Lamb wellington recipe
This is a very posh dish and requires a certain amount of skill. Having said that, it will impress anyone you invite round for dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 Lamb cannons, trimmed of excess fat and sinew
- 1 pinch Sea salt
- 1 pinch Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tsp English mustard
- 250 g Chestnut mushrooms, cleaned
- 50 g Salted butter
- 1 Large sprig of fresh thyme
- 8 Slices of Parma ham
- 500 g All-butter puff pastry
- 1 handful Plain flour for dusting
- 2 Large free-range egg yolks, beaten with 1 tsp water
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Main
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 70 mins
- Cooking Time: 40 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Season the lamb cannons well, then in a large pan sear them quickly all over in hot olive oil. while the lamb is still hot, brush with English mustard, then set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms in a food processor - make sure you pulse-chop them so they retain a texture rather than turning into mush. Heat the olive oil and the butter in the same pan you used for the lamb and fry the mushrooms on a medium heat with the thyme sprig for about 10 minutes, until you have a softened mixture with no moisture left. Season to taste, then remove the mushroom mixture from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.
- Overlap two pieces of cling film on a large chopping board. Lay half the parma ham on the cling film, slight overlapping, in a double row. Spread half the mushrooms over the ham, then sit a lamb cannon on it. Use the cling film's edge to draw the Parma ham around the lamb, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Repeat this process for the second lamb cannon. Chill the lamb in the fridge while you roll out the pastry.
- Roll out half the pastry to the thickness of a pound coin, making sure that it is large enough to wrap around the lamb completely. Unravel the lamb from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the pastry. Egg wash one side of the pastry, then fold the pastry around the lamb and secure it on the egg-washed side. Pinch the ends of the pastry shut and trim off any excess. You should now have a neat cylinder of pastry with no openings. Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the lamb Wellington with long diagonal lines, taking care not to cut into the pastry. Repeat with the second Wellington. Chill for at least 30 minutes so the pastry is nice and firm.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Place both the Wellingtons on a non-stick tray and bake in the oven until the pastry is golden brown and crisp. This should take around 20-25 minutes, by which time the lamb will be cooked. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes, then trim off the ends and slice in half.
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