Budget Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington is one of my all time favorite dishes, but when you are on a strict budget I really can't justify spending the money on a prime cut of beef, so I developed this recipe to try and get the classic flavour, without the price tag. No, it's never going to be as good, but it comes pretty damn close.

LUCYS-TIP - Buy a lean mince, if there is a lot of fat in your beef then you are going to have very soggy pastry.

Ingredients

Serves about 4-6, and is not the best recipe for re-heating so I would save it for when you can eat it straight away.

500g beef

approximately 4/5 slices of a cured ham (e.g prosciutto or parma)

1 pack pre rolled puff pastry

1 white onion

1 clove garlic

250g chestnut mushrooms

1 handful spinach (optional, but I find adding spinach to anything is any easy way to pretend I'm eating healthy)

1 beef stock cube

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 tablespoon henderson's relish

a few sprigs fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Serving suggestion - with sweet potato mash, green beans and gravy.

Method

1. Put a pan onto medium heat and add a little oil.

2. Finely dice the onions and add to the pan, You want them to soften, not brown so don't let it overheat.

3. Dice the mushrooms (if you have a food processor then you can use it, if not finely chopped is ok, just a little chunkier) & mince the garlic

4. Once the onions are soft add the mushrooms thyme and the garlic - remember to season as you go! (easy on the salt, there are some salty ingredients coming up!)

5. Cook for a few minutes then add the beef, stock cube, relish and soy sauce.

6. When mostly cooked through add the spinach and allow it to wilt.

7. Take off the heat and allow to cool for about 15 mins. Get the pastry out of the fridge so it can get up to room temperature - not in too hot an area though or it will be hard to manage later! **This would be a good time to prep some veg to go with the dish ready to cook later

8. Once cooled turn on your oven to about 180 degrees and get out a large baking tray.

9. Roll out your pastry and cover it with the slices of ham.

10. Apply the mince to the middle, you may need to pack it in because it can be quite full!

11. Roll it over to make a large sausage roll shape and pinch the edges with a fork. Pierce a few holes in the top, and pop it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown - cooking times vary depending on the oven so make sure to check it after about 10/15 to see how its doing.

12. While its cooking you can cook your prepped veg from before, and possibly make a little gravy (everything is better with gravy).

#mains