This is my husband’s recipe, where South African blaesbok (venison) replaces the more typical beef (this also works with red deer venison). It’s a truly classic and quite spectacular New Year’s Eve dish, served with mashed potatoes, mashed yam, mashed sweet potatoes and red wine gravy (we tend to make a mixed mash of potatoes, butternut squash, parsnips and turnips) served with your choice of greens (long-stem broccoli and kale are good).
Prep time 30 mins/cook time 120 mins/serves 6
Ingredients:
a good venison fillet (or you can use beef or red deer) of about 1kg (2lb 4oz)
3 tbsp olive oil
150g (1/3 lb) chestnut mushrooms
50g/2oz butter
1 large sprig fresh thyme
100ml (2/5 cup) dry white wine
100g (1/2 cup) pate (I used Ardennes, but you can use whatever you like)
12 slices prosciutto
500g (1lb 2oz) pack puff pastry, thawed if frozen
a little flour, for dusting
2 egg yolks beaten with 1 tsp water
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 7).
Sit the 1kg venison fillet on a roasting tray, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and season liberally with freshly-ground black pepper. Transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven and roast for 15 mins for medium-rare or 20 mins for medium (remember that you will be cooking the meat again). When the venison is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven and set aside to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 mins.
Whilst the venison is cooling, chop the chestnut mushrooms as finely as you can (they should look like coarse breadcrumbs). Heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 50g (1 ½ oz) butter in a large pan. Add the chopped mushrooms and fry over medium heat with a large sprig of fresh thyme. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture is soft.
Season the mixture then pour over the dry white wine and cook for about 10 minutes, or until all the wine has been absorbed (the final mixture should hold its shape when stirred). Remove and discard then scrape the duxelles onto a plate and set aside to cool.
Once the mixture is cold, stir in the pate until well combined with the mushrooms.
Arrange two pieces of clingfilm (plastic wrap) so they overlap on a large chopping board. Lay the 12 slices of prosciutto on the clingfilm (overlapping them slightly) in a double row. Spread over half the duxelles and pate mix, then sit the fillet in the centre and spread the remaining duxelles and pate mix over.
Use the cling film’s edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow the fillet to chill as you roll out the pastry.
Dust your worktop with a little flour, take 1/3 of your 500g of puff pastry and roll out to a strip about 18 x 30cm (7 x 12 in) then transfer to a non-stick baking tray. Roll the remainder of the pastry into a rectangle of about 28 x 36cm (11 x 14 in).
Remove the clingfilm from around the fillet and sit the meat in the centre of the pastry on the baking tray.
Beat the egg yolks with 1 tsp water and use this to brush the edges of the pastry along with the top and sides of the wrapped venison fillet.
Using a rolling pin, carefully drape over the larger rectangle of pastry and lift over the fillet. Press down well to cover the fillet then press down on the joins and trim these to make a 4cm (1 ½ in) rim. Seal the rim with the tines of a fork. Glaze all over the pastry with the remaining egg-wash and using the back of the knife mark the top of the venison wellington with long diagonal lines (but be careful not to cut into the pastry). Transfer the dish to the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, heat your oven to 200C (180C fan/400F/Gas mark 6).
Brush the top of the wellington with a little more egg-wash then transfer to the centre of your oven and bake until golden and crisp – 20-25 mins for medium-rare beef, 30 mins for medium.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 mins before slicing into thick slices and serving.
