Ingredients

Beef Wellington

• 6 x 200g fillet steaks
• 600g puff pastry
• maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg beaten with a teaspoon of water

Mushroom Duxelle

• 2 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 150g mixed wild mushrooms, diced
• 100g button mushrooms, diced
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp, fleshy thyme finely chopped
• maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Serve

• Brussel Sprouts
• New Potatoes
• watercress (optional)

Method

1. Pastry: Roll the pastry out so that it .8mm-1cm thick. Cut the pastry into rounds large enough to cover the beef. Cut the remaining pastry into 12 leaves (optional). Refrigerate the pastry for 15-30 minutes to rest.
2. Mushroom Duxelle: Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a moderate heat. Add the shallots to the pan and allow them to sweat for a couple of minutes until they are transparent. Stir in the garlic, thyme and mushrooms. Sautè the mushrooms for 5-8 minutes until they are tender. Season the duxelle with a little salt and pepper and leave it to cool.
3. Beef Wellington's: Preheat an oven to 200°C. Place the pastry rounds on a worktop. Season the steaks with a little salt and pepper and place them in the centre of the pastry rounds. Place a tablespoon of the cooled mushroom duxelle on each steak. Place the larger round of pastry over the steaks and seal it around the edges of the bottom piece. Make two small cuts in the centre of each pastry and place the pastry leave gently over the incisions. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg.
4. Place the beef Wellington's on an ovenproof tray and place them on the centre shelf of the oven and leave them to cook for 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden. They should be medium rare but if you want them well done reduce the temperature to 150°C and leave them to cook for a further 5 minutes.
5. To Serve: Place the beef Wellington's on each plate, garnish the plate with watercress. Serve the beef wellingtons with Brussel sprouts and new potatoes or your choice of vegetables.