My Wednesday Pantry - The Mushroom Wellington

      I made a Mushroom Wellington as a meat alternative main for Christmas dinner. Did I think to get a picture? No,but it would not have looked pretty anyway. It was a hit though, with my daughter, husband, and a couple others trying and liking it. It was simple, but I'll need to get my technique down for looks.. Here's what I was aiming for:

Delicious Everyday Mushroom Wellington 

     Here's how I made it though, not using the recipe above at all really, more as inspiration. I used large crescent rolls dough, accidentally vegan, for the wrapping as it's readily available, though it was hard to get it all covered, but that might be due to my large portobellos.

3 portobello mushrooms, clean and dry, stem removed but used in filling.

Filling: Sautee

• 3/4 pound mushrooms of choice
• 1/2-3/4 cup shredded carrots
• 2 diced celery stalk 
• 1 medium onion, chopped or diced
• 2 tsps. Olive oil
• About 1 tsp of ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

As the veggies release liquid, push to side to leave a puddle and stir in a little flour to make a paste, add more water by the tsp if needed, and 1 tsp. Better than Bouillon or a granular veggie stick cube, stir all back in with the veggie mixture, remove from heat, chill completely. 

Lay portobellos on top of spread out pastry dough, tops down. Fill the mushrooms with the cooled cooked mixture. Any overflow, form between and around the large mushrooms. Carefully pull dough over to encase the mushroom and filling, sealing seams. Carefully lift and turn over onto parchment paper so . mushrooms and seams down. Chill Wellington completely, at least an hour. Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly coat with plant based milk using  pastry brush, then slice diagonal slits in the pastry. Bake 35 minutes, checking for golden brown color, adding a few minutes at a time if needed. Let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes before cutting into. (Mine was transported elsewhere, then kept warm).

It sounds putsier than it actually was. Quite frankly, the filling alone, using another 1/2 pound of mushrooms and maybe more vegetables in general, could be used for the pastry middle, making a very inexpensive but fancy vegan main or side dish for anyone. The portobellos felt more like a Wellington, and not just a vegan sausage roll, so we're worth the effort for Christmas. It reheated nicely and was dinner on Tuesday for DH and I with a salad. 

     I also used up the odd cheeses, my last potato, last of the baby carrots and mushrooms, a couple more celery stalks, and 1/2 a large onion and another chunk of leftover cooked ham to make this creamy ham,cheese,and vegetable soup. I just used 2% milk, starting with a small bit of it with corn starch to make a thickening flurry, then more for creaminess. Man, for a made up soup it was tasty. Why not though? Veggies were sauteed in real butter, and there was at least 5 ounces of cheese. This pot probably resulted in 6+ cups of hearty soup. Another, feeling like a free meal as all ingredients were planned to have been used up by now. This no more grocery shopping until the new year is working well so far.