Beet Wellington

Author & Photographer: Alex Wang

This is a vegan version of Beef Wellington, a French/British dish that is perhaps most famously Gordon Ramsay’s signature dish. Traditionally, Beef Wellington is a tenderloin or chateaubriand of beef wrapped with a filling of mushroom duxelles and pâté, which is then wrapped in Parma ham and puff pastry and oven roasted. My vegan version substitutes roasted beets for the beef, and vegan phyllo dough for the puff pastry. The general concept of this dish was popularized by the (very) young American chef Flynn McGarry, and is one of the signature dishes at his restaurant Gem in New York City. You can make your own phyllo dough if you desire, but it is honestly not worth your time when high-quality phyllo dough is readily available in the frozen aisle of most markets. I omit the parma ham and pâté and serve the Wellington with a smoked beet jus. I also like to use coconut oil for this recipe, which adds a mellow, pastry-like quality to the dish to balance out the powerful, smoky vegetal flavor of the sauce.

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Recipe

Ingredients:

  • Very large red or yellow beets (1 per person, plus 1 extra red beet for jus)

  • Vegan phyllo pastry (you will need 3 full sheets per beet)

  • 1 cup coconut oil

  • ½ cup coconut creamer (optional)

  • Oak or hickory wood chips for smoking

Duxelles

  • 1 cup walnuts

  • 12 ounces small white or portobello mushrooms

  • 2 yellow onions, very finely chopped

  • 1-2 whole cloves roasted or fresh garlic, very finely chopped

  • Olive oil or canola oil

  • ½ to ⅓ cup dry vermouth, sherry or white wine

  • Few sprigs fresh thyme

  • Salt and pepper to taste

Beet Jus

  • 1.5 ounces bourbon or Scotch whiskey

  • Juice or puree of 1 smoked beet (see instructions)

  • 5-6 ounces tomato paste

  • 1 cup vegetable stock

  • Salt to taste

To Serve

  • Rosemary

  • Fresh black pepper

  • Flake salt


Instructions:
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  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

  • Rinse the beets well. Remove any beet leaf stems or excessively long roots, being careful not to cut too close to the main part of the beet to prevent leakage when cooking. Wrap in foil. Place on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes, until beets can be easily pierced with a fork.

  • Meanwhile, prepare the duxelles. In a medium or large saucepan on medium-low, caramelize the onions until they are extremely soft, fragrant and brown. Using a food processor, chop the walnuts until they are very fine and have a paste-like consistency. Add to the saucepan, along with several finely chopped cloves of garlic and allow to toast. Finally, chop mushrooms until paste-like consistency is achieved. Add to pan, cooking for a few minutes until browned, then deglaze with wine. Season with thyme, salt, and pepper as necessary, and set aside.

  • Remove the beets from the oven and partially unwrap to cool.

  • Smoke the beets using your desired method. I recommend preheating hickory or oak wood chips in a large coverable aluminum pan, then placing the beets inside and smoking for 30 minutes or so, but a smoker or smoking gun would also work very well. Set aside one of the smoked red beets to be used in the beet jus. At this time, you can trim off any remaining unwanted parts of the beet such as the top.

  • To assemble beet wellingtons, brush each sheet of phyllo dough with coconut oil. Stack three sheets on top of each other for each Wellington. Place a generous circle of duxelles in the center of the sheet, then place the beet on top. Fold each of the remaining thirds of the dough sheet over the beet, and seal in place with additional coconut oil. Fold the sides of the pastry beneath it to create a neat package. Brush the surface of each Wellington with either pure coconut oil or a mixture of coconut cream and coconut oil.

  • Return the wellingtons to the oven, and bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

  • Meanwhile, prepare the beet jus. Purée the reserved smoked red beet until smooth, then combine in a medium saucepan with whiskey, tomato paste, and vegetable stock, simmering on medium-low heat. If you desire a thinner jus, juice the beet instead of puréeing it. Season with salt to taste.

  • Serve with fresh black pepper, flake salt, and rosemary.

 
RecipesMelanie WangComment