Mini Beef Wellingtons

Dinner Express by George Georgievski, Published by Plum, RRP $29.99, Photography by Nikole Ramsay

Beef wellington is a Sunday-lunch favourite in our house. I love to get creative with the pastry, but you can also keep it simple. You don’t even need to use beef, you can also use chicken, pork or even cauliflower. The first time I made this I almost killed my kids because I used spicy mustard, so make sure you pick a mustard that works for your little peeps. Okay, enough banter, let’s do this.

Serves 4

Grab all of this

• 40 g salted butter
• 4 x 200 g porterhouse steaks
• 2 teaspoons salt flakes
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 sheets of frozen puff pastry, just thawed
• 1 tablespoon mustard of your choice
• microwave vegetable gravy, to serve (optional)
• your favourite veggie sides, to serve

Now the easy bit

1. Crank the oven to 180°C.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium–high heat. Add the steaks, laying them away from you to avoid splashing butter over yourself. Season with half the salt and pepper and sear for 90 seconds, then flip the steaks over, season with the remaining salt and pepper and sear for another 90 seconds. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to rest.
3. Lay the puff pastry sheets on a work surface and place a steak on one side of each pastry sheet. Smother the steaks with the mustard, then fold the pastry over the steaks and press down to seal. Trim the excess pastry around the edge of each pie and use it to make fancy decorations for the top of your pies. Or don’t. It’s up to you. You can also score a criss-cross pattern into the pastry as I have done here. Brush the butter left in the pan over the pastry, then transfer to a baking dish and whack them in the oven for 15 minutes.
4. Whip up a quick microwave vegetable gravy if you like. Serve alongside the beef wellingtons with your favourite veggie sides. Grab all of this 40 g salted butter 4 x 200 g porterhouse steaks 2 teaspoons salt flakes 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 sheets of frozen puff pastry, just thawed 1 tablespoon mustard of your choice microwave vegetable gravy, to serve (optional) your favourite veggie sides, to serve

More stuff

You can use any protein or your favourite veg in this dish. This recipe is all about the pastry and how fancy you can make it to impress your family and little people. If you’re not a fan of mustard, try coating the steaks in a smoky barbecue sauce instead.