Mushroom + Camembert Wellingtons


I wanted to make something extra special for Christmas this year and I came across several mushroom Wellington recipes and thought that the Wellingtons would make for a nice presentation and meal. I used some ingredients from my local grocery store in this one -- a mushroom blend and a small wheel of Camembert, but you can use whatever mushroom blend you would like and as much cheese as you can fit in your Wellington. 


Pair With: Hassleback Potatoes with Goat Cheese + Gorgonzola; Vanilla Cranberry Mimosas; and Honey Roasted Carrots with Pomegranate and Goat Cheese.



Recipe adapted from the Tesco RealFood blog

Ingredients
-One package frozen puff pastry, thawed
-4 ounces of a mushroom blend (mine had baby portabellas, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms)
-4 ounces button mushrooms
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 large shallot, finely diced
-few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
-8 ounces of spinach, steamed
-squeeze lemon juice
-4 ounces Camembert cheese, sliced. 
-1 small egg, beaten

Don't forget to thaw your puff pastry!!

Preheat the oven to 425°F. And then use something circular, I used a small bowl, to cut out four 5-in circles of one unfolded and thawed puff pastry. Place the circles on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Use the same round cutter to cut four pastry circles from the other pastry and lightly roll those pastries thinner, then set aside. Use the leftover scraps of puff pastry trimmings to cut out 12 leaves as decoration for the Wellingtons.

While the Wellington bases are baking, give the mushrooms a rough chop, and then heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Saute the mushrooms until they have reduced by half, then add in the garlic and saute until fragrant.


Put the spinach into a colander, pour boiling water over to wilt it, and squeeze out the excess water by pressing with a wooden spoon. Place on a cutting board, squeeze over some lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Remove the pastry circles from the oven, if you haven't already, and then divide the chopped spinach between the cooked circles of pastry, making sure you leave a small border of pastry spinach free. Then divide the chopped mushroom mixture and carefully spoon over the spinach, then top each with a slice of Camembert.

Brush the border of each bottom circle with beaten egg, then gently stretch the larger circle of pastry over the whole thing, making sure not to push a hole in it or trap any air under it. Press the pastry edges together with your fingers and chill the Wellingtons for 10 minutes.

Once chilled, press the edges firmly with a fork, brush the Wellingtons all over with beaten egg, and decorate each one with 3 pastry leaves.***
Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown and puffed up, then allow to cool for a few minutes. 

***At this point chill the Wellingtons until you're ready to bake  -- you can keep them in the fridge for up to two days, which is highly recommended if you're serving this on Christmas since they're a little work intensive.

  



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