Vegan Butternut Squash Wellington with Lentils & Chestnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220c / 200c fan / 425f / gas mark 7.

2. Now prepare the squash. Halve, peel and deseed it, then cut it into cubes. Add to a bowl and coat in the paprika, cumin, oregano, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and olive oil, then roast on a baking tray for 25-30 minutes until soft and charred at the edges. Once cooked, set aside to cool.

3. While the butternut squash roasts saute the onion and garlic in a large pan with olive oil until soft.

4. Once the onions are soft, add the mushrooms and cook until soft, seasoning them with the thyme, salt and pepper.

5. Next, add the chopped chestnuts and the drained cooked lentils and mix well.

6. Once the chestnut and lentils are well mixed in, add the breadcrumbs.

7. Then add the soy sauce, tomato puree and marmite and season with salt and pepper. Mix well, you may want to add a splash of water to help the mix along. Cook for a few minutes.

8. When the nut and lentil filling is cooked, leave it to cool and deal with the squash. Spoon the cooked squash into a large mixing bowl and mash at least half the mixture, leaving some pieces of squash.

9. Now add the nut and lentil filling and mix well to combine. This is your wellington filling. Leave it to cool for a few minutes. You don't want to fill the pastry while this is hot.

10. While that is cooling make the simple creamy paste that is spread on the pastry before the filling is added by mixing the hummus with red onion chutney in a small bowl. Simple but delicious.

11. Unroll the first sheet of puff pastry (leave it on the parchment paper it comes in or move it onto a sheet of non-stick baking paper if you have rolled out a block of pastry).

12. Spread the paste along the middle of the pastry in a fat rounded, oblong shape, leaving a good border around the edge.

13. Pile the cooled (just warm is ok) filling on top of the paste to make a mound and rub a little water around the edge of the mound so the top puff pastry sheet will stick.

14. Place the second sheet of pastry on top of the mound and snuggle it in like tucking a blanket around a child, so the mound is nice and firm.

15. Use a fork to seal the edges of the pastry around the wellington mound. Cut around the outside of the wellington (outside the fork marks, then remove the excess pastry) with a sharp knife.

16. Cut 3 or 4 slits in the top of the wellington to let the steam escape as it cooks.

17. Use the excess pastry to decorate the wellington, sticking them on with a little water.