Beef fillet covered in mushrooms and Parma ham and wrapped in puff pastry. Cooked by Dick and James Strawbridge on The Hungry Sailors.
Ingredients
- 1½ kg3¼ lb beef fillet
- 50 g1¾ oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 400 g14 oz chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- 250 g8¾ oz chicken liver pate, chilled
- 50 g1¾ oz butter
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp thyme, chopped
- 8 slices of Parma ham
- 2 sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
For the red wine sauce:
- 1 bottle of red wine
- 1 bottle port
- 2 dried bay leaves
- ½ shallot, chopped
For the new potatoes and broccoli with chestnuts:
- 50 g1¾ oz butter
- 100 g3½ oz whole chestnuts
- 50 g1¾ oz flaked almonds
- 8 sage leaves, roughly chopped
- 500 g17¾ oz broccoli
- 1 kg2¼ lb new potatoes, halve the larger ones
Method: How to make Beef wellington
For the wellington:
Place the porcini mushrooms in a heat proof bowl, just cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 15 mintues Remove the mushroom from the water and finely chop. Retain the mushroom liquor for later.
Melt the butter in a pan and gently fry the garlic and thyme for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped chestnut mushrooms.
Once the mushrooms have begun to colour and have softened add the chopped porcini and pour in the mushroom water and turn up the heat. Cook until the water has evaporated, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Once cooled, mix with the chicken liver pate.
Rub the beef with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
In a hot pan, brown the meat on all sides. Remove and allow to cool.
Lay the ham slices side by side, slightly over lapping on a chopping board. Place the fillet of beef in the centre and cover with a layer of the mushroom mixture and wrap the ‘duxelle’ in the Parma ham to form a parcel.
Lay a sheet of puff pastry on a large, lightly floured square of greaseproof paper. Place the beef in the centre of the pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with a beaten egg and lay the second sheet of puff pastry over the top of the fillet and press gently around the beef.
Trim the edges leaving a 2½ inch border around the fillet, then crimp together to form a well sealed parcel. The greaseproof paper allows an easy transfer of the beef Wellington to the roasting tin. Brush with a beaten egg, and place in the oven at 180C for 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.
For the sauce:
Pour the red wine and port into a saucepan, add the bay leaves and chopped shallot and leave to simmer on a low heat until it has reduced to form a thick sauce. Remove the bay leaves and shallot before serving.
For the new potatoes and broccoli with chestnuts:
Boil or steam the potatoes until tender, drain and keep warm. Melt the butter in a shallow pan, add the sage and flaked almonds and fry gently for a minute then add the chestnuts. Boil the broccoli florets for 3-5 minutes until only just tender, then drain.
To serve, gently mix the broccoli with the melted butter, almonds and chestnuts, and serve with the potatoes.
