Turkey Wellington

PARMA HAM, MIXED MUSHROOM STUFFING & GOLDEN PUFF PASTRY A delicious alternative to cooking a whole bird at Christmas, this play on your classic beef Wellington is really tasty, looks the part, and will get everyone really excited when you cut into it. It’s a little more prep, but much easier to serve. SERVES 10 2 HOURS PLUS COOLING 1 x 1.6kg higher-welfare turkey breast, skin off olive oil

½ a bunch of fresh thyme (15g) 25g dried porcini mushrooms 600g mixed mushrooms 25g unsalted butter 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary 50g sun-dried tomatoes 1 teaspoon truffle oil plain flour, for dusting 2 x 375g packets of all-butter puff pastry (cold) 8 slices of Parma ham 1 large free-range egg

❄ Get your meat out of the fridge and up to room temperature before you cook it. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Rub the turkey breast all over with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Rinse the thyme in hot water to reawaken it, then strip the leaves all over the meat. Place in a tray and roast for 45 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool.

❄ Meanwhile, just cover the porcini with boiling kettle water. Roughly slice the fresh mushrooms and place in a casserole pan on a high heat with the butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the porcini and most of the soaking water (discarding the last gritty bit), strip in the rosemary leaves, then add the sun-dried tomatoes and truffle oil (using just a little oil imparts brilliant depth of flavour). Cook and stir for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden and the water has evaporated. Pulse in a food processor until fairly fine, then season to perfection and leave to cool.

❄ To assemble the Wellington, on a clean flour-dusted surface roll out each pastry block to the size of a shoe box, then make one 25 per cent larger than the other. Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a large baking sheet, dust with flour, then add the smaller piece of pastry. Spread half the mushroom stuffing in the middle, roughly the same size and shape as your turkey breast. Place the turkey on top, then use a knife to evenly cover it with the rest of the stuffing. Lay over the slices of Parma ham, overlapping them slightly. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg. Lay the larger sheet of pastry over the top, then gently mould it round the shape of the breast, pushing out the air, and seal. Trim the edges to a width of 4cm, then confidently twist, tuck and pinch in the pastry. Brush the whole thing with beaten egg, and either cook straightaway, or keep in the fridge overnight.

❄ Cook from room temperature in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/ gas 4 for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until puffed up and golden, and the turkey is piping hot throughout – you want the internal temperature to be 70C if you’re using a meat thermometer. Leave to rest for 10 minutes, then carve into 2.5cm-thick slices and serve with gravy, cranberry sauce (see page 34 for homemade) and all the usual trimmings. NUTRITION PER SERVING 605 kcal; 33.6g fat (17g saturated); 47.4g protein; 27.6g carbs; 1.6g sugars; 1.4g salt; 2.2g fibre ➤