British leeks are currently in season so now is the perfect time to try out new recipes. I’ve been subscribed to Veg Box People, my vegetable box scheme, since 2015 and over the years I’ve learnt to use these ingredients and I have recipes I keep coming back to. In this post, I create a Beetroot Wellington, which is stuffed with leeks, mushrooms and barley. The recipe is created by Chef Laura Graham who is based in Cardiff and is perfect for celebrating St. David’s Day!
British Leeks
Leeks are in season during a large portion of the colder months, from around November – April. It grows well in the United Kingdom as it’s tolerant of frost and has a subtle, sweet flavour which works well with many basics like potatoes and grains.
Leeks are best when they aren’t too large as they start to get tough when they get too big. The white and light green parts are mostly used as the rest can be tough. You can use the dark green parts for making stock or for seasoning sauces.
The Leek is also the national emblem of Wales. It is said that St. David asked his army to wear a leek on their helmet to identify themselves from the Saxons in a battle.
The Recipe
As part of my collaboration with British Leeks, I’ve chosen to make the Beetroot Wellington. Check the British Leeks website for the Beetroot Wellington recipe.
I chose this recipe as it was the only vegan option available from Chef Laura Graham. The recipe looked simple enough to make too! Who doesn’t love a puff pastry? Ingredients are below, but click the link to see the method.
Ingredients:
1 pack of Jus Rol puff pastry
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 leeks, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x shallots finely chopped
4 x pre-cooked beetroot, kept whole
250g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
100g barley, cooked
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp of salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method: Beetroot Wellington recipe
Review of the recipe
The recipe states it will only take 1 hour to prepare the beetroot wellington, with a 35-40 minute cooking time. I admit I didn’t time how long it took me to make this, but most of the work was in chopping the various vegetables used. I ended up using a food processor to blitz the shallots, leeks and mushrooms.
The barley was fairly easy to cook and the pastry was already rolled so I did not have to deal with that. Assembling the wellington was quite easy once the ingredients have been fried off.
Having said this, I had too much leek in mine. The leeks I got in my shopping were a bit larger than average and I think the recommended number of 3 could have been bumped down to 2 in this case. I also think I might have understuffed my wellington as I had fears of overfilling things inside puff pastry.
Despite this, the wellington turned out quite nice and will be a brilliant with a gravy and some greens!
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