These Vegetarian Christmas Plaits consist of delicious buttery, puff pastry which houses a mixture of beans, two kinds of cheese, chestnuts, caramelised onions and cranberries. Tasty and easy to make these savoury plaits are delicious served both warm as a main meal with a medley of vegetables or cold in a buffet spread.
If you’re still undecided which meat-free option to make for your vegetarian guests this Christmas, why not try these delicious Vegetarian Christmas Plaits.
Not only do they look inviting, with the interesting easy to make pastry plaited casing, but they are also packed with a variety of vegetable proteins and tastes absolutely amazing too!
Every mouthful is different. In some you will come across the saltiness of the feta cheese, in others, there will be the fruitiness of the cranberries thus stimulating your taste buds to the max. There are also delicious notes from the caramelised onions and texture courtesy of the beans and chestnuts.
Make mini, Individual or large savoury plaits
Even though the vegetarian savoury plaits have been created with an individual portion in mind, they can easily be made suitable for buffet finger food by cutting the pastry sheet a little shorter and making smaller plaits.
Or why not consider creating a large family sized plait which could be presented in the centre of the table to be sliced into and shared.
Prepare ahead and serve hot or cold
These Vegetarian Christmas Plaits are delicious both warm and cold. They can be served straight from the oven or baked ahead of time and warmed up when required.
Likewise, the flavours are robust enough to allow these pastry plaits to be served cold with chutneys and pickles.
Other savoury pastries you may like
- Beetroot walnut and rosemary tarte tatin
- Roasted vegetable tartlets
- Homity pie
- Lancashire cheese and onion plate pie
- Roasted spiced carrot ad feta cheese strudel - Recipes Made Easy
So, here's how to make Vegetarian Christmas Plaits step by step.
Cut the pastry to size. Spoon filling down centre. Cut the pastry. lay alternate strips of pastry over the filling. Glaze. Bake.
Vegetarian Christmas Plaits
Equipment
- large baking sheet
- baking parchment or reusable liner
- Rolling Pin
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 320 g (11oz) pack ready rolled puff pastry
- 100 g (3½oz) tinned mixed beans rinsed (drained weight)
- 50 g (2oz) caramelised onion chutney
- 50 g (2oz_ prepared chestnuts coarsely chopped
- 25 g (1oz) dried cranberries
- 50 g (2oz) cream cheese, full fat
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- small pinch of celery salt
- twist of Pepper
- 50 g (2oz) feta cheese diced
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Instructions
- Remove the pastry from the fridge. Preheat the oven to 220℃ (200℃ fan)/425°F/gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment or a reusable liner.
- Place 100g (3½oz) drained and rinsed beans into bowl. Add 50g (2oz) caramelised onion chutney, 50g (2oz) chestnuts and 25g (1oz) cranberries and 50g (2oz) cream cheese and mix to combine . Add 1 clove of crushed garlic. Season with celery salt and a twist of pepper. Add feta cheese and stir to combine.
- Unroll the pastry and give iti a light roll with a rolling pin to make it 3 – 4mm (⅛in) thick. Trim the edges of the pastry to neaten if necessary. Cut the pastry into 4 oblongs measuring about 12cm x 18cm. (5x7in).
- Spoon a quarter of the filling down the centre of the oblong pastry. Make diagonal cuts down one side of the pastry edges with a sharp knife so that it butts up to the filling. Repeat on the other side so that you have an⅛ equal number of cuts on each side.
- Brush beaten egg over the pastry around the filling, then working from alternate sides fold the pastry flaps over the filling all the way down the pastry so that the pastry flaps are inter-linked and resembling a plait. Seal the top and bottom ends.
- Transfer to a baking sheet and brush the surface of the plait with beaten egg. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes until golden brown and the underside of the plait is cooked through. Enjoy. Either serve immediately or transfer to a cooling tray and serve cold as part of a buffet, or re-warm to enjoy later.
Notes
- If you prefer, use block puff pastry and roll into an oblong 3 – 4mm (⅛in). This is a cheaper option and only takes a few extra minutes.
- The filling can be made a day ahead of time to allow the flavours to mingle. Cover & store in the fridge until ready to be used.
- Bring the pastry to room temperature by removing from the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before using to make unrolling easier.
- Can be frozen unbaked (if using fresh puff pastry) for up to 2 months. Freeze baked for up to 1 month.
Gene
Hi there, Just stumbled on this as it's our first "meat free" Christmas! Would you serve all the usual veggies/sides with this? Or have you any unexpected, fab suggestions to make our Christmas meal even more different to "normal"
(I know this is a post from years ago but I'm hoping you're still answering!)
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
Ohh thats got me thinking. When I have veggie guests over at Christmas I find they like all the usual veggies not least because I always go to town with my veg at Christmas. I think this would be partially nice with braised red cabbage. You could maybe do a potato dauphinoise and beetroot is another veg I think that would go very well with this. For more vegetable ideas you might like to check out my other recipe site Recipes Made Easy https://www.recipesmadeeasy.co.uk/recipes/vegetable-sides/. Do drop back and let me know what you go with.
