8 large field mushrooms
150g vegetarian suet
300g self raising flour
200ml cold water
fresh herbs and seasoning
– with plenty of butter, slowly caramelise the onions in a deep pan with a couple of teaspoons of sugar, this should take about an hour on a low to medium heat but turn them very frequently until they are golden
– meanwhile bake the mushrooms in a hot oven with plenty of oil and rosemary until they are tender, (roughy 20 mins of 180C) they could also be turned once or twice
– in a large bowl mix the flour, suet and water to form a dough then roll it out, nice and thick and line a well greased pudding basin, making sure you leave enough pastry for the lid
– begin to layer the pudding, onions then mushrooms, then stuffing until full, you may have to cut some of the mushrooms to fill the layers, then place the pastry lid on top and seal with water
– cover in foil with a pleat in the top of the foil to allow for air to expand and steam for 2 hours
Dom, you're absolutely correct. I've been veggie for over thirty years, vegan for the past three or four so I speak from experience too.
Eating out somewhere and seeing everyone else served good wholesome solid food while some dish of every vegetable known under the sun in tomato sauce and every herb under the sun is plonked down in front of me has on occasion moved me to tears.
There usually also isn't any recognisable vegetable in the veggie concoctions.
It's the old meat and two/three veg mentality where the meat is the meal and the veg is just to stop the gravy flowing off the plate.
Solid food rules!
Veggies (and vegans) LIKE TO EAT WITH KNIVES AND FORKS TOO, NOT JUST SPOONS!
@owlwood… you go Ian!
Never mind the veggies, I know several carnivores who would happily munch their way through a portion of this – me included!
Thanks for making me laugh, this Sunday morning. Your first paragraph very nearly had me spraying the monitor with coffee. 🙂
I have to say it was a bit of a relief when my son broke up with his veggie girlfriend, although I did enjoy the challenge! I'm sorely tempted to make this today, except my pudding basin is currently full of Xmas pud and I don't have another big one 🙁 I would also have to go and find some sage and onion stuffing, but I'm thinking about ways round that. Great recipe and not just for vegetarians!
Great to see something truely substantial for the veggies!
I'd be delighted to have this handed up to me any day of the year!!
Owl Wood will be having your steamed pudding this year, with just one addition, I thought I'd add a few cranberries to make it look jolly and festive. Alternatively I could add a tomato sauce, with every known herb to flavour it – just for old times sake…
Joking aside, as soon as I heard about this creation I knew it would be a winner. Well done Dom. xx
While I do love my veggies, I'm not a veggie! This looks delicious and it looks like it would be a great meal! I'll bet it would be even tastier with a layer of hamburg! LOL!!! Seriously, I can see why you rec'd another request to make it!
This looks really good, Dom – I'm even tempted to try it for my family of committed meat eaters. A layer of stuffing will make it really festive too!
This looks amazing!! I've never tried a suet pudding before but would love to. Karen from Lavender and Lovage recently posted a steak and kidney suet pudding and I wondered if there was a vegetarian option. Here's my answer! Thanks!!
My dad grew up in Lincolnshire in a meat and potato society through the war years. Thank goodness as a whole we have come to realize that there are delicious vegetarian dishes like this one which don't have to consist of mushy veg and potato dishes. I can't imagine what he had to eat in his growing up years or in the army. I grew up with tofu cheesecake and nut cakes as part of our regular menu which also included meat.
This looks regal and festive, I'd love it on my Christmas table!
Just the shape of this dish is inviting. I heard a Dr. on TV say that everyone should have a meatless meal twice a week. I bet the Viking can't wait to dig into this delicious pudding.
I'm a meat eater, but I'd happily eat that suet pudding – maybe with lots of gravy and a couple of pork sausages, though! It does look good 🙂
My Dad was a non-meat eater, and he was always pretty happy to have what everyone else was having – less the meat.
I reckon anyone, veggie or not, would be chuffed to be presented this on christmas day! Good work Dom!
Dom, it's so true. Give me a good plate of Christmas veggies and I don't need a centre piece. Or at least I didn't think I did until I saw this!
What Jenny said, that first para made me snort and I insisted on reading it to Pete… who heartily concurred!
I'd enjoy this one too, and I'm a real meat lover!
What we do for my pescetarian mum is to look for a main that will work with all the same vegetables/ trimmings as the roast meat. We'll do a vegetarian gravy alongside.
So the plates are pretty similar apart from the protein choice.
This looks rather amazing.
Please can I come?
Wow that's so beautiful!
Have a great evening
As a “recovering veggie” I reckon I would gladly opt for a piece of this over a slice of turkey any Christmas. Looks fab.
Got lots of veggie friends so will have to try this out.
My goodness, such vehemance … but yes, why is it such a BIG DEAL to plan a dinner table that everyone can enjoy? … My stategy? Fix four or five vegetable sides … one of which has some 'wow factor' so that it can be the center of the plate for said 'wanker' … every gets to pick what they like and we're all happy.
PS – Is a 'wanker' what I THINK it is?
Nice dish – serious winter food, I'd say. If a vegetarian ever manages to trick their way into my house, then I'll definitely give them this.
this looks so beautiful from the inside!! I would love something like this haha
Perfect perfect perfect! MY parents are veggie and I was for 5 years…..I would quite happily devour this and come back for the basin ~ I am GOING to try this out Dom, cos' it looks bloody lush!
Karen
This looks amazing! Can you get vegetarian suet anywhere?
This will probably make any vegetarians reading cringe, but the centrepiece of our Christmas dinner this year will be a walnut and cranberry nutroast! There's a lot of hatred for nutroasts around which I really don't get – they're awesome! And definitely the best thing to go with all the traditional trimmings – who wants gravy on a veggie lasagne?!
What an amazing dish to serve up, this would suit me and I am no veggie!
Gorgeous indeed, sounds lush too, and spot on about how people who are vegetarians are treated in the food world. I tied it once but a bacon butty got the better of me :-((
I've often thought it's the texture and teeth-grinding action that's missing from a vegetarian meal. Nearly all mushroom dishes have that missing 'chew' factor which makes them (imo) very satisfying for a carnivore type person. Your dish look simply delicious.
Stop stop stop – I can't stand it any longer, I am going to have to stop reading your blog Dom otherwise I am never going to able to get into this red dress! My mouth is watering just looking at the photo, its just so tempting.
I'm always delighted when my vegetarian friends just want the same as the rest of us without the meat. I just can't be bothered with extra dishes for individual guests. However I would love to make this great suet pudding for supper for all of us. GG
That looks utterly delicious. I don't eat much meat and would always choose the meat option, minus the meat, because the veggie thing is often something odd.
And yay for suet pastry – it just looks so stodgy and amazing!
Planning to give this a shot with veggie friends when we get together soon. Apologies if I'm being blind, but how many folk does this quantity serve?
Thanks!
Hi Ruth,
It all depends on the size of your pudding basin but this one would happily serve 4 if not 5.
Hope this helps
Dom
Ive made this and im not a vegetarian its gorgeous ..
Why are vegetarians wankers ?
Same reason carnivores are, of course. LOL.
Nice looking recipe, VERY similar to a Gary Rhodes one from “Gary Rhodes at the table” Tempts me even though I'm a committed carnivore..