Vegetables Wellington Redux and Mashed Parsnips

Tonight, I made Vegetables Wellington, with a side of Mashed Parsnips for something different.

I took pictures pretty much at each step, but they're boring, so I'll skip through a bit.  First, chop up some asparagus, red pepper and onion.  Sauté in oil, then add spinach.  Stir in pesto and set aside to cool.  Lay a piece of the puff pasty out on a piece of parchment paper, then tuck that into the pan.  Line the ends with pastry squares you cut from the other sheet.  Spread the goat cheese over the bottom of the pastry, and add the vegetable mixture.

Brush edges with beaten egg, then cut a piece of pastry to fit the top.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or overnight if you're me so it's ready to go when you get home from work the next day).  Brush the top with egg, and decorate all pretty like with extra pastry :)

It said leaves & stems, I also did a flower

Bake!  While that was going, I started my mashed parsnips.

Thumbs up if you're a dork!

I pretty much just made the parsnips like I would mashed potatoes.  Peeled, chopped, boiled and then mashed with milk, butter and salt & pepper to taste.  After baking, while the Wellington was cooling, I heated the tomato sauce.  Here's the spread:

And in true Melinda fashion, I did this all while wearing heels:

Once everything was done, I sliced the Wellington open, topped it with tomato sauce, and got my sides.  The finished plate:

Wellington, Mashed Parsnips & Salad!

The Review:  Good, not my favorite though.  As one of the reviews said on the site, the goat cheese is very strong.  If I ever made this again I could probably get away with only using one 4oz log.  The pesto was also very oily, if that makes sense.  I'm not sure how to get around that though, since it's oil based.  Maybe try a different kind next time and see how it comes out?  *shrugs*  As for the parsnips, they were kind of weird.  On the one hand, the butter and milk made them seem a little like mashed potatoes, but being closely related to carrots, they also tasted like carrots.  I don't know if I'd ever bother making them again.  Over all, a very yummy dinner and full tummy. Hopefully my guest tasters show later, because there are a LOT of leftovers!
Next blog may not be an entree, but a baked good!  I came across this recipe for Chocolate Avocado Cake that sounds interesting and I want to try it!