Mushroom and Chestnut Puds with a Rich Red Wine Sauce

These individual vegetarian puddings make a mouthwatering alternative to Christmas turkey - they're perfect served with the traditional vegetables.

• Vegetarian

Preparation time :	15 minutes
Cooking time :	55 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes
Total time :	1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
250g pack portabellini mushrooms, quartered
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ x 200g pack Merchant Gourmet Whole Chestnuts Roasted & Ready To Use
1 tbsp tomato purée
300ml vegetarian red wine

For the suet crust:
150g self-raising flour
75g Atora Light Shredded Vegetable Suet

Method

1. Lightly grease 2 x 300ml pudding basins with a little oil and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the mushrooms. Fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until they start to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the chestnuts, tomato purée and red wine. Season, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Check and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. To make the pastry, sift the flour and a good pinch of salt into a bowl. Stir in the suet, add 100-150ml cold water and mix to a stiff dough. Reserve a quarter of the dough.
3. Cut the rest of the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll each piece into a circle large enough to line each pudding basin, leaving a little overhang. Once the basins are lined, spoon in the cooled chestnut and mushroom filling.
4. Cut the reserved pastry in half and roll out each half into a circle to cover the tops of the puddings. Brush the edges with a little water and lay over the filling, pressing the dampened edges onto the overhanging pastry to seal. Trim away any excess. Cover with a piece of oiled kitchen foil and secure with string. Place the puddings in a steamer and steam for 45 minutes-1 hour. Run a round-bladed knife around the edge of the puddings before turning out.

Cook's tips

If you don't have a steamer, cook the puddings in a large pan. Sit them on a trivet or upturned saucer and add boiling water – make sure the pan doesn’t boil dry. Look in our How to section to see How to steam a pudding.