‘Vegan food can often feel like an afterthought at Christmas, but not this recipe! There’s so much flavour in this and the pâté rivals any meat one.’
Hands-on time 45min, plus cooling and chilling. Cooking time about 1hr 40min. Serves 6
• Neck end (1.1kg) of a large butternut squash (1.5kg), about 14cm long and 9cm diameter • 1tbsp olive oil
• 2 x320g sheets vegan puff pastry, we used Jus-Rol • Plain flour, to dust • Vegan cream or milk alternative, to glaze FOR THE PÂTÉ • 30g dried porcini mushrooms • 800g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1tbsp olive oil • 2 echalion shallots, finely chopped • 3 garlic cloves, crushed • ½ x25g pack thyme, leaves picked and chopped • 50g dried cranberries • 2tbsp brandy (check label to make sure it’s vegan)
• 100g walnuts, roughly chopped • 3tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Peel the squash neck and slice evenly in ½ lengthways. Lay cut-side down on lined baking sheet and brush with oil. Season and roast for 40-50min, or until just tender (you should be able to push a skewer through with just a slight resistance). Set aside to cool.
2 Meanwhile, make the pâté. Put the porcini in a small bowl and cover with just-boiled water from the kettle; leave to soak until needed. Pulse the chestnut mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped (alternatively finely chop by hand). Heat oil in a large frying pan over low-medium heat and cook shallots for 5min, until softened. Turn up heat to high and add chestnut mushrooms. Cook for 12-15min, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and any liquid released by the mushrooms has evaporated.
3 Drain and finely chop the soaked porcini. Add to the mushroom pan with the garlic, thyme and cranberries; cook for 2min. Add brandy and bubble until there’s no visible moisture in the pan. Remove from heat and stir in the walnuts, nutritional yeast and plenty of seasoning. C
