Beef Wellington

Don’t be put off by this impressive looking dish. Using pre-made puff pastry takes away all the hassle.

1 hour 15 mins

6

Medium

• 1x Field & Flower Chateaubriand
• 50g Field & Flower Longman's salted butter
• 3tbsp olive oil
• 250g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 large sprig fresh thyme
• 100ml dry white wine
• 12 slices prosciutto
• 500g pack puff pastry (thawed if frozen)
• Flour for dusting
• 2 egg yolks
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/Gas 7.

2. Sit the Chateaubriand on a roasting tray, brush with 1tbsp olive oil and season with pepper. Roast for 15 mins for medium-rare or 20 mins for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 mins.

3. While the beef is cooling, ensure your chopped mushrooms have a texture similar to coarse breadcrumbs. You can use a food processor to do this, but make sure you pulse-chop the mushrooms so they don’t become a slurry.

4. Heat 2tbsp olive oil and butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on a medium heat with the thyme, for about 10 minutes stirring often, until you have a softened mixture. Season the mushroom mixture, pour in the dry white wine and cook for about 10 mins until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should now hold its shape when stirred. Remove the mushroom duxelles from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.

5. Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board. Lay the slices of prosciutto on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row. Spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto, then sit the fillet on it and spread the remaining duxelles on the top. Use the cling film’s edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.

6. Dust your work surface with a little flour. Roll out a third of the 500g pack of puff pastry to a 18 x 30cm strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Roll out the remainder of the 500g pack of puff pastry to about 28 x 36cm. Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry. Beat the egg yolks with 1 tsp water and brush the pastry’s edges, and the top and sides of the fillet.

7. Using a rolling pin, carefully lift and drape the larger piece of pastry over the fillet, pressing well into the sides. Trim the joins to about a 4cm rim. Seal the rim with the edge of a fork or spoon handle. Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry. Chill for at least 30 mins or up to 24 hrs.

8. Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas 6.

9. Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp – 20-25 mins for medium-rare beef, 30 mins for medium. Allow to stand for 10 mins before serving in thick slices.