MKR episode 22 recipe: Beef Wellington with Red Wine Jus and Spinach Purée

Prep time: 1 hour and 30 minutes, plus refrigeration

Cook time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Serves 6.

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Ingredients

Roasted vine tomatoes, to serve

Red wine jus

400g beef bones

300g chicken wings

2 large brown onions, chopped

3 large carrots, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally

2 tbs olive oil

250ml red wine

1 bunch fresh thyme

1 litre beef or veal stock

25g butter, chopped

Beef Wellington

2 tbs olive oil

1kg beef eye fillet, trimmed

1 tbs Dijon mustard

10 very thin slices of prosciutto

1 quantity mushroom duxelle

375g butter puff pastry

1 egg yolk

Mushroom duxelles

400g Swiss brown or chestnut mushrooms

40g butter, chopped

2 tbs panko breadcrumbs

2 eschallots, finely chopped

1 tbs finely chopped thyme

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

80ml dry white wine

2 tbs thickened cream

Spinach purée

1 tbs olive oil

1 eschallot, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

125ml thickened cream

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1 bunch English spinach, chopped

Pinch ground nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. To make jus, place bones, wings and vegetables in an oven dish. Drizzle with oil and season. Roast for about 40 minutes or until caramelised. Transfer mixture to a large saucepan over medium heat.

3. Add wine and thyme. Simmer, stirring, until wine has reduced by half. Stir in stock. Bring to a simmer.

4. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half. Strain through a fine sieve and discard solids. Return to a clean pan over medium heat. Whisk in butter a cube at a time. Season.

5. To prepare beef wellington, heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat until smoking. Season beef all over and add to pan. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned well all over. Transfer to a rack over an oven tray. Once cooled, spread with mustard.

6. To make mushroom duxelle, process mushrooms until finely chopped. Melt butter in a large non stick frying pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, breadcrumbs, eschallots, thyme and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and mushrooms are lightly browned. Add wine and simmer until evaporated. Stir in cream. Simmer until reduced and mixture is thick and has dried out. Stir in breadcrumbs. Season. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cold.

7. Lay out a large piece of baking paper on a work surface. Arrange prosciutto, overlapping in a large rectangle, the length of the beef fillet and wide enough to enclose the meat. Spread mushroom duxelle over the prosciutto.

8. Lay the beef on one long edge of the prosciutto. Using the baking paper as a guide, roll into a cylinder, enclosing the beef (discard baking paper). Wrap beef cylinder tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.

9. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 30cm x 40cm rectangle.

10. Remove plastic wrap from beef and place in centre of pastry. Fold to enclose. Transfer to a tray lined with baking paper. Whisk egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water and use to brush pastry. Refrigerate for 1 hour or up to overnight.

11. Meanwhile, to make spinach purée, , heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook eschallot and garlic until soft but not coloured. Add cream, lemon zest and spinach. Cover and cook for 2 minutes or until spinach is soft. Add nutmeg. Transfer mixture to a blender. Blend until smooth. Season.

12. Preheat oven to 230C. Transfer beef wellington to an oven tray. Bake in centre of oven for about 40 minutes or until internal temperature of beef reaches 52C on a meat thermometer and pastry is golden brown and crisp. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes. Slice thickly.

13. Serve beef wellington, spinach purée and roasted vine tomatoes with red wine jus.