Vegan Wild Mushroom Feuilletées (Puff Pastry Hand Pies)

Photo of vegan wild mushroom feuilletees piled up on a wooden board set on a wooden work surface, with thyme leaves scattered around.

5 from 2 votes

Vegan Wild Mushroom Feuilletées (Puff Pastry Hand Pies)

Crisp flaky puff pastry hand pies filled with earthy wild mushrooms in a rich creamy cashew sauce – delicious vegan and gluten-free food that’s easy to make!

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Chilling Time (filling)1

Total Time2

Servings: people

Author: Camilla Sanderson

Ingredients

25 g dried mushrooms
80 g cashews (½ cup)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
150 g fresh mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (picked off the stem), (or 1 teaspoon dried herbs)
3 tablespoon white wine (50 ml)
1 pack ready rolled puff pastry, (Jus Rol gluten-free vegan)
2 tablespoon plant-based milk, (for glazing)

Blender Ingredients:

15 g nutritional yeast (¼ cup)
½ teaspoon vegetable stock powder
¼ teaspoon salt
black pepper, to taste

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

For the mushroom filling:

Soak the dried mushrooms in a jug of 500ml boiling water and, in a separate jug, soak the cashews in boiling water as well (enough to cover them well). Leave both to soak for 30 minutes*. (Meanwhile, you can chop the onion, garlic and fresh mushrooms.)
25 g dried mushrooms, 80 g cashews (½ cup)
Drain the soaked mushrooms through a sieve into a jug, retaining the sieved mushroom soaking water. Drain the cashews, discarding the cashew soaking water.
In a blender, whizz up the drained cashews with the mushroom soaking water and the rest of the blender ingredients until completely smooth. It will be a thin liquid consistency but don’t worry, it will thicken up on cooking.
80 g cashews (½ cup), 15 g nutritional yeast (¼ cup), ½ teaspoon vegetable stock powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, black pepper
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan (large skillet) over a medium-high heat and, when hot, add the red onion and garlic. Sauté over a medium high heat, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes until lightly browned. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the chopped fresh mushrooms and sauté for another 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until well browned.
2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 red onion, 3 garlic cloves, 150 g fresh mushrooms
Once browned, add the re-hydrated dried mushrooms, white wine, and herbs. Continue to sauté for one minute, stirring, while the alcohol evaporates.
25 g dried mushrooms, 3 tablespoon white wine (50 ml), 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (picked off the stem)
Pour in the cashew sauce from the blender and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes to thicken. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. Pour the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool and firm up. (At this point, you can leave it in the fridge overnight if you like – just cover with cling film or put it in an airtight container).

To make the pies:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
Unwrap and unroll the puff pastry sheets (or roll out the block of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick). Cut squares of about 10cm each side (or you could use a cookie cutter to cut circles if you prefer). Place the squares onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
1 pack ready rolled puff pastry
In the middle of each square, add a large spoonful of the cold mushroom mixture. Then pull the four corners of the square into the middle and squeeze together to seal (or place another square on top of the filled square and press around the edges with the tines of a fork to seal them - if you cut circles, you can fold over into a half moon shape and again press around the edges with a fork). Put back in the fridge (covered with cling film) until ready to cook.
When ready to bake, brush the tops of the pastry with a little plant-based milk. Then bake in the preheated oven at 200°C/400℉ for 20-25 minutes (or according to the instructions on the puff pastry packet).
2 tablespoon plant-based milk
When the pastry is golden and puffed up, remove and serve garnished with a few sprigs of fresh thyme.

Notes

As a kids version or a non-mushroom alternative, use steamed broccoli florets mixed into the cashew sauce rather than mushrooms and add a handful of grated vegan cheese. Sautéed leeks or swiss chard would also work well like this.
If your dried mushrooms are whole, they will need the longer soaking time but pre-sliced dried mushrooms will need less soaking.
It is easier to assemble the pastries when the mushroom filling is fridge cold as it will be firm and not runny. You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
You can assemble the pastries ahead of time and store them, uncooked, in the fridge, covered with cling film, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. When it is time to cook the pastries, pre-heat a baking tray in the oven, then transfer the fridge cold pastries across onto the hot baking tray by pulling the parchment paper from the fridge baking tray over to the preheated tray and putting it straight into the preheated oven.
The mushroom filling also works brilliantly on its own with a baked potato or some polenta, or you can add some smoked paprika and a little tomato paste to make it into a vegan mushroom stroganoff!

Nutrition