Individual Beef Wellingtons

      Beef wellingtons are traditionally joints of beef wrapped in paté, mushroom duxelles, and puff pastry. A beef wellington is a rather impressive centrepiece for a dinner. It looks fancy and tastes good. But when you live with just one other person and don't entertain guests regularly, opportunities to make an impressive beef wellington don't always come up. That's where individual beef wellingtons come in.

     Beef wellington, which is very English, can be considered a variation of boeuf en croute, which is French. More variations of wellingtons exist. Salmon, vegetarian, chicken....

      The mushroom duxelles is vital to making a beef wellington...well...a beef wellington. If you are not a fan of mushrooms (really?!) you can use caramelised onions or look up other alternatives. As for the paté, I never liked anything made of liver. My mother used to cook curries with bits of liver in it and I always picked the liver out and complained that it tasted weird. I have not outgrown this dislike for liver so I chose to omit the paté.

     Some chefs wrap the beef in a pancake before wrapping it in puff pastry. I felt that this would be an unnecessary fuss when cooking for two. I can see the merits of wrapping the beef in a pancake: it helps the wellington keep a better shape.  However, parma ham can be used to this same effect. I did not use any parma ham, though in future I will because my beef wellingtons did not hold their shape very well after they were sliced. I have to say that it takes quite a bit of time to make this dish. Be ready to spend at least an hour preparing it.


      This is not a traditional beef wellington with traditional mushroom duxelles. There is no wine, vermouth or any alcohol used to deglaze the pan like in most other recipes. I did not even brush the pastry with an egg wash to give it a gloss. I used some milk instead. This is a slightly simpler version which delivers the essence of a beef wellington. This is a special dish which doesn't not require a special occasion to justify making it.

This was a meal that my husband and I enjoyed. It was extremely filling so I am glad I did not prepare any fancy dessert because we were almost too full to eat our fruit salad after dinner. If you feel like making a special meal for your partner, try this simplified version of a traditional dish.

Individual Beef Wellingtons

serves 2

can be made up to 4 hours in advance

2x 150g chunks of beef 

(cylindrical shape)

salt & pepper

Approx 150g ready-rolled puff pastry 

(depends on the size of the beef)

1 tsp butter

250g closed-cup mushrooms

4 TBSP minced shallot

(or onion)

1/2 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 TBSP dijon mustard

some milk

optional: parma ham

* Start at least 2 hours before serving

1. Leave the beef at room temperature for 20 minutes before cooking. Season the beef on all sides with salt and pepper.

2. Spray a frying pan with cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil. Turn the stove on to high heat and let the pan get very hot, almost till it starts smoking. 

3. Sear the beef quickly on all sides then drop the heat to medium and brown the beef for 30 seconds on each side.

4. Transfer the beef to a plate to cool. Start making the mushroom duxelles.

5. Chop the mushrooms as finely as possible, or use a food processor to process the mushrooms to the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs.

6. Tip the chopped mushrooms onto a large piece of kitchen towel. Lightly wrap the kitchen towel over the mushrooms and press to absorb excess moisture from the mushrooms.

7. In the same pan that was used for the beef, heat 1 tsp of butter.

8. Add the mushrooms, shallot, garlic, thyme and black pepper to the pan.

9. On medium-low heat, cook the mushrooms till almost dry. This should take about 10 to 15 minutes.

10. Leave the mushroom mixture to cool.

* At least 1 hour before serving, start assembling the wellingtons 

11. Cut the puff pastry sheets into 2 pieces and lay them on cling wrap.

12. Lay pieces of parma ham (if using) on the puff pastry, leaving a 1cm border

13. Spread 1 TBSP of dijon mustard on each piece of pastry (or on the parma ham), leaving a 1 cm border.

14. Scoop tablespoons of the mushroom duxelles onto the mustard and press with your fingers to form a 0.5cm thick layer (leaving a 1.5cm border).

15. Place the beef on the mushroom mixture and using the cling film to prevent sticking, roll the pastry over the beef to enclose it.

*Any leftover duxelles can be stored in the fridge to eat on crostini, brushetta or toast!

16. Cut off any excess pastry and brush the ends of the pastry with milk then lightly pinch or fold to seal the ends. 

It's just like wrapping a present!

17. Wrap the parcels in cling film and place in the fridge until ready to bake.

18. Preheat oven to 200°C, brush some milk on the beef wellingtons.

19. Bake the parcels in the oven for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 180°C and bake for a
further 15 to 20 minutes until the pastry is lightly browned.

20. Remove from oven and serve immediately!

Served with spinach & potato mash, gravy and some boiled carrots

Roasted Vegetable, Feta & Cottage Cheese Tart

     A friend made a roasted vegetable tart for afternoon tea at her house a few fortnight ago. I have been thinking of making something similar since then because I enjoyed that tart very much. Feta is a cheese that I like but I hardly buy it because I honestly forget about it when I'm at the shops. It's saltiness and texture lends itself well to salads and savoury tarts. Cottage cheese is also something I like and I tend to have a tub of it in my fridge on most days. I stir cottage cheese into baked beans, have it on toast for lunch, or on crispbread for a snack. I also use cottage cheese as an omelette filling.

      This tart was so easy to make and I didn't need a recipe for it. I looked at several recipes then decided that I can 'guestimate' the amounts of ingredients that I used. Well, it worked! This tart turned out wonderfully!

      I used a 9x7" roasting tin to bake the tart, but any similar-sized square or rectangular pan or dish will work. The base consists of ready-rolled puff pastry. The pastry has to be blind-baked before filling.   The vegetables take around 30 minutes to roast. There was no need for me to add much salt to the filling because the salt in the feta was plenty enough.

Roasted Vegetable, Feta & Cottage Cheese Tart

serves 4

2 cups courgettes, cubed

1 red pepper, cubed

2 small onions, diced

6 button mushrooms, quartered

2 tsp olive oil

pepper

sea salt

Puff pastry sheet (I used 200g)

Filling:

1/4 cup cottage cheese

3 TBSP sour cream

100g feta, crumbled

1 egg

1/2 tsp paprika powder

1 tsp dried rosemary

pepper

parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 190°C. 

2. Toss the chopped vegetables with the olive oil and place on a baking tray.

3. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the vegetables and put in the preheated oven to roast.

4. After 10 minutes, remove the mushrooms from the oven and put aside.

5. Return the rest of the vegetables to the oven to roast for another 20 minutes.

6. Line a shallow baking dish with the puff pastry sheet, making sure the pastry comes up the sides of the dish. Fold down or cut off any overhanging pastry.

7. Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes then remove from the oven. 

Reduce oven heat to 180°C.

9. Mix the cottage cheese, sour cream, feta and egg in a large bowl. Stir in the paprika then add the roasted vegetables and mushrooms to the bowl.

10. Stir to coat the vegetables with the filling.

11. Pour the filling into the baked puff pastry and spread evenly.

*Cover the rim of the puff pastry with foil if you are worried about it burning

12. Sprinkle the rosemary and some pepper (and parmesan) over the filling.

13. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the filling looks set.

     This can be eaten hot or cold, whichever you prefer. That makes it a versatile dish for any time of the year and for entertaining guests as well.