Minced beef Wellington

This is a another Jamie Oliver one from his Ministry of Food cookbook. We use the book a lot for quick and dirty recipes as they’re all ridiculously easy (half-assed) and pretty fool-proof. If you’re looking to learn to cook or brush up on basic skills, it’s actually a pretty great book. If you can cook, and want some trusty staples, it’s also great.

We make the full recipe but cut the pastry in half to make two. Otherwise you’re left with one Wellington the size of a Duraflame log. Jamie doesn’t seem to like sharing his recipes on line so we have to type this out.

Recipe:
1 Medium Onion
1 Carrot
1 Stick of Celery
1 Potato
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Large Portobello Mushroom
4 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
A big handful of Frozen Peas
1 Large Egg (beaten)
500g Beef Mince
500g Puff Pastry
Salt and Pepper
Plain Flour (for dusting)
Olive Oil

Method:
Preheat oven to 180’C, 350’F, gas 4. Peel and chop the carrot, potato, onion and celery into 1cm dice. Finely grate the garlic. Clean and roughly chop the mushrooms. (Half-assed tip: blitz everything in the food processor). Place all the veg in a large frying pan with olive oil on a medium heat. Finely chop the rosemary leaves and add them. Fry and stir for approx 8 minutes. Add the frozen peas and cook for another minute. Put all in a bowl and leave to cool completely. Then add the beef, half the egg, salt and pepper. Mix well using your hands.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out the pastry. Keep well dusted with flour. Place the mince along one edge. Mould into a long sausage. Brush the edges of the pastry with egg and roll up until the mince is completely covered. Place on a baking tray dusted with flour and brush all over with the rest of the egg. Bake in the oven for an hour. (Half-assed tip: if making in advance, cook for approx 40 minutes and allow to cool. Then freeze if desired. Allow to fully defrost before cooking for another half hour.)