Although this recipe is long and usually described as difficult, I find that with a bit of thought all preparations can be made a day ahead. On the day of serving, all you have to do is encase the beef and bake! Pancakes are necessary so that they will keep the beef juice from ruining the pastry....There is nothing worse than uncooked puff pastry.
3 large pancakes(recipe)
300g button mushrooms
1 onion
2 clove garlic
sprig thyme
2 tbsp ground pistacio nuts
1 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tsp chicken powder
2 tbsp brandy
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper
500g Ready made puff pastry sheets(home made recipe)
(or 1 packet, 2 rolls)
1 egg
Massage 1 tbsp oil over the beef fillet. Season with salt and pepper. Heat non stick frying pan and dry fry fillet, giving approx 1 minute on every side to seal including ends. Transfer to warm plate and leave to rest.
Finely chop onions and crush the garlic. Heat butter in a medium casserole over low heat, add onions, crushed garlic and thyme and cook till mixture caramelise. Add chopped mushrooms and cook for further 3 minutes turning frequently. Sprinkle chicken powder and stir, then add brandy and give a final stir. Turn heat off. Add bread crumbs and nuts and transfer mixture to food processor.(remove any wooden bits from thyme) Process to obtain coarse paste. Season with salt and pepper and leave mixture to cool.
Heat oven to 185c. Layer two pancakes on a working top, overlapping each other. Put beef in the middle and cover generously with the mushroom paste. Lift pancakes and then put the other pancake on top closing beef securely. Transfer beef over puff pastry and close puff pastry over. Seal all ends with a little water. Use pastry trimmings to make decorative design on top. Beat egg and add 1 tbsp water and brush all over pastry. Bake in a 185c oven for 30-45minutes till pastry is richly golden. Remove from oven and let wellington rest for 10 minutes before serving.
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