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Fish Wellington
Serves 6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1 trout or salmon fillet, skinned and pin-boned
- 4 nori sheets
- 500g ready-made puff pastry plain flour, for dusting
For the mushroom and lentil purée
- 150g ghee
- 1kg field mushrooms, coarsely chopped
- 100g butter, coarsely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1⁄2tbsp finely chopped thyme
- 125g cooked black lentils, strained
For the egg wash
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1tbsp white sesame seeds
You will need
- cook's digital thermometer
Method
For the mushrooms, heat 75g of ghee in a large pot over a medium heat and cook the mushrooms in two batches until golden – around 10-12 minutes each batch. Add all the fried mushrooms back to the pot, then turn the heat up high. Add the butter, onion, garlic and thyme and sauté for 10 minutes until tender and the mushrooms have little to no moisture left. Season with salt to taste, then pulse in a food processor until finely chopped.
Drain any excess fat or moisture from the mushroom mix, add the lentils and stir to combine. Cool.
To assemble, cut the trout fillet in half widthways, then pick the tail half up and position it on top of the other half, ensuring the loin side sits in line with the belly side, so it creates a seamless appearance.
Place a large square of cling film on the work surface, then arrange the nori sheets on top so they overlap, forming a square. Spoon the mushroom and lentil purée onto the nori and spread it out. Position the fillet on top, then pick up the cling film that is closest to you to bring the nori and mushroom purée up over the fillets, forming a log. The purée should completely enclose the fillet. Tie off the cling film at both ends and chill overnight.
The next day, mix all the egg wash ingredients together in a bowl. Roll out a large square of the very chilled pastry that exceeds both the width and height of the log on a lightly floured surface.
Cut the cling film from the outside of the trout and position the fish in the centre of the pastry. Brush all corners of the pastry with egg wash and roll up over the log. Trim off any excess pastry and brush with more egg wash. Chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 220C/ 200C Fan/Gas 7. Brush more egg wash over the Wellington and season lightly with sea salt. Bake for 20-25 minutes until brown and the interior temperature has reached 48C on a cook's digital thermometer.
Leave to rest for 10 minutes, then carve the Wellington into 6 even slices and serve with good crunchy salad leaves.
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