Chloe Edges
These look perfect and sound delicious!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
Thanks Chloe
Kat (The Baking Explorer)
These sound absolutely scrumptious! I would love to eat them!
Choclette
Wow, this sounds so delicious. It might be a bit too pastry heavy for my Christmas dinner as I love all the festive carby sides. But it would be a great meal for another day.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
You could be right if you like all those extra sides but its a great meal for any day over the festive period.
Renu
This is a nice festive vegetarian treat for sure. Love the filling loaded with all the goodness available this time of the year. I bet my family would love this. Thanks for the share at cookblogshare.
Alison
I REALLY want to try this for Christmas this year, but I'm in Australia. Wrong time of year for chestnuts and they aren't an easy to find ingredient here even in Winter (except as in their shell, ready to be roasted). What could I substitute instead?
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
To be totally honest I am not that familiar with this recipe as it was written by Angela who started Only Crumbs. Its on my list to remake and update this post before Christmas time permitting. That said having looked at it I think you could probably substitute macadamia nits or pecan for the chestnuts. If you try then I would love to know what you think. Jacqui
Natalie
Hi. This sounds great. I have a 7mo baby and am trying to make things in advance that I can freeze then just pop in the oven.... Would this recipe freeze okay? If so at which point? Before or after baking? Many thanks. Natalie x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hi Nathalie, apologies for the delay in replying to you. To be honest I haven't tried freezing it, but my instinct would be to freeze it before cooking once it is all assembled (I'd suggest assembling it and freezing it on a baking sheet to prevent it from changing shape until it is rock solid.) The only issue with freezing though is to ensure that all of the ingredients are suitable for home freezing - I too am making this as part of our Christmas dinner and I already have a pack of 'Jus-Rol' puff pastry in the fridge. That is marked as suitable for home freezing though it recommends doing it on the day of purchase. If it's for a special mean Natalie (like Christmas dinner) it may be wise to give it a trial run in the freezer to make sure it's OK and then bakes nicely once defrosted.
Again apologies for the delay as well as not having a clear answer for you. I hope it works well for you.
Merry Christmas, Angela
Cat Sherrin
These look fantastic, such a pretty plait! The flavours sound so festive and tasty too x
Eb Gargano
Fab idea, Angela. I love how many wonderful Christmassy flavours you've managed to cram in there!! (And of course FETA!!) Totally agree about the puff pastry thing. I am afraid, for me, life is waaay to short to make my own. It's one of the few things I don't make from scratch, but fortunately there are some good ones in the shops...must confess I am rather a bit partial to the all butter varieties!! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Haha, I just had to include some feta Eb, like you I just love the stuff and I thought it'd be nice to have pockets of it seen as it doesn't melt as readily as most other cheeses. There really is some very good puff pastry in the shops isn't there - and yes the all butter ones are GOOD! I stay clear of those 'light' ones, they're just not the same in my opinion.
You're welcome Eb, and thank you to you Kirsty & Mandy, it's a really great linky community 🙂
Angela x
Rebecca Beesley
oooh so delicious and what a clever way of plaiting - had no idea how to do that!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
It really was incredibly yummy Rebecca - we'll be having it again over the Christmas period as well 🙂 I think I've seen people like James Martin plaiting pastry like that - otherwise you could run the risk of it being too thick and bulky.
Thanks for your lovely comment,
Angela x
detoutcoeur Limousin
this looks delicious - wishing you a very happy christmas too 🙂
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thank you, and a very merry Christmas to you too 🙂
Angela x
Corina
It sounds like a gorgeous Christmas recipe Angela! I love anything made with puff pastry and I definitely agree that at Christmas there's no time to make your own. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
I'm a huge puff pastry fan too Corina, but Christmas certainly isnt the time to be making it home made (unless there's some stashed in the freezer of course!)
Thanks for your lovely comment, and for hosting a lovely linky,
Angela x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
You had me with caramelised onions, I love them but everything in the filling sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare and merry Christmas x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Those caramalised onions seemed to really unite everything in the filling Kirsty, they were really amazing in there.
Merry Christmas to you too,
Angela x
Johanna GGG
these look so delicious - I tried a plait this year which I loved but it needs more work til I share it so meanwhile am enjoying seeing how you make yours - and your cat is so cute
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
I must admit the first one was a little 'scruffy' as I didn't appreciate at first that I needed to get the same number of cuts down the sides of the pastry, but after that fisrt little stumble the second one looked so much more prettier 🙂 I look forward to seeing your plait when you're happy with it Johanna 🙂
He's a really cutie - a lot of work at times, but non the less a cutie 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comment,
Angela x
Mandy
This sounds lovely Angela - I have a packet of chestnuts to use up and this sounds like the perfect use for then - yum!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
it really was scrummy Mandy - infact it was a lot tastier than I imagined it would be tbh 🙂
Angela x
Betty Stamp
Gosh your christmas bakes are making me drool on Facebook!!! What a collection of TREATS! Your fudge looks so so delicious, I've always wanted to try make fudge but I know I'd just eat the entire batch!!!!
Betty x
The Betty Stamp
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha, that is a massive problem, I have the same issue myself! Thankfully friends and family are happy to share it with me! 😉
Thanks for your lovely comment Betty,
Angela x