Chestnut, Mushroom and Red Wine Pithivier

Ingredients

For the filling

• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 2 leeks, ends removed and finely sliced
• 400 g/14 oz button mushrooms, halved
• 3 gloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 50 g/¼ cup plain flour
• 2 tablespoons tomato purée (or use harissa paste for a bit of spice)
• 200 g/1 ½ cups vacuum-packed chestnuts, roughly chopped
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried or fresh thyme, stalks removed and finely chopped
• ½ tablespoon dried or fresh rosemary or oregano, stalks removed and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 175 ml/¾ cup vegan red wine (use alcohol-free if preferred or mix 1 tablespoon red miso paste with 175 ml boiling water)
• 250 ml/1 cup vegan stock
• 1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
• 250 g/1 ½ cups pre-cooked quinoa or lentils
• salt and pepper, to taste

For the pastry

• 640 g/22.5 oz vegan ready to use puff pastry sheets
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened plant milk mixed with 1 tablespoon syrup (e.g. maple or agave) for brushing

Method

For the filling

Fry the onion on a medium heat in a little dairy free butter or oil until golden.

Add the leeks and fry for a further 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the cayenne pepper and dry for 2 minutes.

Stir through the flour until all the vegetables have been covered.

Stir through the tomato purée and add all the other ingredients apart from the pre-cooked quinoa or lentils.

Allow the mixture to simmer, stirring regularly, for around 15-20 minutes or until the liquid has reduced down significantly, making sure the mixture isn’t too runny.

Add the quinoa or lentils to the mix and stir through. The consistency should be thick but not too thick. Add a little more stock if necessary. Set aside until needed.

For the pastry

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and set aside.

On a floured surface, use a large dinner plate to cut one of the pastry sheets around the shape of the plate. This is your small pastry circle.

Place the smaller circle on the lined baking tray and set aside.

Take the next pastry sheet and again cut around the shape of the plate but this time leave 2 cm of extra pastry around the edge. This is your large pastry circle.

To assemble

Transfer the mixture onto the small pastry circle and heap the mixture as high as possible, leaving at least 5 cm of pastry free around the edge.

Cover the mixture with the large pastry circle and seal the edges with your fingers. Brush the edges with some oil.

To create the sun pattern, make a tiny hole in the top centre and then score wavy lines deeply, but not all the way through, from the centre to the outer edge of the pastry using a sharp knife.

Brush the outside of the pastry with the plant milk/syrup mix until fully coated.

Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until crisp and golden.