Spiced vegan wellington recipe with cranberry and orange sauce
This mouth-watering meat and dairy-free wellington recipe is the perfect main course for your vegan Christmas dinner guests.
Image: Simon Smith and Peter O’Sullivan
This is Christmas all wrapped up… literally. The seasonal flavours we all love are in this roast ‘beef’ wellington, which is so succulent and flavoursome you’ll want to forgo the turkey!
Follow this delicious meat and dairy-free recipe and serve up a delightful vegan Christmas dinner.
Serves 6 Cooks in 2 hours 30 mins
Ingredients
For the ‘beef’
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Pinch of allspice
• Pinch of paprika
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 tbsp dried sage
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 30g dried cranberries
• 50g dried apricots
• 100g peeled and cooked chestnuts
• 240ml cider, from a 500ml bottle
• 240ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp miso paste
Dry ingredients
• 250g vital wheat gluten
• 3 tbsp chickpea flour
Spice rub
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried tarragon
For roasting
• Remaining 260ml cider
• 1 orange
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf, handful of fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
For the wellington
• 4 tbsp cranberry and orange sauce
• 320g ready-made vegan puff pastry
For the glaze
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 3 tbsp non-dairy milk
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
For the gravy
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 4 tbsp water
For the cranberry & orange sauce
• 300g fresh cranberries
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1 Braeburn apple, grated
• 200g caster sugar
• 240ml fresh orange juice
Method
- To make the cranberry and orange sauce, you first need to sterilise your jars. Place in a large saucepan of cold water and bring to a simmer over a medium heat for 3 minutes. Carefully remove when you’re ready to fill them.
- Heat all the ingredients for the sauce in a heavy-based pan over a low heat with the lid on. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove the jars from the hot water, spoon the sauce into the hot jars and seal, ready for use later. The sauce will keep for 4 weeks in the fridge.
- To make the ‘meat’ dough, heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan overa medium heat. Fry the onion, leek, garlic, seasoning, spices and herbs for 2–3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the cranberries, apricots and chestnuts into a blender and blitz until they’re all a similar size. Add these to the pan and sauté for 3–4 minutes until softened.
- Pour in the cider, stock and miso paste. Stir together and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Once the wet mixture has cooled slightly, mix with the dry ingredients to form a nice dough. If your mix is wet, add a little more chickpea flour. Tip the dough out onto a clean worksurface and knead for 10 mins. Leave to rest.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Combine the rub spices in a bowl, then sprinkle onto your worksurface. Shape the dough into a sausage 10cm in diameter and roll in the rub.
- Roll the dough in a piece of muslin, twist the ends tightly, then tie each end with cook’s string to secure it. Place the wrapped dough into a deep baking tray, together with the rest of the roasting ingredients and bake for 2 hours on the bottom shelf, turning over half way through to ensure it cooks evenly.
- Once baked, lift the roast out of the tray, reserving the roasting liquid, and leave to cool slightly before removing the muslin. At this point you can either chill in the fridge for up to 3 days or continue. If you are not cooking now, make the gravy and keep in the fridge, then reheat.
- An hour before you want to serve, roll out the pastry into a teatowel-sized rectangle 3mm thick. Cut strips a third of the width of the pastry on each side to make a lattice design.
- Spread the cranberry and orange sauce over the roast, lift it into the centre of the pastry, wrap it up, then transfer to a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper. Combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl, then brush over the top of the pastry.
- Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until golden. While the wellington is cooking, strain the roasting liquid from the baking tray through a sieve into a saucepan, pressing to squeeze out all the juices. Place over a low heat and simmer for 10 minutes until you have a thick gravy. Mix the cornflour with the water and add it to the gravy while whisking until it thickens to your desired consistency.
- Remove the wellington from the oven, carve and serve with the gravy.
Recipe from Vegan Christmas by Gaz Oakley* (£15, Quadrille).
What’s your go-to vegan Christmas dinner recipe? Let us know by tweeting us @goodhomesmag or post a comment on our Facebook page.