Just because we're vegan, doesn't mean we EVER miss out on all the delicious and fun food over Christmas and the Holiday period. This is where a show-stopping, party dish like this Vegan Chestnut, Mushroom & Squash Christmas Filo Wreath Pie comes in! Seriously, we're proud to say that everyone has gone mad for our wreath pie (including us!), which we just adore serving up to our vegan and non-vegan friends and family. You must of course serve these with my AMAZING Crispy Roast Potatoes.
This recipe does take a little bit of prep, but that's kind of the point of Christmas food, you take care over it, then bear it triumphantly to the table, to ooohs and ahhhs... before cutting into the masterpiece you have made and sharing it around. The centrepiece of the show needs to be pretty, and impressive.
🥣Equipment
Some key equipment to mention for this Christmas Pie are:
The tin - if you have a bundt tin, or one of those tins with a middle insert, you can use that to create the wreath shape. We didn't, so we improvised with a spring-form 24cm/9 inch cake tin & a little bowl in the middle, which worked perfectly well. These loose bottom (i.e. springform tins) are really great for easily getting pies and cakes out, so we highly recommend them for other recipes.
Food processor - for the pesto. It doesn't have to be state of the art, but I love my MagiMix food processor.
Pastry brush - this really does make life so much easier when slicking oil on the pastry.
🍄Ingredients
Here's what you'll need for this gorgeous vegan Christmas pie recipe:
Filo pastry - the best pastry in my opinion, as it's cheap, always vegan, and can go in the freezer.
Cranberries - a typical festive ingredient. You can use fresh or frozen.
Cooked chestnuts - these can be bought in long-life packets. While they're a festive ingredient, we love them all year round!
Chestnut Mushrooms - these form a substantial part of the pie. Chestnut mushrooms have an almost meaty texture, and a good umami (savoury) flavour.
White wine - adds a delicious flavour to the mushrooms. Make sure your wine is vegan - we love Proudly Vegan Wines. Promise we won't judge you if you drink some during the cooking process!
Olive oil - featured in several of the layers of this vegan Christmas pie, but key for slicking on the filo pastry for that crunch!
Garlic - because all pies must have garlic!
Kale - for the pesto layer. This could be made with other leaves of course, such as basil or even the ends of celery.
Pine Nuts - traditionally in pesto, but you could use another nut if you don't have or don't like pinenuts. I really like walnuts or pumpkin seeds as a substitute.
Nutritional Yeast - for that cheesy taste of the pesto.
Butternut Squash - gives lovely body and colour to this Christmas Pie! It's also a filling and festive ingredient.
Smoked paprika - to give a little smokiness to the butternut squash.
Thyme - a great herb for giving your mushrooms extra flavour.
👩🏽🍳How To
This vegan Christmas Pie full of mushrooms, squash and other festive ingredients needs to have each layer made separately, and then the masterpiece can be assembled. Here's how to do it.
Prepare the mushroom, squash and pesto layers:
- Sautee your mushrooms with the garlic, thyme and white wine.
- Roast the butternut squash with the smoked paprika, olive oil and salt. Once done, mash it a bit with a fork or potato masher.
- Make the kale pesto by blending kale leaves, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, salt, olive oil and garlic.
Prepare the pastry and the tin:
- Put a ramekin in the middle of your tin.
- Cut the filo pastry into long triangles, and slick with olive oil.
- Place the triangles of pastry in the tin, with the larger ends on the outside. You can slick with pastry before or after they go in the tin.
Assemble the pie with its layers:
- Add the kale pesto.
- Add the mushroom layer.
- Add in the butternut squash.
- Sprinkle on the chestnuts and cranberries.
Finish your Christmas Pie with a pastry top:
- Fold down the pieces of pastry on the ramekin in the middle of the Christmas Pie.
- Add more pastry layers to the top so the pie is fully covered. Scrunch some up with olive oil so it has a nice ruffled top.
- Put in the oven for 25-30 minutes. If it's not nice and crispy it can go in for a bit longer.
- Once cooked, take off the outer part of the tin, and serve up with the best vegan roast potatoes and gravy.
❓FAQs
Some questions it might be helpful to answer on this delicious vegan Christmas pie!
