Veggie christmas dinner alternative - Celeriac, creamy leek & brie pithivier

If you’re not a fan of the usual faux meat or nut roasts on offer as a vegetarian Christmas dinner alternative, I think you’ll love this roasted celeriac, creamy leek & brie pithivier! I’ve made this for a few years now as a vegetarian alternative to the usual Turkey Christmas dinner and it’s a real centrepiece I think. My top tip would be to really seal the filling tightly in clingfilm (I used baking paper here but clingfilm is better) and chill for as long as you can to avoid things from getting too liquidy and messy.

Ingredients:

1 large celeriac - peeled

3tbsp olive oil

1tbsp Dijon mustard

1tsp mixed dried herbs

Salt and pepper

6 small portobella mushrooms

1 leek

2 garlic cloves

1 knob butter

1 vegetable stock cube

100ml double cream

150g Brie

1 egg

2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200c.

Slice the celeriac into 2-3cm wide slices and place on to a baking tray. In a bowl, mix together 3tbsp olive oil, 1tbsp Dijon mustard, 1tsp mixed dried herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Rub or brush over the celeriac slices and roast for 20 minutes.

In a saucepan, add 1 large finely sliced leek, 2 minced garlic cloves, a knob of butter, 1 veg stock cube and 100ml double cream. Cook down on a gentle heat for around 10 minutes.

In a frying pan or grill pan, cook down 6 whole small portobella mushrooms until all of the moisture has been released.

Line a medium sized bowl with either cling film or baking paper or tinfoil and line, creating a dome, with the celeriac (leave 1 or 2 slices) and fill with the mushrooms in the same fashion and fill with the creamy leek mixture. Top with around 150g sliced brie and seal the top with a slice or a couple of slices of the remaining celeriac and seal up with the cling film or tinfoil to seal it all into a dome shape. Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours if you can.

Preheat the oven to 180c. Take 2 ready rolled sheets of puff pastry. Take one of the sheets, place onto a baking tray and turn the celeriac dome out into the middle. Top with the other sheet of pastry and press down all around the sides of the dome to seal with mixture. Cut around, leaving an inch or so spare and create any pattern you’d like on the pastry with a knife. Brush over a whisked egg glaze and bake until golden (around 30 minutes but keep checking).