Recipe: Courgette Wellington

This is a great for a veggie option for a roast dinner. 

Ingredients:

-1x block puff pastry (500g)
-1 egg, beaten (for pastry)

-2 x courgettes (as straight as possible!)
-1 tin chopped tomatoes

-10 chestnut mushrooms
-1 x 250 g block natural firm tofu, drained (the best way to do this is to wrap it in kitchen paper then put a heavy weight over it e.g. plate and books and leave it for at least 30 mins)

-Large handful of each of: walnuts, cashews, peanuts (unsalted). 
-1 onion, roughly chopped
-1 tbsp : tomato puree, marmite, balsamic vinegar, fresh thyme, soy sauce, chopped garlic
-Seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Reduce the chopped tomatoes in a saucepan with some seasoning. Par-boil the courgettes (whole) for 3-4 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle chop off the ends and hollow out. I used a chopstick and a sharp knife to hollow out a 1cm hole. Then stuff them with the tomato sauce (I also used the chopstick for this to stuff the tomato sauce down into the courgette).

2. Put the onion and mushrooms into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Tip into a large frying pan with some oil and fry gently until softened.

3. Use the food processor to chop the nuts then add them to the pan. Do the same with the tofu (separately) then add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season to taste, (and add more of the flavourings if desired) then put aside to cool slightly.

4. Grease a baking sheet. On a floured surface roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle roughly 50cm x 30 cm. Cut into 2 widthways.

5. Spread half of the tofu mix onto one of the puff pastry pieces, leaving a 2-3cm border. Place the courgettes in the middle then top with the rest of the mixture. Brush the edges with egg then place the second half of the pastry on top. Cut off any excess pastry and seal the edges. Score the surface of the Wellington and decorate with any remaining pastry, then brush all over with egg. Bake for 45 minutes-  1 hour or until golden.