It can be. Pine nuts (which are in the pesto layer) are technically seeds. If anyone has an allergy to pine nuts, just make the pesto with any other nut or seed, such as walnuts or pumpkin seeds. Chestnuts, however, are considered tree nuts, so leave these out if you or anyone else has an allergy.
Yes. It reheats really well, so make it all ahead of time (up to 2 days!) and cook it through, but don't let it get too crispy on top. Keep it in the fridge in its tin, then reheat for about 15 minutes or until golden on top. You can even freeze this recipe and cook from frozen. It will take about 20 minutes to cook from frozen.
Healthfood stores (and even supermarkets) will sell this. I generally get mine online. It's a real staple for vegans so you'll certainly use it for lots of recipes.
🍽️Serving
Well, we just have ALL the ideas and recipes for what you can serve with this amazing vegan Christmas mushroom, squash and chestnut pie! Here are our favourite side dishes:
Vegan Christmas Tempeh 'Sausage' Stuffing Balls
Vegan Cauliflower Cheese 'Christmas Trees'
Cranberry, Chestnut and Tofu Facon Brussel Sprouts
The Best Vegan Crispy Roast Potatoes
📖 Recipe
Chestnut, Mushroom & Squash Christmas Filo Wreath Pie
Equipment
- Ramekin / small bowl (to create the centre of the wreath, if you don't have a bundt tin)
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
To Assemble the pie
- 250 g (8 ⅞ oz) filo pastry (about 1 pack or 7 sheets)
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 100 g (1 cup) whole, fresh cranberries (frozen is also fine)
- 100 g (¾ cup) cooked chestnuts (roughly chopped)
For the Mushroom layer
- 500 g (5¼ cups) chestnut mushrooms (sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) vegan white wine
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- pinch salt
For the Kale Pesto Layer
- 250 g (3¾ cups) kale (leaves only)
- 50 g (½ cup) pine nuts
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- pinch salt
For the Squash Layer
- 1 medium butternut squash (peeled, seeds taken out and chopped into cubes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- pinch salt
Instructions
For the Butternut Squash
- Add all the squash ingredients into a large baking tray and roast on a medium heat (200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6) until soft and a little browned.
- Roughly mash the roasted squash with a masher.
For the Kale Pesto
- Add all pesto ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until you have a chunky paste. Add more oil or salt if needed.
For the Mushrooms
- Add all the mushrooms & garlic into a large pan with the olive oil.
- Gently fry until the mushrooms shrink. Then add the wine & herbs.
- Cook until the liquid mostly evaporates.
To Assemble the Pie:
- Open out the packet of filo pastry & cut the filo pastry into thin triangles (as pictured). You can cut all the layers together.
- Slick the layers of filo pastry with olive oil and oil the tin. If you are using a little ramekin or bowl to create the centre of the wreath, oil that too. It is much easier if you use something to create your centre.
- Assemble layers of pastry in the base of the dish: lay the larger end of the triangle on the outside edge, the pointy side facing the 'hole'. The pastry should be long enough to go over the edges of the tin. (This will help form the lid of the pie later)
- Keep layering until the whole pan has 2-3 layers of pastry over it. Add extra oil on some layers if they're a bit dry.
- Now, fill the 'wreath' with the fillings.
- First, smear your kale pesto on the pastry.
- Add the mushrooms layer.
- Then add your layer of the mashed butternut squash.
- Sprinkle over the chestnuts and cranberries.
- Finally, carefully close the all the edges of the filo pastry over the filling. You will need to do this bit by bit.
- If there are any gaps in the top of the pie, add some strips of extra pastry. You can also add a few more pieces of pastry ruffled up with a little oil for that crucnhy wreath topping!
- Finally, brush with extra oil & bake in the oven until crispy and golden. About 20 minutes at around 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.
To Serve
- Remove the outer ring from the wreath & take the ramekin or inner bowl out from the middle.
- If the pastry is looking a little soggy, add the wreath back into the oven for 5 minutes or so to crisp up.
- Put the whole wreath (bottom of tin and all) onto a pretty plate. Decorate with rosemary sprigs and serve as part of a festive meal!
Video
Nutrition
Suzi says
This sounds delicious! Could it be assembled in advance and frozen?
