Individual Beef Wellington with Creamy Potato & Gruyere Gratin and French Beans with Lemon & Pine Nuts by Rachel Allen

Ingredients

For the duxelles
2 tbsp olive oil
15 g butter
100 g shallots, finely chopped
250 g mushrooms, finely chopped
75 ml dry white wine
75 ml double cream, or regular cream
1 tbsp chopped tarragon
2 spring onions, trimmed and chopped

For the meat
4 beef fillet steak, about 150g each
plain flour, for dusting
250 g ready-made puff pastry
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 egg, beaten

Directions

 For the duxelles: place the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the shallots and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Tip in the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in the wine and cream and add the tarragon. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Stir in the spring onions, remove from the heat and spread the mixture out on a plate to allow it to cool.

For the meat: place a griddle pan or a frying pan on a high heat and, when it is very hot, brown the steaks for 1 minute on each side, seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside, allowing the meat to rest for about 20 minutes until cool.

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out the puff pastry into a large rectangle, about 40 x 60cm and 3mm thick. Using a sharp knife, trim the edges of the pastry (reserving the scraps for decorations, if you wish), then cut it into four smaller rectangles each measuring approximately 20 x 30cm.

Spread about half a teaspoon of the mustard evenly over one side of each piece of pastry, leaving a gap of about 1cm around the edges, then place a steak in the centre. Divide the duxelles between the four steaks, heaping it neatly on top of each one.

Brush the edges of the pastry with a little of the beaten egg, then wrap up the steaks in the pastry as tidily as possible. Turn the parcels over so that the joins are facing down, then brush over the top with the beaten egg.

Place the Wellingtons on the baking tray in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, or until the pastry is golden, before turning the temperature down to 200C/gas 6 to cook for another 5–10 minutes, by which stage the pastry should be completely cooked. Take out of the oven and serve immediately.

Creamy Potato & Gruyère Gratin


Ingredients

butter, for greasing
1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm slices
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
400 ml double cream, or regular cream
100 g parmesan, or parmesan-style cheese, grated
100 g gruyère cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and butter an 18 x 26 cm gratin dish.

Pat the slices of potato dry with kitchen paper to remove excess starch. Scatter the garlic over the base of the dish, then arrange the potato slices in layers, seasoning them with salt and pepper as you go and making sure the top layer is neat and tidy. Pour the cream into the dish and sprinkle the grated cheeses over the top.

Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven. After 30 minutes, remove the foil then bake for a further 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and the surface of the gratin is golden brown.

French beans with lemon & pine nuts

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb green beans
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
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Directions

Cook beans in a 4-quart saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, about 5 minutes, then drain well in a colander. Transfer to a bowl and toss with nuts, parsley, zest, oil, and salt and pepper to taste.