En Croute is the french term for anything pretty much wrapped inside a pastry dough (aka pâte à pâté, or pâté pastry) and then baked in an oven. This can be an ordinary pie dough to a puff pastry. This can be baked in a dish or placed on a rack. He is a great example of a “Spinach & Italian Sausage Stuffed Pork Tenderloin en croute.”
Classic Beef Wellington. Great for a Sunday Brunch or around the holidays.
1 onion (peeled and finely chopped)
5oz./150g chestnut mushrooms (finely chopped)
3 tablespoon flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)
3 1/2 oz./100g smooth liver pate
1 1/2 lb./750g beef fillet
Salt and ground black pepper
1lb/500g ready-made puff pastry
1 egg (beaten for glazing)
Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
Melt the butter in a large frying pan and cook the onion for about 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes until soft and creamy. Stir in the garlic and parsley and season with a little salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.
Beat the pate into the mushroom mixture and set aside.
Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to a sheet large enough to enclose the beef, reserving the offcuts for decoration.
Spread the pate mixture down the middle of the pastry and lay the beef on top of the mixture.
Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg and fold the pastry over the meat to enclose it in a neat parcel, sealing the edges well.
Place the meat parcel on to a baking sheet, seam side down,
Cut decorative leaves from the reserved pastry. Brush the parcel with beaten egg, decorate with the leaves and chill for about 10 minutes.
Bake for 40 - 45 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffed up. Transfer to a serving board and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Serve cut into thick slices.
Serve the Wellington with a little gravy on the side, fresh vegetables and the admiration of your fellow diners when you serve it.
