Beef Wellington

* adopted from The Fabulous Baking Boys recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 800g good-quality beef fillet
• Olive oil
• Knob of butter
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 4 Portobello mushrooms, finely diced (do not use food processor)
• parsley - finely chopped
• 6 Savoy cabbage leaves (optional)
• 500g block of all-butter puff pastry OR use ready made puff pastry sheet
• 1 egg + 1 tbsp water mix together to make eggwash, to glaze pastry

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C together with the baking tray with foil.

2. Heat up a pan, melt butter, add the minced garlic and thyme, once fragrant, add the diced mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper, then add the chopped parsley. Remove them to a strainer, so extra liquid will be strained out. Set aside to chill.

3. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat a large pan, add the oil and brown the beef on all sides. This is not to cook it but to just get as much colour on the meat as possible – about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and place on a plate to chill and rest.

4. Optional: Separate the cabbage leaves and using a knife cut out the middle of the stem from the thick end. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and blanch the cabbage leaves for 2 minutes, then remove and plunge straight into cold water. This is just to cook the leaves through and chilling them quickly helps to keep the vibrant green colour. When cool, drain and squeeze out any excess moisture.

5. Optional: Lay the cabbage out overlapping each leaf in a shape big enough to wrap the whole fillet in. Thinly spread the mushrooms over the middle part of the cabbage then place the fillet on the cabbage and wrap the leaves over it making sure there are no gaps. This helps to keep the juices away from the pastry.

6. Roll the pastry into a thin rectangle and cut it into one large piece and one smaller piece – two thirds and one third. The smaller piece is what the beef will sit on and the larger piece is the piece that will go on top and cover everything.

7. Turning it as you move to keep the mushrooms are on top, place the fillet in the middle of the smaller piece of pastry and cover it all with the larger piece of pastry. Using a rolling pin, push the pastry at the bottom of the beef to seal it in and then using a fork, crimp the edges. Put 3 slashes into the top of the pastry to vent steam out during baking and brush all over the pastry with egg wash.

8. Put the pastry wrapped beef to the heated baking tray (This stops it getting a soggy butt) and bake the beef for 45 minutes Wellington for medium rare.


9. Remove and rest for 5 minutes somewhere warm. Slice and serve.

Can prepare gravy or mushroom sauce at the side to make the beef taste more full.

Enjoy with a glass of pinot noir!!