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Cauliflower and Porcini Mushroom Wellington is the ultimate vegetarian centrepiece dinner recipe. Easy to prepare, and goes with all of the usual Christmas dinner trimmings.
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Holidays are special times. Often with our wider family and friends, these are occasions where we gather together to break bread and strengthen bonds.
In our family we often get out a battered black leather suitcase filled with embarrassing old family photos, going through it and recounting past stories and cherished memories of family present and absent. While this takes place I will be nipping in and out of the room, refilling glasses and checking on my various timers. I’m not great with emotional stuff. But I’m okay with food, and making lots of it.
Regardless of the minutiae of holiday gatherings, and whether it is 2 or 20 at the table, one thing that most holiday get-togethers have in common is food.
When someone enters my home at Christmas I want them to be welcomed not only with a bit of Michael Bublé in the background (I’m that cheesy), but the entrancing aromas of an oven transforming food into a feast. I think this is one of the most welcoming things any of us can do. Guests instantly feel in the holiday spirit if a home is cosy (candles, fire, greenery and more candles in my house) and filled with the aroma of food cooking in the oven.
And this brings me to the cauliflower Wellington.
Cauliflower doesn’t have the best reputation for smelling great. This is true. Especially when it is boiled à la school lunches… But honestly, in this case, the hot oven, the crisp puff pastry, porcini mushrooms and woodsy herbs wave a magic wand over the cauliflower to make that smell *poof* disappear. But light some Christmassy frankincense candles if you don’t trust me.
This is what we are having as our edible centrepiece this year. My golden Cauliflower and Porcini Mushroom Wellington will be on this cracked and mended platter, with mounds of glistening roasted potatoes,maple and fennel carrots, creamed kale, sauteed Brussels sprouts with crispy sage crumbs, and my “legacy” Southern cornbread stuffing. I may be cooking a side of wild salmon too – if I can get my hands on one. Seeing everyone reaching to grab seconds and passing dishes to one another is me in my happy place.
If I didn’t have to get dressed up in an itchy Christmas jumper it would be just about perfect. 🙂
What’s in the Cauliflower Wellington?
What’s in the Cauliflower Wellington?A large, fresh cauliflower (surprise, surprise!)
Ready-made puff pastry. This can be vegan or butter but it is best if it is a block rather than the ready-rolled kind. This is because the ready-rolled will probably not fit around the cauliflower. But you can put two rolled ones together to make a bigger one if needs must.
Chestnut/cremini mushrooms (lots) and dried porcini mushrooms (just a little). Porcini is what makes this special but if you can get fresh wild mushrooms these will be amazing – about 50 grams of fresh will suffice.
Chopped onion, garlic and herbs – the flavour backbone
Dry sherry – optional but it really makes this pop. The alcohol is cooked out so is fine for children. You could use a squeeze of lemon instead but this will not give the same flavour.
Cream cheese – dairy or vegan, but use full-fat or the mixture may release too much water and affect the pastry.
A few tips
A few tips1. The pastry needs to be cold.
2. The cauliflower needs to be roasted first and then cooled.
3. You can make the elements ahead of time – up to two days – and assemble the night before. Make the mushroom mixture but add the cream cheese on the day; roast the cauliflower and store it in a box or bag.
4. The only vaguely tricky thing about this recipe is wrapping the cauliflower. Read through the instructions and you should be absolutely fine. The only thing to make sure of is that the pastry is well-sealed, and that the pastry isn’t lumpy as this will affect the bake – you will have undercooked bits.
This dish reheats pretty well but not well enough to cook ahead and serve at Christmas. Great for leftovers though.
I will be posting a few more side dishes for the festive table over the next couple of weeks, but if you can’t wait, do have a look at my recipe index as well as this post.Let me know if I can help you with any of your menu planning – either in the comments or through my Contact Me page. It would be my pleasure. 🙂
Oh, if you’d rather use cauliflower as a side dish, why not check out my suitably celebratory (read: indulgent), and immodestly named,Incredible Mashed Cauliflower. And serve it withSpring Onion Gravy and these individualRoasted Rainbow Carrot Tartlets.{below}
**Remember tofollow me on Pinterestand, if you make my Cauliflower Wellington, click on the pin below and leave a photo of your make with a comment telling me what you think, or any awesome changes that you made.Similarly, any Instagram posts tagged@food_to_glowusing my recipes will go on my Story if I see them. I’m always so proud when you share my recipes with the world. Yay!!!
