Welcome back to another post from Liv’s Holiday Menu: my new YouTube series that gives you a recipe each week to help build the perfect vegan holiday menu. I have had the best time coming up with all the recipes in this series and I cannot wait to share them all with you. Today we are making an entree: a Holiday Lentil Mushroom Loaf in Puff Pastry.
This is SO yummy! It is a gorgeous entree full of rich delicious textures and flavours. Crispy, golden, light and flaky puff pastry with a delicious, savoury mushroom lentil loaf inside. The aromas of thyme, sage and fennel will make your kitchen smell incredible. And it is the perfect entree for vegans and non vegans alike! Its meaty, hearty, comforting and perfect for dousing in gravy and cranberry sauce. You all know by now that I love sweet and salty so I am a huge fan of a little cranberry sauce with my holiday meals.
I made this recipe with ease in mind. I wanted to give you a recipe you could make the day or afternoon of your holiday dinner. No intense planning or hours spent in the kitchen are required, leaving you time to actually enjoy your day as well! As much as I love holiday cooking and providing a cozy meal for my family, I hate feeling stressed and missing out on all the action because I’m in the kitchen reading a huge recipe with 25 steps. This one is only a few simple steps, and takes no more than one hour start to finish. The only thing you need to do in advance is remember to thaw your puff pastry! I buy mine frozen and stick it in the fridge to thaw overnight the night before.
The details:
Start by sautéing your herbs, onion and garlic in a pan. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce and lentils and cook about 5 minutes until nice and soft.
Then, transfer to a mixing bowl and mash lightly. Add the vital wheat gluten, which holds it all together and gives it a delicious firm, yet chewy, sliceable texture, and the broth. Stir it until it comes together.
Roll out your pastry, add the filling and wrap it up! Then bake until golden brown and crisp.
It truly is so simple!
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Holiday Lentil Mushroom Loaf in Puff Pastry
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings
Description
A savoury, lentil and mushroom loaf wrapped in golden, flaky puff pastry.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tbsp dried sage
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 2 cups diced button mushrooms
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 can (approx 19 oz/ 500 mL/ 2 cups) brown lentils, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth or vegan beef-flavoured broth
- 1 package (400g) puff pastry (I use Tenderflake, it is accidentally vegan!)
- optional: fresh thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Ensure you have thawed the puff pastry fully before starting the recipe. I like to put mine in the fridge overnight to thaw, or about 4 hours on the counter works too.
- Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large frying pan on medium-high heat, add the oil, onion, garlic, fennel, thyme and sage. Cook a few minutes, until onion starts to become translucent.
- Add the mushrooms, salt pepper and and soy sauce and cook another 3 minutes, until mushrooms start to soften. Add the lentils and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, until mushrooms are cooked and softened.
- Add to a large mixing bowl. Add the gluten and broth and mix until it comes together in a spongey sort of dough.
- Roll out the puff pastry to a large rectangle about 18 inches by 12 inches. Place it on the prepared sheet pan.
- Place the filling into the center in a log shape, forming it with your hands. Wrap the puff pastry up and over, pinching the edges to seal. Use a sharp knife to slice a few slits in the top for steam to escape.
- Bake 35 minutes, or until golden brown on top and slightly firm to the touch.
- Let cool about 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
This looks so delicious! I really want to try it but is there a possible substitute for the vital wheat gluten? Would regular flour or GF flour work? And cranberry sauce is the best! 🙂
Wow, Liv! I just made this and I’m so happy that I’ve finally found my vegan main for Christmas dinner after 6 years. I topped it with the Oh She Glows ‘cozy gravy’ and am in love. Thank you!
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This dish was amazing!!! I’m not a big fan of lentils but the flavor was incredible and I’m soooo happy I followed the recipe exactly as its written. Paired with my homemade vegan gravy this dish was the star of the show. Thanks Liv for another great recipe!! Also, loving the holiday series on Youtube!
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I am so happy to hear that!
Hey Liv,
I just made this and it was really easy, quick and delicious.
Thank you very much for the recipe 😍
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So happy you enjoyed :)!!
I made this recipe once to try it out and it was so delicious I decided it would be my Christmas eve dinner ^^ (it also turned out to be my everyday meal for a few days, as I was alone and had a lot of leftovers) I made the perfectly photogenic roasted veggies (or something like that?) from your first cookbook to go with it and it was perfect! Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe <3
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I’ve made this a few times now and everyone loves it! At Christmas, I swapped half a cup ofmushrooms for a cranberry and chestnut mix…amazing! Thank you.
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Made this at Christmas and everyone kept raving about how good it was! This is definitely on the roster now, holiday or not. In fact I’m making it tonight just for hubby, the kids and myself , and it’s a weeknight! Goes to show you can have delicious quick and easy all wrapped up in one yummy puff pastry!
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Hi can you make this the day before and cook it the next day?
I would recommend wrapping it in the puff pastry right before baking, but you can definitely make the filling ahead of time! 🙂
Can I make the filling a couple of days ahead of time?