Beef Wellington recipe

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over high heat. Season the beef fillet generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Sear the fillet in the pan on all sides until well browned (turn the beef only once per side). Remove the fillet from the pan and set aside to cool. When the fillet has cooled down, brush it with mustard on all sides.

Put the mushrooms in a food processor and puree. Add the mushrooms in a pan over medium high heat and cook until al the liquid they release has evaporated. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

On a work surface roll out a large piece of plastic wrap. Lay the slices of ham making sure they overlap. Spread the cooked mushroom mixture over the ham, then place the seared beef fillet in the middle and roll the mushroom and ham over the fillet. Use the plastic wrap to roll the ham tightly over the beef into a cylidrical shape. Twist the sides of the wrap to tighten and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle, large enough to cover the beef wrap. Unwrap the fillet from the plastic wrap and place it in the middle of the pastry dough. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg and fold the pastry around the fillet. Cut off any excess pastry ath the ends (you should not have more than 2 layers of pastry anywhere around the beef). Brush with the beaten egg and chill for 5-10 minutes.

Place the pastry roll on a baking pan and brush again with the beaten egg. Score the top of the pastry with a knife making sure you do not go all the way through, then season the top of the pastry with coarse salt. Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice in 1 inch thick slices and serve with baked or fried potatoes and a salad salad.