Recipe Inspiration

Ingredients...

A sprinkle of plain flour, for dusting

500g block puff pastry

650g raw beetroot, trimmed

1 cinnamon stick

2tsp cumin seeds

1.5kg prepared butternut squash

21g garlic cloves, unpeeled and roughly bashed

45ml olive oil

75g Essential Cuisine Zesty Chermoula Seasoning

28g flat leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped

3 large egg yolks, beaten with 1 tsp water

Method...

1. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out the puff pastry to a 50cm x 30cm rectangle; rest in the fridge on a large baking sheet lined with baking paper.
   Put the beetroot into a large pot of salted water with the cinnamon and cumin seeds. Bring to the boil, cover and gently simmer for about 50-60 minutes until tender.
   
   
2. While the beetroot is cooking, preheat the oven to 200c. Toss the diced squash and garlic cloves with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and tip onto a large shallow tray. Roast for about 30 minutes until tender, stirring halfway so they colour evenly.
   Remove from the oven and leave the squash to cool for a few minutes on the tray. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin into a food processor then tip in the squash and pulse to a rough consistency with the Essential Cuisine Zesty Chermoula Seasoning and parsley. Add seasoning and set aside to cool.
   
   
3. When the beetroot is cooked, drain and allow to cool, then rub off any skin with your fingers and discard. Trim off a little from the base of each beetroot so they can sit flat and then enough off 2 sides so they can join in a line like a sausage shape.
   
   
4. Remove the pastry from the fridge on its tray, dust off any excess flour and brush liberally with egg yolk mixture.
   
   
5. Working along one of the short sides, spread a third of the squash mix onto the bottom third of the pastry rectangle, leaving a 2cm gap at the edges. Sit the beetroots fitting tightly together in a line down the centre of this mix, with the flat base facing up (this will be the bottom when the wellington is rolled). Spread the remaining squash mix evenly over the beets so they are completely covered, patting it on with your hands.
   
   
6. Roll up into a cigar shape, away from you, so the seam ends up at the bottom of the wellington with a 3cm overlap of pastry (trim off any excess which can be used for later decoration) and the flat base of the beetroot is now facing down.
   
   
7. Carefully crimp down each end of the wellington and trim, if needed, so there is just enough pastry to tuck back under itself at the ends. Cut some lines on a slight diagonal over the length of the wellington. Brush all over with egg yolk, adding decorations if you wish, and chill for 30 minutes in fridge. Preheat the oven to180°C. Glaze the wellington a final time with egg yolk