Organic lamb wellington recipe

The perfect centrepiece for your Easter lunch, the lamb we use is organic and from Achill Island. This specific lamb that Philippe uses has been raised by the sea and allowed to forage for its own food.

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The below recipe is to serve four people.

For the lamb

• 500 grams loin of lamb, cut in half, trimmed (two portions for two people)
• 8 slices of Parma ham or prosciutto
• 12 large leaves of wild garlic
• Puff pastry

1. Season and seal the two portions of lamb quickly and allow it to cool down.
2. This part is important because by sealing the meat correctly all around, the flavour will stay in the lamb, it will make it impermeable, and the juice will stay inside of the lamb. In not doing this part, you will have the meat boiling inside of the pastry and only the flavour of boiling meat.
   
   

For the mushroom duxelles

• 4 portobello mushrooms finely diced
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 1 sprig of thyme.
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 3 grams of chopped garlic

1. Warm up the oil at medium heat and sweat the shallots and garlic for few minutes, then add the finely diced portobello mushrooms.
2. Continue to stir whilst cooking until the water has completely evaporated. This is extremely important as the Duxelles must be dry.
3. Only add seasoning now, as salting at the start could give you an over salty mix.
4. When done, chill the duxelles. till cold.
   
   

For the herby pancake

• 2 eggs
• 125 grams of flour
• 250ml milk
• Pinch of salt
• Chopped ¼ teaspoon of each, chives/thyme/sage

1. In a mixing bowl, make a well in the flour and salt.
2. In the centre, add your milk and 2 eggs. Whisk slowly add flour in, a bit at a time. It is very important not to add the flour all at once or you will get bit of flour inside of your mix.
3. When the dough is well mixed, add the chopped herbs and leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes. Depending on the flour you are using, the mix will get thicker, so add a little water if needed.
4. Cook the pancake in a 30cm (10 inch) frying pan.
   
   

Assembling the lamb wellington

It is a delicate operation because your lamb and duxelles need to be seal correctly in the puff pastry, so the pastry stays crispy.

1. Moisten the surface where you will roll the wellington, so the cling film will be easier to handle.
2. Cut some cling film, about 10cm long, and set it on the moist surface.
3. Take one pancake and trim it into a square, the length of the meat and place it near the bottom of the cling film, leaving about 2 cm, so you will be able to roll it at the end.
4. Then top the pancake with the prosciutto ham keeping it to the length of the pancake.
5. Spread the duxelles on top of the prosciutto (place the wild garlic leaves now if you have any)
6. Place the lamb at the bottom of the crepe and lift the cling film to help to roll the crepe around the meat. Tighten the roll to have a nice sausage type shape. Leave to rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.
7. Remove the cling film around the pancake and repeat the same operation with the puff pastry. Moisten your table, place your cling film, set your puff pastry and place the pork sausage 1/3 of the way up. Roll it very tightly the same way you did we the crepe.
8. Warm-up your oven at 200°C. Unwrap the wellington and with a lightly beaten egg yolk, brush the pastry all over to give a nice shine and colour when cooked.
9. You can use the back of a small knife to decorate the top of the wellington.
10. Cook for about 15 minutes at 200°C and remove from the oven. Rest the meat for about 5 minutes.
    
    

Serve your wellington with asparagus, which can be steamed 5 - 7 minutes before you're ready to eat.

Top tip: Make your crepe and duxelles the day before so on the day you only have to assemble the wellingtons. The crepe mix and duxelles can keep for up to 3 days in the fridge. You can make this same recipe with beef fillet, chicken or pork fillet.