Whether on Pinterest,Instagram,Facebook,Twitteror of course here on the blog, Iloveto see what you do with my recipes, and I welcome your comments, star ratings, tweaks and suggestions.**
5 from 8 votes
Cauliflower and Porcini Mushroom Wellington
Cauliflower and Porcini Mushroom Wellington is the ultimate vegetarian centrepiece dinner recipe. Easy to prepare, and goes with all of the usual Christmas dinner trimmings.
CourseDInner
CuisineBritish
Keywordcauliflower, Christmas, mushrooms, pastry, vegetarian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 6 people
Calories 540 kcal
Author kellie anderson
Ingredients
- 1largecauliflower
- 2tbspextra virgin olive oildivided use
- 8gdried porcini mushrooms
- 1/2large onionfinely chopped
- 1garlic clovefinely minced/grated
- 250gchestnut/cremini mushroomsfinely chopped
- 1 tbspfresh thyme leaves
- 1tbspfresh rosemary leavesfinely chopped
- 30mldry sherryoptional
- 50mlporcini waterfrom soaking the mushrooms
- 100gcream cheesedairy or vegan
- 1tspvegetable bouillon powderoptional
- 1tbspmiso paste
- 1/2tspblack pepperfreshly ground
- 400gpuff pastryuncooked; chilled
- 1smallegglightly beaten
Metric - US Customary
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180C fan/200C/400F.
Remove leaves from the cauliflower and trim the end to sit flat. Rub some of the oil on your hands and rub your hands over the cauliflower. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 30 minutes. remove from the oven and let cool. Keep the oven on.
Soak the porcini mushrooms in 70ml or so of just-boiled water for 10 minutes. Drain and press out the liquid; chop finely. You will be using about 50ml of the soaking water in the recipe so don't throw it out. Lots of flavour in it.
Heat the remaining olive oil in a large saute pan over a low-medium heat. Add the chopped onions and saute until soft. Add the garlic, chestnut mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, thyme and rosemary. Cook until the mushrooms lose their moisture and the pan gets almost dry. Now add the sherry (if using) and the saved porcini water, as well as the vegetable bouillon powder. Cook until the liquid absorbs. Take off the heat to cool to room temperature.
Mix the cream cheese/soft cheese and the miso into the mushroom mixture. If you haven't used sherry you might want to add one teaspoon of lemon juice. In any case, taste the mixture and adjust to your liking. If you haven't used vegetable powder you may wish to add salt.
Take the puff pastry and roll it out to not more than 1/4 inch thick. You should have more pastry than you need. You can use the extra for making pastry cut out decorations. Place the cooled, cooked cauliflower in the centre and draw up the edges and pinch lightly to see that it will fully cover the cauliflower. If not, roll a bit more. Now let the pastry lay flat and cut a circle to fully accommodate the cauliflower.I also made four evenly-spaced v-notches, which helped to minimise pastry overlap when wrapping it up.
Place the cauliflower onto a plate or tray. Cover it with the mushroom mixture, squishing it between the florets, too. Drape the pastry over the cauliflower and draw the edges together, keeping one hand on it. If there is extra, trim this away with a sharp knife or scissors. Gently turn over the cauliflower (some mushrooms may fall off; just put them back on) and take care to seal the pastry around the cauliflower. Smooth the joins with damp fingers. You want to not have thicker bits of pastry as these will not cook well. Use some of the extra pastry to make shapes like stars, if you wish.
Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and return to the refrigerator for half an hour to cool again.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes to one hour. You may want to cover loosely with foil after 40 minutes to slow the browning of the pastry.
Remove the cauliflower from the oven to cool on the tray for 15 minutes. Transfer with a wide spatula, or cake lifter, to a plate and serve with a variety of vegetables and a jug of rich gravy.
Nutrition Facts
Cauliflower and Porcini Mushroom Wellington
Amount Per Serving
Calories 540Calories from Fat 333
% Daily Value*
Fat 37g57%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 41mg14%
Sodium 379mg16%
Potassium 729mg21%
Carbohydrates 43g14%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 11g22%
Calcium 72mg7%
Vitamin C 70.5mg85%
Vitamin A 315IU6%
Iron 2.9mg16%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Please note that the calorie/fat count in the box above is higher than it actually is as the calculation included all of the pastry and you will only be using some of it. But, hey, it’s Christmas !
RIPE FOR PINNING!
