Beef Wellington

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pat dry the beef tenderloin with kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat half of the butter in a frying pan, over a medium heat, and brown the meat all over. Remove the beef from the pan and set it aside to cool on a plate.

In the meantime, finely chop the mushrooms, parsley and chives. Heat the remaining butter in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms over a medium heat until the moisture has evaporated from the mushrooms. Mix in the parsley and chives and season with salt and pepper. Set aside and leave this mixture to cool to room temperature.

Place the slices of Parma ham next to each other in 3 rows onto a piece of cling film measuring 12×16 inch.  Overlap the slices of ham slightly. Spread the mushroom mixture over the ham and place the beef tenderloin on top. Using the cling film, roll the ham tightly around the tenderloin.

Roll out the puff pastry on baking paper and place in a baking tray. Remove the beef tenderloin from the cling film and place in the center of the pastry. Fold the pastry into a package around the beef and let the edges overlap by 1 cm. Cut off any excess pastry and press the edges down well to seal. Carefully turn the beef Wellington over so that the seam of the pastry is on the bottom of the tray.

Beat the egg yolk and brush it over the top of the beef Wellington with a pastry brush. Bake the beef Wellington for approximately 35 minutes in the middle shelf of the oven, or until the meat thermometer inserted into the center of the beef indicates an internal temperature of 120°F.

Remove the beef Wellington from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes with some kitchen foil placed loosely on top. Use a sharp knife to cut the Wellington into thick slices at the table and serve immediately.