I have never heard about Beef Wellington before. I have never tasted it before, never ever even seen it on the menu at a restaurant.

Then I got Zola Nene’s cookbook and I came across it.

Now on Sunday’s like family tradition, my gran, my mum and myself, we serve roast meat with gravy.

Why not change things a bit??? Firstly let me tell you, theres a lot of parts that make up the final beef wellington, but it is so worth it. The only problem I had was my pan was not big enough for the whole fillet, so I actually had to cut the fillet in half and sear it in two parts.

Ingredients:

• 500g x beef fillet.
• Salt and pepper to season.
• 1 x onion, finely chopped.
• 30ml x thyme.
• 300g x mushrooms chopped.
• Slices of parma ham, enough to cover the length of your fillet.
• Dijon mustard.
• Cake flour for dusting.
• 2 x 400g rolls of story bought puff pastry.
• 1 x large egg, beaten.

Method:

• Generously season your fillet with salt and pepper.

• Sear both sides of the fillet and allow to rest on a plate.
• Heat some oil in a pan, saute the onions till transparent.
• Add the thyme, mushrooms and cook till the mushrooms are tender.
• Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
• Remove from the heat and set aside till it cools to room temperature.
• Lay a large piece of cling wrap on your work surface.

• Lay slices of Parma ham on the cling wrap, making sure the slices overlap each other.

• Spread the mushroom mixture evenly over your ham.
• Spread the mustard on both sides your fillet, before laying the fillet down on the mushroom mixture.

• Using the cling wrap, tightly roll up the fillet in the ham.

• Pop into the fridge for about an hour or even over night.
• When you are ready.
• Grease your baking tray and lay a layer of baking paper on the tray.
• Sprinkle some cake flour over the paper.
• Place the first layer of puff pastry ontop of the flour mixture.
• Remove the fillet wrap from the fridge, carefully pull off the cling wrap.
• Plop the fillet wrap in the centre , using the beaten egg around the pastry edges.
• Place the second layer of the puff pastry over the fillet wrap.
• Cut off the excess pastry and using a fork, gently press down all around the edges to seal the parcel.
• Score the top, with a sharp knife, careful not to cut too deep to expose the fillet.
• Pop into a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees till the top is golden brown.

• Allow the wellington to rest for 15 minutes, before slicing.