Me: “This might be the most insane thing I’ve ever attempted in the kitchen.” Pause. “I foresee crying.” Guillaume: “I do, too.”

Let’s rewind slightly. For the better part of four years I’ve wanted to make J. Kenji López-Alt’s highly involved vegetables Wellington recipe every time autumn rolls around. With an ingredient list longer than my arm, an optimistic total active time of four hours, and a caution about the high difficulty level, this recipe is not messing around.

But when I initially polled friends about their interest in the plant-based holiday roast, responses ranged from “no thanks” to “meh.” So I put it on the backburner. Until now.