Wellington anything seems pretty unlikely for a Monday night dinner.

Well (ha!), I’ve had my eye on this Squash And Blue Cheese Wellington recipe for about a month now. The recipe looks gorgeous and sounds even better. It labels itself as “Easy”.

So, last night on a humble Monday, we tucked into thick slabs of puff pastry stuffed with an absolutely delicious combination of roasted butternut squash topped with blue cheese and maple-balsamic glazed pecans and shallots.

It was easy. I promise.

The original recipe reserves a little of the puff pastry dough to be rolled and fashioned into leaves. That Wellington is really beautiful to behold, but I thought mine was really lovely on the eyes too. Besides, it was a Monday night! I’ll save the deco for when I make it again on a weekend.

Squash And Blue Cheese Wellington

Ingredients:

850g butternut squash, peeled
400g shallots, peeled and halved if large
2 Tbs olive oil
50g/1/2 cup pecans
1½ Tbs maple syrup
1½ Tbs balsamic vinegar
500g prepared puff pastry
Flour, for dusting
1 Tbs chopped sage
200g blue Wensleydale cheese, diced (I couldn’t get the Wensleydale, so I substituted a local creamy blue cheese)
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 200℃/400℉.

2. Cut the squash lengthways into 8 long chunky pieces and put in a large roasting tin with the shallots. Toss with a little oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 20 minutess. Add the pecans and roast for 10 minutes longer, or until the squash is cooked but still firm.

3. Remove squash from the roasting tin and set aside to cool. Transfer nuts and shallots to a non-stick pan. Add the maple syrup and balsamic vinegar. Season to taste and stir over the heat until the shallots start to caramelize. Leave to cool.

4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle approximately 32 x 38cm /12 x 14 inches. Transfer the pastry to a baking tray. Arrange pieces of squash down the middle to make a rectangular block, keeping a generous border of pastry all the way round. Scatter over the sage and blue cheese, then top with the shallots and pecans. Lightly press to compact everything together.

5. Brush the pastry edges with the egg, then draw the 2 long edges up to meet and pinch together to seal. Tuck under the pastry at both ends, then brush all over with egg. Make a few small venting slits in the pastry with the point of a knife.

Note: To freeze: Before wrapping up, freeze the Wellington on a baking tray until solid, then wrap in cling film then foil. It will keep for 2 months. To serve, heat oven to 200℃/400℉. Unwrap the Wellington and place on a baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes. Cover lightly with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes more, taking off the foil for the final 10 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutess before thickly slicing.

6. To cook right away, bake for 30-40 minutes in the oven.

Serves 6

Recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine

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Cheers!