This is a dish that will certainly catch the eyes of your family or guests. It’s challenging but the reward will certainly pay off when you cut it in half!

Ingredients Serves 2

Puff pastry

1 x butternut squash

Handful of spinach

100g wild mushrooms – sliced

Handful of cashew nuts

1 x shallot – finely diced

1 x garlic clove – peeled & crushed

1 x thyme leave

1 x egg whisked for wash

2 x knobs of butter

50ml double cream

Salt and olive oil

Method:

Pre heat oven to 170c – gas mark 3/200c – Gas mark 6.

First you need to prepare the vegetables. Peel the butternut squash, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard. Cut the squash in half so you are left with the top and the bottom.

From the top part cut out a rectangle, about 1cm in thickness. From the bottom cut it in half so you are left with a dome shape. In a roasting tray drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, season with a touch of salt and slow roast in the oven at 170c for around 15 minutes or until soft. Once cooked set aside to cool. Keep your trimmings and dice into small pieces.

In the meantime in a small frying pan on a medium heat gently sweat off your shallots, garlic and thyme leaves until soft. Add the mushrooms and season. Cook slowly on a medium heat for around five minutes, turn down the heat and add the double cream.

Once the cream has combined set aside the mix and allow to cool. Next add your diced butternut squash to a pan on a medium heat with a knob of butter and cook for around 5 minutes on a low heat. Add the cashew nuts to this and set aside to cool.

Once the mushroom mix and squash mix are cool, separately chop them up to form a firm paste texture.

Wilt down the spinach in a pan with a touch of butter and season, drain onto a cloth removing the excess. Next take a sheet of puff pastry, roughly a piece of A4 paper size – roll out if not already to around 2-3mm thick. Take you cooked squash dome, fill with your mushroom mix followed by the spinach.

Place the cooked rectangle of squash underneath the spinach then place this in the centre of the puff pastry. Using a pastry brush, brush on a small amount of egg wash around the dome.

Bring one side of pastry over to cover the dome, slight moving off centre might be needed. Cut any excess and crimp down the edges. Brush the wellington with egg and place on a lined baking tray. Turn up the oven to 200c and bake for around 25 -30 minutes or until the pastry is cooked and golden brown.

It’s a good idea to remember which way you made the wellington so you can get the effect when you cut it in half. A slightly technical vegetarian dish but one that you will be proud of.