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I've frozen similar pies to this, so I think it would work fine. I'd probably freeze in the baking tray to avoid any squishy mishaps. (my freezer is quite crowded, so there isn't room to test this for us right now! oops!)
Dorothy says
Hi I’m planning on making this for Christmas Day, it looks so delicious! I need to make ahead of the big day. Would I freeze before or after cooking?
Thank you
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Hi Dorothy,
I would half bake it, (eg, not bake it until it's crispy) then freeze or pop into the fridge. Cook from frozen, you might need to cover it with foil (to prevent it burning) and cook on a low heat, then finish off on a high heat to crisp the top up.
Roberta macsween says
Hello, this looks perfect , and fun, for my young vegan visitor this Christmas. However, she also has a nut allergy . Do you have any tips for replacing the pine nuts and still keeping it tasty ? I’d be very grateful . Thank you
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
You can easily use sunflower seeds or those small green pumpkin seeds to replace pine nuts in any pesto-- just make sure they are produced in a nut free factory. You can also omit if you can't find any- the flavours will still be lovely.
You might want to check that she is ok with chestnuts too? They can also be ommitted- maybe add in extra mushrooms or squash if you feel like it.
Julia King says
Looks lovely....what size cake tin have you used please?
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Thank you!
We used an 11 inch/ 28cm tin.
Julia King says
Thank you!
Sara says
That looks very nice but I will still be having a nut roast in preference for my Christmas Day meal. Nothing sad about a nut roast as they are really delicious. I might do this in Christmas week but my daughter won't like it because it has squash in it.
Zoe says
Hiya,
Is the calorie information per seving? Can this be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge?
Would it be possible to use less pastry to make it a bit lighter, or might it collapse?
Thanks!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Hi! The calories are per serving. In reality I think this pie would serve 8 people, but they might be smaller serves, which would reduce the calories per serve.
To be clearer, I just adjusted the amount of pastry used in the recipe, as in reality you don't actually use the entire packet, which has reduced the overall calorie per serve..
I would definitely use at least 3 layers of pastry on the bottom/sides of the pie, otherwise it would collapse,but you could use less on top. (Or just eat the interior when you serve it up..)
Filo pastry is one of the lighter pastries around as it contains no fat, so you could also try to use a little less oil between the layers.
You can definitely make this in advance- Make it all up and cook it through, so the pastry is cooked, but not super golden, then you can refrigerate (or even freeze) and then reheat until the filling is hot and the pastry crispy.
Dannii says
What a great vegetarian Christmas option. It looks beautiful.
Jenn says
Could this be more stunning!? An absolute gorgeous option for my veg friendly friends during the holidays -- thanks so much for the recipe!
Angela says
I love how this wreath came out. It looks so pretty when you serve it and tastes amazing.
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I'm so glad you liked the pie!
MJ says
This is such a delicious and gorgeous dish for the holidays! Your step-by-step assembly and cooking tips were super helpful too - thanks!
Claudia Lamascolo says
What a wonderful and festive presentation this is a must make so beautiful!
Sally Hayes says
Hi there, I love this Christmas wreath pie with filo pastry. Would you mind if I used it in our December newsletter? Fully credited of course with a link to your page. I run a small vegan wholefood shop and we stock all the ingredients so it would be ideal for us. I'm thinking I might do it myself for Christmas as well but it would be good to be able to use one of your excellent photos. Thank you!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Hi Sally,
Absolutely, I would love you to use it in your newsletter! I hope your customers love the recipe! I'll pop you an email
x Louise
Julie Lush says
Fairly easy to make but I am really worried about the cranberries. The raw fresh ones are not sweet. Will they even cook in 20 minutes? I am in UK and paranoid that you have sweetened cranberries somehow in USA. I guess I will find out on Christmas day!! I will let you know.
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I hope this turned out ok for you. I'm also in the UK and used unsweetened cranberries in this dish. They are quite tart, and they do cook in time, but I like the pop of tangy flavour. You can leave the cranberries out if you wish, or use dried sweetened ones instead.
Georgia says
Me and my guests loved it, all the ingredients combine perfectly, such a different dish. Thank you. Happy holidays.