegetarian parcel is a festive special that everyone is going to love.

Stuffed roast pumpkin wellington. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1:20 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• ½ butternut pumpkin
• 20 ml vegetable oil
• 2 sheets vegan puff pastry, at room temperature
• 50 g Dijon mustard, to paint
• A little melted plant-based butter, for brushing

Topping

• 50 g vegan dairy butter
• 1 kg swiss brown or chestnut mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large thyme sprig
• 100 ml dry white wine
• Salt and pepper

Stuffing

• 100 g cracked bulgur wheat (burghul)
• 20 ml olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 spring onions, diced
• 1 tbsp deep-fried currants
• 1 sprig rosemary, finely cut
• Salt and pepper
• 120 ml boiling water

Cooling time: 20 minutes.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Scoop the seeds and pulp out of the cavity of the pumpkin half; discard seeds and reserve the pulp. Rub pumpkin with oil and place in a pan on high heat, cooking all sides until browned. Remove and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, blend the mushrooms with any of the pumpkin cavity pulp you removed until a crumb-like consistency.
4. In a pan on medium-high heat, melt the vegan butter. Place in the mushroom mix and sweat down.
5. After 5 minutes, finely the two garlic cloves and add to the mixture along with the thyme and white wine. Cook until all the liquid has been cooked out. Turn off the heat and let cool. It’s important to let this cool completely.
6. Meanwhile, for the stuffing add the olive oil to the bulgur along with the garlic, onion, currants, rosemary, salt and pepper and boiling water. Cover with a plate and set aside for 10 minutes.
7. Lay two sheets of puff pastry on a baking try, overlapping and pressing in the centre to form one large piece (the ends will hang off the tray). Spread the mushroom mixture evenly across the pastry in the tray, leaving bare the pastry ends that extend out of the tray (you may find it easier for the final wrapping to also leave about 1 cm of pastry free on both of the long sides of the pastry rectangle).
8. Brush the cut surface and cavity of the pumpkin with Dijon mustard until all covered.
9. Stuff the pumpkin with the bulgur wheat stuffing mixture, packing tightly.
10. Place pumpkin, cut side up, on the mushroom mixture. Fold the extended edges of pastry over the top and press gently to create a seal. Then lift each side up over the bundle and pinch or press to seal. The pastry should not be fully wrapping the pumpkin.
11. Gently lift and invert the parcel, so the pastry seams are on the bottom. Paint with some melted vegan dairy butter. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown and a skewer pokes in and comes straight back out. Use a serrated knife to gently slice to serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.