How to make BOSH!’s vegan Criss-Cross bake

When everyone else is tucking into turkey, this vegan Wellington-style bake will keep those on a plant-based diet well fed – just serve with all the trimmings.

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Vegan Criss-Cross bake

This vegan Wellington is the perfect centrepiece for a celebratory dinner or festive feast.

Cook Time1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Servings: 8 people

Author: BOSH!

Ingredients

• 500 g chestnut mushrooms
• olive oil for drizzling
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 sprigs fresh sage
• 8 garlic cloves
• 4 banana shallots peeled and sliced
• 1 carrot peeled and grated
• 1 celery stick diced
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes thinly sliced, plus 3 tbsp oil from the jar
• 200 g cooked chestnuts
• 200 g pecans
• 200 ml red wine
• 2.5 tbsp cranberry sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100 g dried breadcrumbs
• 2 320g sheets ready-rolled plant-based puff pastry
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp unsweetened plant-based milk plus extra for brushing
• Salt and black pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lay a sheet of foil over a roasting tin. Sort through the mushrooms and find 10 of the best-looking ones, making sure you’re left with about 300g mushrooms. Place the selected mushrooms in the middle of the foil. Drizzle over a little olive oil and sprinkle over a little salt and pepper. Lay half the thyme, rosemary and sage sprigs on top along with three of the garlic cloves. Wrap the mushrooms tightly in the foil and put the tin in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Peel and finely grate the rest of the garlic cloves. Remove the leaves from the remaining thyme, sage and rosemary sprigs, then finely chop.
• Put the remaining mushrooms in the food processor and blitz to mince. Scrape into a bowl and clean out the food processor. Add half the chestnuts and all of the pecans to the clean food processor and blitz to a meal. Roughly chop the remaining chestnuts.
• Spoon the sun-dried tomato oil into the frying pan and put the pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and fry for five minutes, until soft. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and garlic and stir for one minute. Add the carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme and sage and stir for four to five minutes. Add the minced mushrooms to the pan, increase the heat to high and cook for 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are well sweated. Pour over the red wine and cranberry sauce. Add the bay leaf. Simmer for six to seven minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Reduce the heat, add the ground nutmeg and cinnamon and stir for one minute.
• Take the roasted mushrooms out of the oven, turn off the heat and open the foil. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and pour the cooking liquid into a mixing bowl.
• Add the breadcrumbs and nut meal to the cooking liquid in the mixing bowl and mix everything together with a spoon. Tip in the mushroom mince, removing the bay leaf. Fold everything together to form a thick, textured dough. Leave to cool to room temperature.
• Lay one sheet of puff pastry on the baking sheet. Spread half the mushroom mixture lengthways down the middle of the pastry. Use your hands to mould it into a flat rectangular shape, leaving at least 5cm of pastry on each side. Place the roasted mushrooms along the top of the mixture in two neat rows. Layer the rest of the mixture over the top, encasing the mushrooms completely. Smooth and shape into a neat rectangular mound.
• Brush a little milk around the exposed pastry edge using a pastry brush or your finger. Lay the second pastry sheet over the filling and smooth it down well, ensuring there are no air bubbles. Seal the edges by pressing the pastry sheets together, all the way around the filling with your fingers. Trim any excess pastry from the edges, making sure you leave a 1.5cm crust around the base of the Criss-Cross. Use a fork to crimp all around the edges of the pastry to firmly seal the pastry.
• Take a sharp knife and score a criss-cross pattern across the top of the whole Criss-Cross. Pierce a few air vents in the top of the pastry. If you’re feeling creative, cut a few decorative shapes from the excess pastry and place them on top of your Criss-Cross. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Take the Criss-Cross out of the fridge and put it in the hot oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make a glaze by pouring the maple syrup and milk into a small dish and mixing together. Take the Criss-Cross out of the oven and brush it all over with the glaze. Place back in the oven and bake until golden brown and crispy, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, cut into slices and serve immediately with all the trimmings.

BISH BASH BOSH! by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby is published by HQ, HarperCollins, priced £20. Photography by Lizzie Mayson. Available from Amazon.

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