BEEF FILLET WELLINGTON

This is an extravagant and legendary dish. I rather assumed it derived from the 19th-century Duke of Wellington, but it is only in 1939 in the New York Food Guide that this dish is described as Tenderloin of Beef Wellington. Serve with green beans, peas, cauliflower cheese and a good red wine.

Serves 6-8 l 800g (1lb 12oz) wild mushrooms,

cleaned and finely chopped l 4 banana shallots, finely diced l 5 garlic cloves, finely grated l 5 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked l 20g (¾oz) unsalted butter l 1tbsp olive oil l 1kg (2lb 4oz) fillet of beef, trimmed l Salt and pepper l 100ml (3½fl oz) Madeira l 8 slices of Parma ham l 500g (1lb 2oz) block of puff pastry l Flour, for dusting l 1 egg, beaten

Put the wild mushrooms, shallots, garlic and thyme leaves in a large bowl and mix. Set to one side – this is called the duxelle.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat until hot. Season the beef fillet with salt and pepper (go lightly on the salt, as the Parma ham will infuse its salty flavours during cooking) and place the meat in the hot pan. Seal the fillet on all sides before removing to rest and cool.

Add the duxelle mix to the same pan to capture the beef flavours from the frying pan and return it to a high heat. Add the Madeira and cook until all the liquid has evaporated – the duxelle will become dark and dry out. When cooked, remove the duxelle from the pan and allow to cool.

On a clean worktop, lay out a large, double-layered rectangle of clingfilm – it needs to be twice the size of the beef fillet. On top of this, lay out the Parma ham slices, slightly overlapping, again in a rectangle that’s larger than the beef. Spread the duxelle over the Parma ham in a thin but even layer. Place the fillet of beef on the duxelle, and use the clingfilm to tightly wrap the Parma ham and duxelle mix around the sealed beef fillet, then twist the ends tightly to secure and put the meat in the fridge for a good hour to rest and set.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. To assemble the Wellington, roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured worktop into a rectangle approximately the thickness of a euro coin. Remove the clingfilm from the beef and place the beef onto the middle of the pastry. Fold up the two long sides of the pastry and seal the edges with a little beaten egg. Trim the pastry so it overlaps by just 2cm. Turn the beef so the join is underneath and tuck in the ends of the pastry to enclose it.

Carefully lift the Wellington onto a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper and use the rest of the beaten egg to glaze the pastry. Place the Wellington in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until it’s golden brown.