Celebrating with a few? Beef Wellington

INGREDIENTS

Mushroom Mixture (Duxelles)

1 lb white mushrooms
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 T butter
salt and pepper to taste

Meat & Pastry

2 lbs beef tenderloin (about 6 inches long)
salt and pepper to taste
1 T olive oil
2 T dijon mustard
⅓ lb prosciutto slices
½ package frozen puff pastry (one sheet, thawed)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp butter (for greasing baking sheet)

INSTRUCTIONS

Mushroom Mixture (this can be made a day in advance)

1. Place mushrooms, chopped onion, and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely chopped. (Or, finely chop all by hand.)
2. Heat butter in a pan and add mushroom mixture. Sauté for about 10 minutes, until most of the moisture has evaporated and the mixture is like a rough paste. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meat & Pastry

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   Sprinkle salt and pepper all over tenderloin.
2. Heat olive oil in pan to medium high heat and sear tenderloin all around. Remove from heat.
3. Brush the meat with mustard.
4. Place about 18 inches of wax paper on the counter top. You’ll use the paper to build your layers before you wrap the meat in them.
5. Roll puff pastry sheet to roughly 14 x 10 inches and place on wax paper.
6. Lay prosciutto slices out, overlapping each other, on the center of the pastry sheet in an area about 12 x 8 inches. You should have about 1 inch of pastry still showing around the edges.
7. Spread the mushroom mixture over the prosciutto.
8. Brush pastry edges with egg.
9. Now place the tenderloin at one end of the prosciutto grab the wax paper, and roll the pastry, layers, and meat until meat in fully covered. Pinch edges of pastry together to seal up the whole thing.
10. Remove wax paper and place pastry on buttered baking sheet.
11. Brush remaining egg over all the pastry.
    Cut two or three vents in the pastry top.
    Bake for 30 to 38 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads 125-130 degrees.
    Remove from oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
12. Slice in 1½ inch pieces, making sure the end slices include as much meat as the center slices.

Served (above) with delicata squash fries and a Greek salad.