Beef Wellies

Beef Wellington or Beef-Boot as my husband calls it – there are so many different versions of this recipe, this is the one we like best. It’s quite fun to make due to the messiness. As far as I am concerned the messier the better and even more so now that I have a dishwasher – I love mixing, beating, kneading and using all of my utensils, mixers and bowls, for that reason I probably use way more than I need, just for the fun of it and I get to spend more time in the kitchen, even if it is only the clean up afterwards.

Beef Wellington (Beef Boot)

1.5 kg beef tenderloin

Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Good glug of port
200g liver pâté
375g puff pastry
1 beaten egg
Mushroom gravy to serve

1. Season the beef with the black pepper, cook the beef in a large skillet until it’s browned all over.
2. Place your beef in a roasting pan and cook at 200˚C (400˚F) for about 25 minutes for rare, 30 for medium and 40 for well done, after it’s cooked allow to cool completely.
3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet, add the onion, garlic and mushrooms, stir continuously until softened, add the port, then increase the heat and cook until the liquid has evaporated, put to one side and allow to cool.
4. Once the onions and mushrooms have cooled add the liver pâté, stir well to combine all the ingredients, season with salt and pepper.
5. Next you need to wrap the beef and the mushroom mixture in pastry:- Roll out ¾ of the pastry into a large rectangle, you are going to have to wrap the beef, so it needs to be big enough to totally engulf the beef, spread ½ the mushroom mixture down the middle of the pastry, then place the beef on the mushroom mixture, next using the rest of the mushroom mixture cover the top of the beef. Brush the sides (border) of the pastry with the egg, next fold in the sides of the pastry to cover the beef, starting with the short sides and then the long ones. Turn your parcel over, and brush with some more of the egg. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into long thin strips, arrange in a lattice pattern over the beef, then glaze once more with the egg.
6. Bake at 220˚C (425˚F) until crisp and golden, this should take about 45 minutes, after 30 minutes cover with foil to prevent it from getting too browned, allow to stand for about 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven, slice and serve with gravy.