Seitan Wellington
This seitan Wellington is the perfect Christmas centrepiece to share with vegans and meat eaters as the seitan has a wonderfully meaty texture and flavour. The beetroot through the seitan gives it a nice pink colour to mimic beef while adding a deep earthy flavour to the vegan roast.
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Beef Wellington is a classic roast dinner centrepiece that has been enjoyed for over 100 years. But going vegan doesn’t mean having to forego this classic dish. This vegan seitan Wellington serves as an exceptional plant-based substitute, effectively mimicking the texture and appearance of the traditional version with its meaty centre, mushroom and spinach duxelles, and crispy pastry casing.
Instead of meat, we’ve used seitan to create a vegan Wellington with the same meaty bite and flavour, minus the animal cruelty. To give the ‘meat’ its distinctive pink hue, the recipe cleverly uses beetroot to give it a realistic appearance and earthy taste.
The roast is wrapped up in a layer of spinach and mushroom duxelles to add a depth of earthy umami flavour and enhance the fragrant flavours of the herbs and spices in the seitan portion.
Served with a side of crispy roast potatoes and vegan red wine gravy, and enjoy your best ever vegan roast dinner.
What is seitan and how do you make it?
The key to achieving the meaty consistency in this vegan Wellington is seitan, a protein-rich wheat-based meat alternative.
To make seitan, mix together vital wheat gluten, plain flour, salt, and your liquid mixture of herbs, stock, and flavourings and knead until it forms the base dough. To activate the gluten and give it a meaty texture, the dough requires thorough kneading for about 5-6 minutes until it turns elastic.
Next, you’ll steam your seitan loaf for 60-70 minutes to ensure your seitan is fully cooked and ready to take the spotlight in the vegan Wellington.
How to assemble the seitan Wellington
Assembling the Wellington demands careful handling. First, place the pre-made pastry on a bench (adding a dash of flour to the surface to prevent sticking) and spread the mushroom and spinach blend over the puff pastry sheet, leaving adequate space at the edge to wrap all the ingredients inside.
Then you’ll place the seitan loaf at one end of the pastry sheet so you can roll it up securely, ensuring the ingredients are carefully sealed inside so they don’t seep out and loose moisture while it cooks in the oven.
Trim away any excess pastry and brush with a mixture of soya milk and mustard for a golden finish.
Total Time: 2 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Rating:
Total Time: 2 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 8)
- For the seitan:
- 25 25 g beetroot, peeled and chopped
- 15 15 ml vegetable stock
- 0.375 0.375 Tbsp tomato purée
- 0.375 0.375 Tbsp soy sauce
- 0.25 0.25 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 0.25 0.25 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 0.125 0.125 tsp maple syrup
- 0.125 0.125 Tbsp English mustard
- 0.125 0.125 Tbsp garlic granules
- 0.125 0.125 Tbsp onion granules
- 0.125 0.125 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 0.125 0.125 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 37.5 37.5 g vital wheat gluten
- 0.375 0.375 Tbsp plain flour
- pinch salt
- For the mushroom and spinach layer:
- 0.125 0.125 Tbsp dairy-free butter
- 0.125 0.125 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 0.125 0.125 Tbsp fresh thyme
- 31.25 31.25 g mushrooms, finely chopped
- 7.5 7.5 g spinach
- 10 10 ml white wine
- For the pastry:
- 0.125 0.125 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
- 0.125 0.125 tsp English mustard
- 0.25 0.25 Tbsp soya milk
Method
- Begin by making the seitan: to a blender add the beetroot, vegetable stock, tomato purée, soy sauce, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup, English mustard, garlic granules, onion granules, rosemary and thyme and blend until smooth.
- Put the vital wheat gluten, plain flour and salt into a bowl and pour in the liquid mixture, mixing together to form a dough.
- Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes until it becomes stretchy; roll the dough in parchment paper and tin foil tightly to form a large sausage shape. Place this into the steamer for 60-70 minutes until cooked through, remove from the tin foil and paper and allow to cool.
- To make the mushroom and spinach layer, add the butter and oil to a frying pan over a medium heat, then add the thyme and mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms begin to soften. Add the spinach and wine and allow to cook down for 10-12 minutes until the liquid has fully absorbed, season to taste, then allow to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F/Gas 4. To assemble the wellington, place the puff pastry sheet on the bench (in landscape), then spread the mushroom and spinach
mixture over it, leaving space at the top, bottom and sides. Place the seitan at the bottom of the puff pastry sheet in the centre and roll the seitan up tightly and seal the top and bottom of the pastry. Seal the sides and trim off any excess pastry and fold over the edges. - Mix together the milk and mustard and use a pastry brush to brush it over the pastry, then place on a lined baking tray and cook for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden.
Nutritional information per serving (120g): Calories 223, Fat 7.7g, Saturates 1g, Carbohydrate 13g, Sugars 3.1g, Fibre 2g, Protein 25g, Salt 1.4g
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