Celebrating Pie Week with a Beef Wellington

Congratulations, it is officially Pie Week! To mark the occasion, I have made one of my signature dishes: Beef Wellington.

The challenge to make this dish came from the guys at Iceland. When the proposal was put to me, I knew exactly what I was going to make as I love the challenge of putting together a Beef Wellington.

In fact there’s a little history here. When Mrs Adams was pregnant with our eldest daughter, we (unsurprisingly) stayed in for New Year’s Eve. I made a Beef Wellington and the end result was so good Mrs Adams still talks about it almost nine years later.

To make this dish, I have relied on the #PowerOfFrozen: the idea that frozen foods can be convenient, save time and taste good. In particular I will be relying on Iceland’s frozen puff pastry and frozen Beef.

As the Beef Wellington needs to rest in the fridge before cooking, this is a recipe that’s worth preparing in the morning, ready to eat in the evening. Here’s how to make your own Beef Wellington to mark Pie Week.

Ingredients

• 1kg Beef fillet
• 250g mushrooms
• Pack of prosciutto ham (or bacon if you have no prosciutto)
• English mustard
• 500g puff pastry
• Two beaten egg yolks

To serve: roast, boiled or mashed potatoes and vegetables of your choice.

Method

• Season the beef and then sear it. Set aside to cool.
• Place the mushrooms in a food processor and mill then down to a thick paste. Be careful not to mill them down too much or they will become very runny.
• Lay out a piece of cling film over a chopping board, large enough to cover the beef.
• Lay the slices of prosciutto ham on top of the cling film so they overlap.
• Spread the mushroom paste over the prosciutto.
• Place the chilled beef in the middle of the prosciutto and spread a thin layer of mustard across the beef.
• Gently pull the cling film, ham and mushroom paste mix over the top of the beef. Roll it up tightly like a sausage and place in the fridge to chill for an hour or so.
• Once chilled, roll out a square of pastry large enough to cover the beef on the chopping board.
• Gently remove the cling film and place the beef in the middle of the square of pastry.
• Paint one edge of the pastry with egg yolk and draw it together so the Beef is wrapped up in the pastry, rather like a Cornish pasty.
• Cut off any excess pastry and glaze with the rest of the egg yolk.
• Place the Beef Wellington back in the fridge to chill for a few hours.
• When you are ready to dine, place in the oven at 220 degrees centigrade for 20-25 minutes if you would like it medium rare, around 30 minutes for medium.
• Allow to stand for a few minutes before cutting into thick slices and serving.

This is a great recipe to mark a special occasion and it is, let’s face it, a little indulgent! I hope you enjoy Pie Week and give this or another recipe a go.

If you do make your own Beef Wellington, please do leave a comment below detailing how it went. Alternatively, if you would like other recipe ideas, follow the hashtag #PowerOfFrozen on social media and you will see what others have got up to.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post produced in association with Iceland.